Several priests, nuns and other clergy members are facing lawsuits from 60 plaintiffs in Missouri who allege that they were abused as children.
Among those being accused is Omaha Archbishop George Lucas, according to a CNN report published Thursday. The lawsuits, filed in St. Louis and other counties, name 56 alleged abusers. Lucas is accused of multiple instances of sexual abuse in the late 1980s at the St. Louis Preparatory Seminary, where he served as a priest and dean of education.
“I categorically deny the accusation made by an anonymous person. I have never had sexual contact with another person. I referred the matter to the apostolic nuncio, Pope Francis’ representative in Washington, D.C., for his guidance,” Lucas said. (RELATED: Over 400 Catholic Clergy Abused Nearly 2000 Children, Illinois Attorney General Reveals In New Report)
The alleged abuse spans from the 1940s to 2015. At least ten of those accused of abuse are still alive.
Sixty people allege in lawsuits filed in Missouri that they were abused as children by dozens of Catholic priests, nuns and others; the man who now leads the Archdiocese of Omaha is among the accused.https://t.co/VtfG8uUBh2
— David Crary (@CraryAP) July 26, 2024
One of the plaintiffs alleges that a priest and nun sexually abused a girl with an intellectual disability between 1999 and 2022. The abusers allegedly threatened her life if she resisted.
The Archdiocese of St. Louis and its current archbishop, Mitchell T. Rozanski are also named in the complaints. The plaintiffs allege that the Archdiocese had long been aware of the abuses and refused to act.
“This shameless cover-up spanned decades and allowed various clergy and other employees to access and sexually abuse numerous children,” the lawsuits state.
In response to the scandal, the Archdiocese of St. Louis released a list in 2019 of 61 clergy members with substantiated allegations of child sexual abuse.