A Chicago law firm says it has filed lawsuits alleging that more than 100 Black children, some as young as 5, were sexually abused by priests at the former Holy Angels Parish and school in Bronzeville over more than three decades, and that the Archdiocese of Chicago knew about the abuse and failed to stop it. Four priests tied to the parish, all of whom have since died, are named in the litigation.
Attorneys with Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge announced the lawsuits at a press conference scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday, with suits filed in Cook County Circuit Court alleging children between the ages of 5 and 14 were sexually abused at Holy Angels between 1969 and 2002, according to WTTW. Accounts of exactly how many lawsuits had been formally filed differ: the Chicago Sun-Times reported that seven lawsuits were filed Tuesday, while the Chicago Tribune reported that attorneys announced suits on behalf of seven alleged survivors but that only two appeared to have actually been filed by Tuesday evening. As first reported by FOX 32 Chicago, the firm said the filings mark the first of several planned lawsuits against the Archdiocese, with the litigation focused on allegations involving Catholic priests in predominantly Black and historically underserved South Side communities.
Four Priests Named, All Now Deceased
The lawsuits name the Rev. George Clements, the Rev. Paul Smith, the Rev. John Calicott and the Rev. Kenneth Brigham, all of whom have died, per the Sun-Times. The suits allege the Archdiocese knew its priests were running what WTTW's report described as a “sex ring” for decades at the South Side parish but did nothing to stop it.
Attorneys allege that the Archdiocese assigned Calicott, who died in 2024, to Holy Angels despite knowing he had a history of sexually abusing children, according to the Sun-Times account. Church records cited by attorneys show Calicott was removed from ministry in 1994 because of abuse allegations and was named pastor of Holy Angels the following year, per ABC7 Chicago. The Sun-Times further reported that Calicott was placed under monitoring in 1994, reinstated a year later, and permanently removed from ministry in 2002.
A Parish That Once Anchored Black Catholic Chicago
Clements became Holy Angels' first Black pastor in 1969, and under his and Smith's leadership the school grew into what the Sun-Times described as the nation's largest Black Catholic school, with more than 1,300 students. Smith was found murdered in his home by an intruder in 1996, the outlet reported.
Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge said the litigation will confront institutional failure and seek facts, justice, truth and accountability, and the firm said children were failed by an institution that should have protected them. The firm filed the lawsuits on behalf of survivors, many of whom are Black, and attorneys representing them were expected to discuss the allegations, the lawsuits and their call for institutional accountability at Tuesday's news conference.
Archdiocese Response and a Pattern of Prior Settlements
The Archdiocese of Chicago said it does not comment on pending lawsuits, per the Sun-Times. The church has previously released documents on dozens of priests with substantiated abuse allegations; according to the Archdiocese of Chicago, it voluntarily released records on 36 priests with at least one substantiated allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor, supplementing an earlier release covering 30 other priests, and it said none of those listed priests remain in ministry. The Archdiocese has said its document-review process was designed to protect victims' privacy and comply with legal restrictions on publishing mental-health and medical information.
This is not the first time claims tied to Holy Angels have resulted in payouts. A Chicago law firm previously announced an $8 million out-of-court settlement with the Archdiocese over allegations that Calicott sexually abused a boy in the 1990s, according to the Sun-Times. Separately, the Archdiocese announced an $800,000 settlement in 2022 tied to abuse claims against Clements, per WTTW, though the Archdiocese did not admit wrongdoing as part of that settlement, according to the Black Catholic Messenger.
Part of a Broader Illinois Reckoning
Attorneys said their investigation into the Holy Angels allegations included more than two years of work, hundreds of interviews and thousands of documents reviewed, according to WTTW, and ABC7 reported that attorneys expect dozens more lawsuits in the coming weeks as additional alleged survivors come forward.
The Holy Angels allegations land within a much larger reckoning for the Catholic Church in Illinois. A 2023 Illinois attorney general's report found that 451 Catholic clerics and religious brothers abused at least 1,997 children across the state's dioceses over nearly 90 years, according to CNN. That investigation identified 275 allegedly abusive clerics and religious brothers within the Archdiocese of Chicago alone, and it identified 149 alleged perpetrators who had not previously been disclosed by Illinois dioceses, CNN reported.
