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Cardinal George Talks About McCormack Case

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Aug 2, 2007 11:41 am US/Central

Cardinal George Talks About McCormack Case

Cardinal: 'Trust' In Church To Handle Sex Abuse Claims Will Take Time

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Bernie Tafoya, WBBM 780
CHICAGO (CBS) ― A month after predator-priest Daniel McCormack pleaded guilty to molesting young boys, the leader of Cook and Lake counties' nearly 2.5 million Catholics is commenting publicly for the first time about the case.

As CBS 2 sister station WBBM 780's Bernie Tafoya reports, Francis Cardinal George said in an exclusive interview for the At Issue program that better systems are in place now and he insists children are safer in church now, according to statistics on sex abuse he says, than they are in their own homes.

The cardinal says it'll take awhile, however, before people "trust" the church fully to handle sex abuse allegations properly.

"I think it's not a question of safety. They're very safe," he said. "Whether or not there's trust, that's another whole question. I pray that can be rebuilt."

Meanwhile, the cardinal rejects claims by a fired Catholic school principal that she's been the scapegoat in the McCormack case.

Barbara Westrick was let go at the end of the school year as principal of Our Lady of the West Side School where Fr. McCormack had taught and coached basketball. She reported the allegations to authorities but long after she had been required to.

Cardinal George says Westrick was not the only one reprimanded in some way for mishandling the McCormack allegations.

The cardinal will not offer specifics, however. He says, "We don't talk about all the replacements, but there have been other changes. When pressed by WBBM whether those people who've been reprimanded have been demoted or fired, the cardinal responded, "I'm not going to talk about personnel placement in the Archdiocese."

Cardinal George has sent a letter to Fr. McCormack asking that McCormack request to be formally separated from the priesthood. If McCormack doesn't, the request to the Pope will be made for him.

George criticizes himself for not taking action quickly enough to remove McCormack from ministry at St. Agatha Church.

He says he'd like the archdiocese to settle out-of-court with the families of McCormack's victims so the children don't have to testify in court.

(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.