Former Chicago pastor cleared of abuse allegations

Chronicle Media

The Rev. William McFarlane

The former pastor of two Chicago churches has been cleared of sexual abuse allegations.

The Rev. William McFarlane, who was the pastor of Nativity of Our Lord and St. Gabriel Parish, had been accused in July of sexually abusing a minor. State officials, charged with the protection of minors, determined that the allegations were unfounded, according to Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago.

Cupich said in a statement Saturday night that McFarlane has been restored to active ministry, effective immediately. He said that in keeping with Archdiocese of Chicago procedures, McFarlane had been asked to step aside from active ministry until a thorough investigation and process could be completed.

McFarlane cooperated fully with civil authorities and the archdiocese during the investigations, the archbishop said.

Cupich said that after state officials cleared McFarlane, the Independent Review Board of the Archdiocese of Chicago studied the matter in accordance with its usual procedures. At its Oct. 26 meeting, the board found that there was insufficient reason to suspect that McFarlane had sexually abused a minor.

“As Father McFarlane takes up a new assignment, which we anticipate announcing shortly, I ask you to keep him in your prayers, aware of the many ways he has contributed to the lives of those he has served,” Cupich said in a letter to archdiocesan members.

Cupich went on to note that since 1992, the archdiocese has enforced safe environment protocols and a code of conduct for all who work with minors, and has reached out to victims with pastoral and personal attention. He noted that since 2002, the archdiocese has reported all allegations to civil authorities.

Beginning in 2006, the archdiocese has publicly listed the names of priests who have substantiated allegations of abusing a minor against them, Cupich said.

He added that in 2014, the archdiocese published more than 20,000 pages of information on abuse cases. The archbishop said that in accordance with the archdiocese’s zero-tolerance policy, no priest with even one substantiated allegation of abusing a minor remains in ministry.

“It is important to note that our policies also call us to do everything possible to restore the good name of priests when the process has determined allegations against them to be unfounded,” Cupich said. “This, too, is a matter of justice.”