A lawsuit filed against the Archdiocese of St. Louis this week alleges decades of sexual abuse by local priests, including now-Archbishop George Lucas of Omaha. The archbishop has denied the allegation.
Filed Wednesday in St. Louis Circuit Court, the lawsuit argues that the Archdiocese of St. Louis and its current archbishop, Mitchell Rozanski, enabled and covered up abuse of minors by archdiocesan employees.
It includes 27 anonymous plaintiffs who say they were abused by archdiocesan priests and other employees, including a couple of teachers.
The alleged abuse largely took place in the 1960s-90s, with a few allegations from earlier or later.
The lawsuit claims archdiocesan leaders knew about the abuse but allowed perpetrators to continue to have access to minors, often transferring them to a new location within the archdiocese.
“[T]he Archbishop and Archdiocese engaged in several decades of intentional misconduct in turning a blind eye to the sexual abuse by its priests and other employees,” the suit says.
“Instead of removing the Abusers from its employ and control and reporting the abuse to authorities as required by law, Defendants enabled and emboldened the Abusers to continue perpetrating horrific conduct upon Plaintiffs by giving Defendants’ employees, agents, and servants unfettered access to Plaintiffs and other children by reassigning the Abusers to other parishes or organizations, sending Abusers away for treatment for a short time, or otherwise failing to take any remedial action whatsoever.”
Of the individuals facing allegations, the most prominent is Lucas, who has served as Archbishop of Omaha since 2009. He was previously a priest in St. Louis, where he also served as a faculty member at the St. Louis Preparatory Seminary.
In that capacity, the lawsuit alleges, Lucas sexually abused a seminary student, beginning in his junior year of high school.
The plaintiff says he met Lucas around 1988, and was repeatedly abused by him, in one case being told that he could improve his failing grade on an assignment by performing a sexual act.
The Archdiocese of Omaha told The Pillar that Lucas “has staunchly denied the accusation.”
“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.
The Archdiocese of St. Louis did not respond to The Pillar’s request for comment.
