Top leaders in the Archdiocese of Chicago responsible for complaints about predatory priests kept their positions or rose in the church in the aftermath of the Rev. Daniel McCormack's 2006 arrest, according to archdiocesan reports and interviews.Vicar General George Rassas was elevated to auxiliary bishop. Chancellor Jimmy Lago was named the primary point person on child abuse cases. Leaders from the offices of Vicar for Priests to Protection of Children and Youth stayed in key posts.
And Cardinal Francis George -- whose handling of the McCormack matter led to calls for his resignation -- appears poised to be elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Meanwhile, elementary school Principal Barbara Westrick, who reported McCormack to civil authorities, lost her job.
The archdiocese said the two matters involving Westrick were unrelated.
Westrick complained publicly about the cardinal after being admonished by the archdiocese for not alerting authorities sooner about McCormack.
The archdiocese said Sunday that other individuals were also disciplined but that details were "private personnel matters."
McCormack, 38, is expected to plead guilty today to sexually abusing five boys and receive a five-year prison term, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times. He could serve as little as 2• ½ years.
Looking for a job
The case has proved an embarrassment for George, who declined to heed a review board's recommendation to remove McCormack from ministry. McCormack served in St. Agatha's parish and coached and taught at Our Lady of the Westside School.
Misconduct complaints date back to McCormack's seminary days. Despite failing effectively to implement the abuse policies adopted by U.S. bishops in 2002, George's reputation among bishops has not suffered, church observers say.
"The clerical culture in the Catholic Church closes ranks to protect one another," said Paul Lakeland, a theologian at Fairfield College in Connecticut.
Here's what has happened with key figures in the case:
• McCormack has been free on bail and ordered not to have contact with minors. He's still on the archdiocese payroll but is banned from active ministry until his criminal case is resolved.
• Westrick, former principal of Our Lady of the Westside, will speak later this month at a conference of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. Her health insurance has expired, and she's looking for a job.
• Rassas, vicar general at the time of McCormack's first arrest, became an auxiliary bishop of Chicago after McCormack's second arrest.
• Lago was tapped by George to oversee child abuse investigations more directly.
Sunday, SNAP members protested McCormack's possible sentence as "too light."
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