Jump To Navigation
"He inspires fear in the church, hope for victims," "Taking On The Church," "Bishops accused of conspiracy in abuse," "Conspiracy Cloaked Sex Abuse, Suit Says"Representing and Fighting for Victims and Survivors of Sexual Abuse Nationwide

Recent News

Mom wants cardinal to quit

PRIEST ABUSE | Mad at George's help for molester

August 22, 2008

Diane Houston (right), seen with her son David, said another son, John was abused by the Rev. Norbert Maday. John later killed himself.
(Al Podgorski/Sun-Times)

BY ANDREW HERRMANN Staff Reporter/aherrmann@suntimes.com

Reading her Sun-Times last week, Diane Houston lingered over a prison photo of the Rev. Norbert Maday, his mug shot showing the convicted sex abuser with a black eye and a swollen lip.

Though she is the mother of one of the dozens of boys believed to have been raped by Maday, the picture of the jailed Chicago priest didn't bring her any solace.

Her reaction: "He was beaten up but not beaten up enough for me.''

On Thursday, Houston -- whose son John committed suicide years after he was abused by Maday -- called on Cardinal Francis George to resign.

Houston cited documents showing how George and other Archdiocese of Chicago officials tried to ease Maday's stay in prison, including working on his behalf to reduce his 20-year sentence.

Details of the Catholic church's attempts to assist Maday, now in a secured Wisconsin medical facility awaiting a trial that could keep him committed indefinitely as a "sexually violent person,'' were released last week as part of a $12.7 million settlement with victims of abuse.

George now says he made a mistake in trying to help Maday. But he acknowledged he wrote the priest a number of times, including in 2000, when he told Maday that the six years Maday had served should be "enough to satisfy the state and any sense of justice.''

The archdiocese arranged for the body of Maday's mother to be brought to a Fox Lake, Wis., prison for a memorial service and gave him a raise.

At a press conference arranged by Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, Houston said her son was about 10 in the late 1970s when he was abused by Maday, then at St. Bede the Venerable Church.

After her son began calling Maday "Father Gayday" at school, Maday came to the Houston family's South Side home and demanded an apology. Diane Houston made her son say he was sorry, she said.

John Houston, an altar boy when he was assaulted, kept the rape to himself for years. But as a Marine serving in the Gulf War in the early 1990s, the memories of the abuse came flooding back, she said.

He began drinking heavily and taking drugs and was discharged. A short-lived marriage disintegrated and, Diane Houston recalled, he once asked her if being abused by a man "makes me gay?''

In 2002, at 33, John Houston committed suicide.

"My son didn't just take his life. Father Maday and George had a part in it,'' said Houston, who called on the archdiocese to release Maday's church file.

Archdiocese spokeswoman Colleen Dolan said documents related to the settlement are "subject to a mediation agreement.'' That process "continues to move forward,'' she said.
View Map

Jeff Anderson & Associates, P.A.
366 Jackson Street, Suite 100
St. Paul, MN 55101
Phone: 651-227-9990
Fax: 651-297-6543
Recent News

Click here for other Current News

11/19/08

Searchable and Enhanced Archbishop Weakland Deposition

from Bishop Accountability

11/19/08
Archbishop Rembert Weaklands's Deposition Part 1 and Part 2
Exhibits Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4

11/12/08
Portions of Archbishop Rembert Weakland's Deposition and Exhibits.

Video of Archbishop Rembert Weakland's Video Deposition.

11/12/08
Group outs top 10 priests accused of sex abuse 
Three Catholic priests with ties to Maryland are among the nation's most dangerous sexual predators, according to a list released Tuesday by a group of clergy sex abuse victims demanding greater accountability from the Catholic Church.

11/07/08
Complaint filed Against Fr. John Powell 

10/26/08
Convicted Catholic priest faces indefinite custody, Winnebago County jury to decide fate
A Winnebago County jury will decide next month whether a Catholic priest who sexually assaulted two boys in the 1980s meets the criteria to be classified as a sexually violent person and remain in custody indefinitely.

10/25/08
Jury convicts ex-Jesuit priest of sex abuse of 13-year-old boy
Donald McGuire sat hunched in his wheelchair in a federal courtroom Friday with his face locked in a frown, a shell of the charismatic priest who traveled the world to hold religious retreats and advise Mother Teresa.
 

10/23/08
Cardinal's dismaying lapse on sex offender 
For several months, Cardinal Francis George appeared to have learned from his failures in dealing with the child sex abuse scandal afflicting the Archdiocese of Chicago.

9/25/08
Catholic order of nuns settles claim by three who say they were abused
An attorney for the Franciscan Sisters adamantly denied the allegations, saying that the $400,000 payment was agreed upon to avoid protracted litigation.  

9/23/08
Lawsuit rejected in case of priest who killed two
A wrongful death lawsuit filed by Carsten and Sally Ellison of Barron against the Catholic Diocese of Superior for the murder of their son by a priest was dismissed Tuesday afternoon in a summary judgment by Eau Claire County Judge Paul Lenz. 

9/15/08
Archdioces may seek out priest's abuse victims
As an advocacy group blasted the church's handling of the allegations, an outreach effort was contemplated.

9/10/08
Archdiocese accused of helping sex abuser flee
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is accused of helping a priest flee to his native Ecuador after he was accused of molesting a child while working in Minnesota, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Ramsey County District Court.  

9/10/08
Montero Press Conference 

9/10/08
Suburban church is hit with abuse suit
A 46-year-old Streamwood man has accused his former priest of sexually abusing him more than 30 years ago and Greek Orthodox church officials of attempting to cover it up, according to a lawsuit that marks the fifth allegation against the defrocked priest 

9/10/08
Complaint against Greek Orthodox Church and Fr. Nicholas Katinas

9/3/08
Family of Priest-Abuse Victim Reacts to Supreme Court Ruling
He is serving a 32-year prison sentence following his conviction for fondling David Schauer in 1988 when Schauer was only ten years old and a student at St. Peter & Paul Catholic School in Green Bay.

8/22/08
Exhibit A Non-Monetary Commitments by the Diocese 

8/22/08
Bishop Signs Priest Abuse Settlement
A settlement is now official for 47 victims who suffered sexual abuse at the hands of their own priests  

8/22/08
Mom wants cardinal to quit 
Reading her Sun-Times last week, Diane Houston lingered over a prison photo of the Rev. Norbert Maday, his mug shot showing the convicted sex abuser with a black eye and a swollen lip.

8/19/08
Tentative settlement reached in KC priest abuse cases 
The Catholic Diocese in Kansas City and more than 40 victims of clergy sexual abuse tentatively agreed late Tuesday to settle lawsuits against the church for about $10 million.

8/14/08
Last known contact info for offenders in Chicago Settlement 

8/14/08
Victim, cop slam archdiocese's efforts to get priest out of prison early
A victim of sex-abusing priest Norbert Maday and the detective who helped put the clergyman behind bars said Wednesday they were appalled and disheartened by efforts by the Archdiocese of Chicago to spring Maday from prison.

8/13/08
Victim was 7 when abused by priest
Less than a year ago, Therese Albrecht wanted to kill herself. 

8/13/08
Cardinal tried to spring sex abuser, then changed view 
Cardinal Francis George acknowledged Tuesday that he and other Archdiocese of Chicago officials had worked to reduce the prison sentencef sex-abusing priest Norbert Maday, who is believed to have molested children dozens of times.

8/13/08
Cardinal lifts the veil on abuses
George announces $12.7 million payout to victims of priest attacks, discloses his sworn deposition and says: 'I have to accept the blame'

8/12/08
Archdiocese Announces $12.6M Sex Abuse Settlement
The Archdiocese of Chicago said Tuesday it will to pay more than $12.6 million to settle lawsuits by 16 victims of sexual abuse by priests  

8/12/08
depo transcript of Cardinal George 

8/12/08
Cardinal George Exhibits Part 1 of 2 

8/12/08
Cardinal George Exhibits Part 2 of 2 

7/30/08
Attorney Jeff Anderson Sues the Hell Out of Clerical Sex Abusers
St. Paul, MN: Attorney Jeff Anderson is a genuine firebrand. He has handled not hundreds, but thousands of cases on behalf of sexual abuse survivors across the US, and even outside the US over the last 25 years.  

7/21/08
New Sex Abuse Lawsuit for Denver Archdiocese
Another man filed a lawsuit Monday against the Archdiocese of Denver alleging he was abused by a priest at a church in Loveland about 40 years ago.

7/3/2008
Former Somerset priest indicted 
Cote faces sexual abuse charges in Maryland

7/2/2008
Denver Archdiocese to Pay $5.5 Million in Abuse Suits
After nearly three years of litigation, the Archdiocese of Denver said Tuesday that it would pay $5.5 million to settle more than a dozen lawsuits over sexual abuse by priests.

7/2/2008
Time line Regarding Harold White and the Archdiocese of Denver

7/2/2008
Denver settlement - all documents on White 

7/2/2008
Archdiocese of Denver settlement - hot documents

7/2/2008
Denver Archdiocese Settles Priest Sex-abuse Lawsuits
The archdiocese of Denver has agreed to pay $5.5 million to settle 18 claims of sexual abuse against its priests in incidents that happened between 1954 and 1981.