Ill. priest attempts suicide after abuse claim

[February 04, 2010]  CHICAGO (AP) -- A Roman Catholic priest who was removed from his suburban Chicago post because of an abuse allegation was in intensive care Thursday after apparently trying to commit suicide by jumping from a church balcony, officials said.

The 37-year-old priest was found unconscious Wednesday between the pews of St. Mary's Carmelite Church in Joliet, which is boarded up and no longer used for services, according to Joliet Police Deputy Chief Mike Trafton.

"It was pretty obvious that he had jumped from the balcony," Trafton said. He said officers found alcohol and a jacket in the balcony, which is approximately 20 feet high.

The priest, a native of Bolivia, was ordained in June. He was the parochial vicar of Holy Family Parish in Shorewood, which is about 40 miles southwest of Chicago.

He was placed on administrative leave after a family alleged on late Sunday that he had abused their 13-year-old son, according to a statement from Diocese of Joliet Bishop J. Peter Sartain. The boy and his family were not parishioners of the Shorewood church, he said.

Sartain removed the man's priestly faculties -- rights to perform sacraments or even dress as a priest -- and alerted officials with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and the Kane County State's Attorney's office.

State's Attorney John Barsanti said Thursday that the priest is under investigation, but he declined to say for what. The Associated Press is not naming the priest because he has not been charged with a crime.

As the investigation continued, Sartain said, the priest had been closely monitored since Monday at a facility where adult priests live.

"Considering the circumstances, we were being careful, being watchful," said Doug Delaney, a Diocese of Joliet spokesman.

On Wednesday morning, the priest, who had no car or family in the area, left the facility on foot. After no one heard from him for about an hour, church officials filed a missing person report with Joliet police, Delaney said.

Acting on tips from other priests, authorities were led to the shuttered church where the priest liked to go.

It was unclear if the priest, who was in critical but stable condition at a Joliet hospital on Thursday, had an attorney. Delaney said that diocese officials could not represent the priest legally.

He said the diocese was cooperating with the investigation into abuse and that no other allegations of abuse involving the priest had surfaced.

Sartain said he was "saddened beyond words" about the allegations and what he deemed an attempted suicide.

"I have been deeply grieved for the young boy whose family reported the abuse and for the entire family, and my prayers for them have not ceased," Sartain said in a statement. "This added tragedy compounds what was already a great sorrow and I ask you to join me in fervent prayer."

[Associated Press; By SOPHIA TAREEN]

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