In March of this year, Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago removed Father C. Frank Phillips, pastor of St. John Cantius Church and superior of the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius, due to “credible allegations of improper conduct involving adult men,” according to a letter signed by the cardinal and read to parishioners at the weekend Masses.
Because Father Phillips is a member of the Congregation of the Resurrection, the cardinal referred the matter to that order for further investigation. The Congregation of the Resurrection subsequently formed its own review board, which conducted the investigation.
On June 20, a group known as Protect our Priests, comprised of individuals who support Father Phillips (the group is not formally affiliated with the Congregation of the Resurrection, the archdiocese or the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius) released a statement that included the following proclamation:
The Review Board has concluded that Fr. Phillips has not violated any secular criminal, civil or canon law.
Fr. Phillips, having been exonerated thusly, and this in turn confirmed by the votum of The Rt. Rev. Gene Szarek, C.R., Ph.D. Provincial Superior of the Congregation of the Resurrection upon receipt of the Review Board Report. We now prayerfully await the response of His Eminence, Blase Cardinal Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, for the return of our pastor.
(Protect our Priest’s statement was not posted at the parish’s website.)
However, in a letter dated June 24, inserted in the parish bulletins and posted at the parish’s website, Father Szarek writes: “We accept the Archdiocese’s decision that Father Phillips’ faculties for public ministry will remain withdrawn and that he will not return as pastor of St. John Cantius and as Superior of the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius.”
I emailed Father Szarek asking him about the June 20 statement released by the Protect our Priests group and the specific findings of the review board, but he has yet to respond.
I also emailed the archdiocese on two occasions, but spokeswoman Anne R. Maselli only referred me back to the Congregation of the Resurrection. In my most recent email to the archdiocese, dated June 21, I wrote:
I have [contacted the Congregation of the Resurrection], but my reason for contacting the archdiocese is the fact that the cardinal made the decision to remove Father Phillips from public ministry, and only he can approve him going back to public ministry (or not). Father Gene was waiting for the cardinal to read the review board’s report before making comments on it.
I received no further response from Ms. Maselli.
Oakes Spalding, a parishioner of St. John Cantius and a Catholic blogger, writes in his latest post:
There were no other statements issued by either the Archdiocese, the Resurrectionists or the Canons. No additional information was offered in the homily, and there are apparently no plans by any of the parties to make any additional statements before, during or after any of the four Masses tomorrow [June 24]….
Catholic traditionalists and conservatives have assumed that the liberal Cardinal Cupich is somehow behind it all – not without reason, I think, given his past behavior and reputation. But I do not believe that blaming Cupich for all of it is correct, or at least, given what we know, entirely correct. Fr. Phillips had other enemies.
Has Cupich silenced everyone involved?
Stay tuned.
This post has been updated.
