Jesuit Priest Face Lawsuit Over Sexual Abuse. For the second time in two months, a Jesuit priest has been accused of sexual abuse while working in Chicago.
Massachusetts resident Victor Bender filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging that the Rev. Donald McGuire abused Bender while he was a student at Loyola Academy in the 1960s. McGuire held a counseling position at the academy at the time.
McGuire persuaded Bender’s mother, who emigrated from Lithuania and settled on the North Shore, to allow Bender to live at the school. In 1966, McGuire began abusing Bender, forcing the boy to sleep in the same bed.
The lawsuit also names the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus, which has been hit with a spate of lawsuits in recent weeks.
allegations against McGuire
The Rev. James Gschwend of the Chicago Jesuit province said he couldn’t comment on whether the Society was aware of any allegations against McGuire prior to the complaints.
“Attentive to the dignity that all human beings deserve, we receive all complaints of abuse openly and compassionately,” Gschwend said in a statement.
On Sept. 8, four women sued the Rev. John Powell, a former theology professor and author of self-help books, saying he abused them about 30 years ago. Powell is a Jesuit.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday against a Diocese of Joliet priest accused of abusing a student at Christ the King Catholic School in Lombard about four decades ago.
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