Reuters / Vasily Fedosenko
Four clergy abuse survivors filed a lawsuit on Thursday against all six Catholic dioceses in Illinois and the Catholic Conference of Illinois, alleging that they participated in an “ongoing scheme” to cover up systemic sexual abuse by priests. “Defendants have, for decades, and continue to adopt policies and practices of covering up criminal activity... [that] have endangered numerous children in the past and these practices will continue to put children at risk in the future,” the complaint states. The lawsuit seeks to compel the dioceses to release the names of all their priests accused of child sex abuse. The defendants call out alleged instances of sexual abuse at three dioceses—Rockford, Peoria, and Springfield—while alleging that all of them continue to cover up clergy abuse, attorney Jeff Anderson said.