Two years after the Chicago-area arm of the Passionists religious order announced it would establish a sex offender registry of abusive members, the Catholic group hasn’t done so. Its leaders won’t say why or whether that’s still in the works.In October 2022, as the Chicago Sun-Times was preparing a story about his order’s clergy members who had been accused of sexually abusing children, the Rev. Joe Moons said, "We are in the process of creating such a list and should have it published in the next few months." That hasn’t happened. Neither Moons nor his successor as head of the Passionists’ Holy Cross Province, the Rev. David Colhour, will comment on why.Timothy Nockels of Vernon Hills says he was molested as a boy by the Rev. John Baptist Ormechea when the Passionist priest served at Immaculate Conception Parish on the Northwest Side in the 1970s and 1980s.“All they’re trying to do is brush this under the rug," Nockels says, "thinking eventually people will stop talking about it.” Timothy Nockels, who says he was molested as a boy by the Rev. John Baptist Ormechea when the priest was assigned to Immaculate Conception Parish. The Norwood Park church and the former Passionists monastery are in the background.Robert Herguth / Sun-Times Many victims of clergy abuse have advocated for church transparency over the years, saying it helps their healing and encourages other victims in the decades-long child sex abuse crisis to come forward. That’s an argument also embraced by many church reformers who say the lists serve as a form of atonement — a central tenet of Christianity.Cardinal Blase Cupich, the spiritual leader of the Catholic church in Cook and Lake counties, has long encouraged religious orders to make public information about members deemed to have been credibly abused of sex abuse, though he has continued to withhold names of some abusers who have worked in his geographic territory. Related He was deemed to have molested kids at NW Side parish, so why isn’t he on church lists of predator priests? Colhour’s province is based in Park Ridge and includes religious communities on the North Side and in Hyde Park. It also has a presence elsewhere in the Midwest and in the South and the West.There’s another U.S. Passionists province, based in New York, that maintains a public list that's available on request but not on its website. Thirteen clergy members deemed to have been credibly accused of abuse are on that list, all but one now dead.A database maintained by the church watchdog group Bishop Accountability includes the names of 20 Passionists in the United States who have been accused of sex abuse. A plaque inside Immaculate Conception Church on the Northwest Side honoring the Passionists for when they ran the congregation.Robert Herguth / Sun-Times A report last year by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on clergy sex abuse includes the name of one Chicago-area Passionists order clergy member found to be credibly accused of abuse. That's Ormechea.In the early 2000s, while Ormechea was stationed in Louisville, several men came forward, saying that, as boys at Immaculate Conception, they were molested there by him. The accusations were deemed by church authorities to be credible, and Ormechea was pulled from public ministry.But he remained part of the order and moved in 2003 to an ancient monastery in Rome. A man answering the phone there told a Sun-Times reporter who asked for Ormechea, "Talk to my provincial," then hung up. The monastery in Rome where the Rev. John Baptist Ormechea has been living since sex abuse accusations were made against him roughly 20 years ago dating from his time at Immaculate Conception Parish on the Northwest Side.Joan Nockels Wilson In 2016, another accusation against Ormechea surfaced, this one dating to the 1960s when he served in Kentucky.He’s also included on a list of credibly accused abusers put out by the Archdiocese of Louisville, but his name isn't included on Cupich’s list. Generally, the Archdiocese of Chicago doesn’t include abusive religious order clergy unless they’re on a list maintained by their order. Related Passionists order, Catholic dioceses didn’t reveal predator deacon in their midst Also not on Chicago’s list but included on Louisville’s is Deacon James Griffith, a Passionist who pleaded guilty in 1988 to sexually abusing a young boy in Louisville. In 2002, he was moved by his order to a monastery next to Immaculate Conception, but church officials initially didn’t tell parishioners about his child sex crime conviction or a lawsuit accusing him of molesting another Louisville boy in the 1970s.The Chicago-area Passionists’ website says it has “worked with the Conference of Major Superiors of Men” — a consortium of male Catholic religious orders — “to promote the protection of minors.” The conference has urged its members to create public lists. The Rev. David Colhour, the new head of the Passionists’ Park Ridge-based Holy Cross Province.Passionists The Passionists, like many other Catholic orders, follow in the mold of a saint — for the Passionists, Paul of the Cross — and embrace a specific mission, which is reaching “out with compassion to the crucified of today,” keeping alive “the memory of Christ’s Passion through . . . service to those who suffer.”Nockels says he’s still Christian but no longer associates with the Catholic church, which he believes will ultimately pay in a spiritual sense for its continued secrecy.“My words to the wolves would be straight from my savior Jesus: ‘Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth,’” he says. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Related Kwame Raoul named 451 Catholic priests and brothers in report on clergy sex abuse. Why wasn’t this ex-Augustinian priest on his list?’ Catholic church in Illinois vastly underreported clergy sex abuse, Kwame Raoul finds Augustinian Catholic order paid $2 million settlement over rape accusations against priest but left his name off sex abuser list Catholic priest accused of sex abuse served in 9 church jurisdictions, including Chicago. So why is he on just one abuser list? READ THE SUN-TIMES’ ORIGINAL INVESTIGATION Click here to read Sun-Times Feb. 7, 2021, report. More coverage Related past Sun-Times coverage on Catholic clergy sexual abuse. The Watchdogs Catholic priest accused of sex abuse served in 9 church jurisdictions, including Chicago. So why is he on just one abuser list? The Catholic church’s transparency on accusations of sexual abuse by clergy members, including the Rev. Mark Santo, remains inconsistent and lacking across the United States, clouding the extent of the crisis more than 20 years after it exploded into view. By Robert Herguth [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   Religion Cardinal Blase Cupich turns 75, sends mandatory resignation letter to Vatican The cardinal, a close adviser to Pope Francis, is now at the church’s mandatory retirement age. He submitted his resignation letter, the Archdiocese of Chicago said, but the pope could refuse to accept it. By Cindy Hernandez [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   The Watchdogs Chicago-based Catholic order is keeping secrets about child-molesting clergy around the United States The Servites has had numerous priests and brothers accused of sexual abuse and faces an onslaught of new lawsuits. Unlike many dioceses and orders, the group has no public list of members deemed to have been credibly accused of sexual abuse. And other church lists are incomplete. By Robert Herguth [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   Obituaries Rev. Raymond Goedert, Chicago Archdiocese official who admitted knowing of clergy sexual abuse, dead at 96 Rev. Goedert, a survivor of the Andrea Doria shipwreck, said in a 2007 deposition that he knew 25 priests had broken the law over the years by abusing children but never alerted police. By Kade Heather [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   Religion Advocates for clergy sex abuse survivors want priest added to all Chicago-area dioceses’ predator clergy lists Rev. Richard McGrath’s name belongs on lists of abusers kept by all Catholic dioceses where he worked, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests said. By David Struett [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   The Watchdogs Catholic order, New Lenox school pay $2 million over accusation ex-principal raped a student The payout is in a lawsuit regarding the Rev. Richard McGrath, an Augustinian priest who ran Providence Catholic High School — and took the Fifth when asked about child pornography. By Robert Herguth [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   The Watchdogs Joliet bishop tight-lipped on priest sex abuse scandal’s financial impact as plans to close Catholic parishes move ahead Bishop Ronald Hicks might consolidate 16 Joliet-area congregations and eventually close other parishes and schools, with “budgetary issues” a factor. His aides won’t say how much has been spent on fallout from the sex abuse crisis. By Robert Herguth [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   Crime Former priest gets 7 years for sexual abuse of boy at Evanston hotel Kenneth Lewis, 62, entered the plea Thursday to a felony count of aggravated sexual abuse in a deal with Cook County prosecutors that saw other charges against him dropped, including predatory criminal sexual assault. By Matthew Hendrickson [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   The Watchdogs Benedictines’ world leader calls on Chicago-area monks tied to Benet, Marmion high schools to fully report clergy sex abuse “I think that they should be” posting lists of abusive members “because it’s been actually asked of us by the larger church,” the Rev. Gregory Polan told the Sun-Times. By Robert Herguth [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   The Watchdogs Kwame Raoul named 451 Catholic priests and brothers in report on clergy sex abuse. Why wasn’t this ex-Augustinian priest on his list?’ The attorney general didn’t name John D. Murphy. The Archdiocese of Chicago settled claims over Murphy but doesn’t include him on its list. And his order hasn’t named abusers — but said Saturday it hopes to “in the near future.” By Robert Herguth [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   The Watchdogs Kwame Raoul slams Blase Cupich comments on priest sex abuse report The cardinal’s questions on how the Illinois attorney general’s abuse claims were substantiated “are particularly perplexing because many of those 125 names” came from the Archdiocese of Chicago, Raoul said. By Robert Herguth [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   Letters to the Editor Cardinal Cupich’s response to clergy sex abuse report is disappointing Cardinal Blase Cupich’s statement in response to Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s report was overly defensive and tone-deaf. By Letters to the Editor [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   Editorials Cupich’s lackluster response to alarming undercount of Catholic clergy sex abuse won’t cut it There’s no room for anything other than full acceptance of the hard, brutal truth revealed by a five-year investigation: The Catholic Church in Illinois failed to acknowledge hundreds of allegedly abusive priests and other religious figures. By CST Editorial Board [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   The Watchdogs Catholic church in Illinois vastly underreported clergy sex abuse, Kwame Raoul finds At the start of a five-year investigation by the attorney general, Cardinal Blase Cupich told seminarians the Archdiocese of Chicago had “posted all of the names” of predatory clergy. As the investigation neared its end, Cupich kept adding names. By Robert Herguth [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   Religion Evergreen Park priest reinstated after child sexual abuse accusation The Rev. Paul Guzman returns to his position as associate pastor at Most Holy Redeemer Parish effective immediately, according to a letter from Cardinal Blase Cupich. By Mohammad Samra [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   Religion Evergreen Park priest under investigation over decades-old child sexual abuse accusation In a letter Saturday, Cardinal Blase Cupich said an accusation has been reported to the archdiocese that the Rev. Paul Guzman abused a minor when he was a layman — 25 years before entering Mundelein Seminary. By Cindy Hernandez [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   The Watchdogs Benedictine order admits keeping cleric at Marmion Academy for years after child sex abuse accusations The Catholic order’s Marmion Abbey has posted a list of “established offenders.” Unanswered: why Brother Jerome Skaja stayed with the order for years despite “multiple” credible accusations of molesting minors. By Robert Herguth [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   News ‘It’s good to be home,’ Rev. Michael Pfleger tells St. Sabina congregation In his first Sunday Mass since being reinstated, the Rev. Michael Pfleger ties unfounded sex abuse allegations to forces opposed to his activism. By David Struett [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   Religion Rev. Michael Pfleger reinstated at St. Sabina after review board clears him of latest sex abuse allegation Pfleger, 73, said he would return to lead Mass on Sunday. He has staunchly denied all claims of wrongdoing and was roundly supported by parishioners. By Mitchell Armentrout  and Violet Miller [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   Chicago Pfleger supporters call for priest’s reinstatement to his parish: ‘Bring Father Mike home for the holidays’ The Rev. Michael Pfleger, longtime pastor of St. Sabina Church, was removed pending investigation of a sexual abuse allegation from more than 30 years ago. By Michael Loria [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   Religion Lawyers to archdiocese: add Rev. George Clements to list of priests accused of sex abuse The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago has paid $800,000 this year to settle decades-old claims against the longtime Bronzeville pastor and four other priests. By Andy Grimm [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   Letters to the Editor Public displays of support for Pfleger make it harder for child sex crime victims to come forward It is amazing that four men have dared to come forward with allegations against Fr. Michael Pfleger. May they get a fair hearing. By Letters to the Editor [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   The Watchdogs Cardinal Blase Cupich is still keeping secrets on child sex abuse by order priests The Archdiocese of Chicago for the first time has posted the names of credibly accused sex-offender priests from multiple Catholic religious orders — with many unexplained omissions. By Robert Herguth [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   Religion St. Sabina Church stands by Rev. Pfleger amid new sex abuse accusation: ‘Father Mike, this is your army’ During Sunday Mass, parishioners wore shirts saying, ‘We stand with Father Pfleger.’ The popular priest denies the latest allegation — the fourth against him. By David Struett [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   Religion Rev. Michael Pfleger removed from St. Sabina again as archdiocese investigates another decades-old sex abuse claim The new accusation comes less than two years after the popular priest was cleared by the Archdiocese of Chicago of separate accusations. By Mitchell Armentrout  and Violet Miller [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   The Watchdogs Lawyer says Benedictine monk sexually abused him as a teen at Marmion school and Catholic order covered it up ‘Treat it as a dead subject,’ the victim says the dean of the Catholic school in Aurora told him. The Benedictines are still keeping secrets about clergy sex abuse, a Sun-Times investigation has found. By Robert Herguth [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   Religion Chicago Archdiocese settles sex abuse case for $1.75 million A woman said she was abused in the 1980s at a Catholic school on the South Side, St. Cyril Catholic School in Woodlawn, which since has closed. By Mitch Dudek [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]