Joliet Diocese List of Credibly Accused Abusers Includes Former Downers Grove Pastors

In addition to the thousands of pages to be released detailing decades of abuse at the hands of Catholic priests in the Joliet Diocese, the organization Tuesday also released an updated list of credibly accused abusers.

The list includes two priests from the Divine Savior Parish in Downers Grove, including its founding pastor, the Rev. Donald Pock.

The accusations against Pock were brought to light in 2002—two years before his death, according to the diocese. He served as pastor of Divine Savior from 1968 until 1975. 

Divine Savior's website states that Pock left due to ill health, but a 2006 report by Sun-Times Media claimed he was removed from the parish and sent for counseling after allegations of sexual abuse.

Pock was then appointed associate pastor at St. Patrick Parish in Joliet, and became pastor of St. Joseph in Manteno in 1978. In 1987, he became pastor of St. Peter Parish in Itasca, according to his obituary.

Pock was removed from St. Peter in 2002 because of allegations from another man, according to the Sun-Times Media report.

Also listed was the Rev. Lawrence Gibbs, a pastor who served Divine Savior Parish for a few months in 1977. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Gibbs was accused of molesting children during his stints at churches in Lombard, Lockport and Glen Ellyn, according to a CBS Chicago report.

The list of Joliet Diocesan priests with credible allegations now stands at 34. According an NBC5 report, the list includes the names of priests named in lawsuits and some who have already been convicted.

Find the updated list here.

As part of a lawsuit settlement also approved Tuesday, the Catholic Diocese of Joliet will release more than 7,000 internal documents that reportedly show that every bishop since the 1950s has been aware of diocese priests sexually abusing children.

The documents include personnel files and other items related to 15 diocese priests accused of sexual abuse over a 50-year period ending in the 1990s. They will be released by plaintiff David Rudofski through his Chicago lawyer, Terrence Johnson, as part of his settlement with the diocese.

Although the diocese bears the Joliet name, it actually encompasses seven counties—Will, DuPage, Grundy, Kendall, Ford, Iroquois and Kankakee.

READ MORE: Joliet Diocese To Release Documents Related to Sex Abuse by Priests

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