Sexual abuse allegations have been made against a Chicago priest who served eight Chicago and suburban parishes over the past five decades.
Cardinal Blase Cupich, the Archbishop of Chicago, sent a letter to the churches in question, informing the parish communities that Rev. Curtis Lambert had been accused of sexually abusing a minor in the 1980s. Lambert served Catholics in a number of areas, including Prospect Heights, Portage Park and Mount Prospect.
Lambert was first assigned to St. Basil Visitation Catholic Church in Englewood and currently serves at St. Peter Damian Catholic Church in suburban Bartlett. The allegations of abuse, however, were from his time at Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in suburban Melrose Park.
Alfred Antonsen, the Chicago leader of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said he hates “to see it happening over and over and over again.”
“I’m not going to say he’s guilty, I’m not going to say he’s innocent because I don’t know,” Antonsen said. “But I know it’s hard to make these things up.”
Antonsen was abused when he was a sophomore in high school.
“Took me almost 50 years,” he said. “I blocked it out of my mind for almost 50 years. And when I got these memories back, I was an angry person for a long time.”
He now advocates for other survivors and for more accountability in the Catholic Church. He also happens to know Lambert.
“He’s just always seemed like a really good guy, a really nice guy,” Antonsen said. “It’s hard to hear those things.”
Cupich, in his letter to parish communities, said Lambert “strenuously denies this allegation,” but went on to say:
“I want to stress that the welfare of the children entrusted to our care is our paramount concern,” he stated. “The Archdiocese of Chicago takes all allegations of sexual misconduct seriously and encourages anyone who feels they have been sexually abused by a priest, deacon, religious or lay employee to come forward. They will be received with dignity and compassion.”