Retired Chicago celebrity priest Father George Clements is now facing an accusation of sexually abusing a minor in the 1970s.
Cardinal Blase Cupich has asked Clements “to step aside from ministry” pending the outcome of an investigation into the sex abuse claim, according to a statement from the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Clements, 87, rose to national prominence after becoming the first Catholic priest to adopt a child in 1980.
Seven years later, he was the subject of a made-forTV movie, “The Father Clements Story,” featuring Louis Gossett Jr. in the title role Carroll O’Connor as Cardinal John Cody.
The archdiocese said the alleged abuse occurred in 1974 while Clements served as pastor of Holy Angels Parish in Bronzeville.
The archdiocese’s Office for Child Abuse Investigations was told of the allegation by the Chicago Police Department. The archdiocese, in turn, alerted the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Clements served as pastor of Holy Angels from 1969 until 1991.
