Omaha archbishop denies sexual abuse accusations

Omaha Archbishop George Lucas in a 2011 photo. / null

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 26, 2024 / 15:40 pm (CNA).

Omaha Archbishop George Lucas has categorically denied accusations that he sexually abused two minors several decades ago while he was dean of education at St. Louis Preparatory Seminary in Missouri.

Lucas is one of several dozen priests, nuns, and lay men and women accused of sexual abuse of minors in a series of five separate lawsuits filed by 27 anonymous plaintiffs on Wednesday.

The abuse is alleged to have occurred over the span of several decades, with some of the purported crimes allegedly having occurred as recently as 2015.

The lawsuit naming Lucas was filed in the St. Louis County District Court. It alleges that as a priest Lucas coerced a 16-year-old boy identified as “D.S.” and another student into performing sexual acts with him at the St. Louis school. 

The suit alleges that Lucas first met D.S. at the school in 1988 and that the now-archbishop of Omaha began regularly sexually abusing the victim when he was a junior in high school, including manipulating him into performing a sexual act for better grades on at least one occasion.

Lucas strongly denied the accusations in a statement to CNA on Friday.

“I categorically deny the accusation made by an anonymous person. I have never had sexual contact with another person,” the prelate said.

The archbishop said he has “referred the matter” to the Vatican’s apostolic nuncio to the U.S., Cardinal Christophe Pierre, “for his guidance.”

The five lawsuits were filed within 24 hours of each other in five different Missouri counties within the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. 

The suits are seeking compensation for damages by the alleged abusers from the Archdiocese of St. Louis and its head, Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski.

Rozanski, who has been head of the diocese since 2020, is not being accused of sexual abuse, though the suit accuses Rozanski of knowingly covering up “multiple decades” worth of sexual abuse of minors.

According to David Clohessy, a spokesman for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), ten of the accused persons named in the lawsuits are still living.

Clohessy said that the testimony in the suits would encourage others to also come forward and would help heal victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

“Among the most devastating consequences of childhood sexual abuse is a feeling of utter helplessness. So, when victims are able to speak and take action and expose wrongdoers it helps victims feel like they’re making progress and turning their pain into something that can be helpful to others,” he said.

The anonymous plaintiffs in the suits are being represented by attorneys from the law firms Bailey & Glasser, Levy Konigsberg, and Randles Mata.

The Archdiocese of St. Louis did not immediately respond to a query from CNA.