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player ready...The Rev. Kenneth Fleck has been cleared of allegations of child sexual abuse and reinstated, the Archdiocese of Chicago said in letters Saturday signed by Cardinal Blase Cupich.
Fleck was asked to cease ministry and live away from any parish in July while an investigation was carried out after the church was made aware of a forthcoming lawsuit accusing him of sexual abuse, according to the archdiocese.
“While he strenuously denied the allegation, he fully complied with my request and cooperated with the investigation,” Cupich said Saturday in letters to various parishes where Fleck had served.
The archdiocese’s independent review board conducted a thorough investigation and concluded there “is not a reasonable cause to believe Father Fleck sexually abused the person making the accusation,” Cupich said.
Fleck served congregations in Chicago and the south suburbs, including St. George Catholic Church in Tinley Park, for five decades. He was pastor at St. George from 2003 until 2020, when he retired from that position, but remained active in ministry.
“With great joy, the Cardinal announced that Father Ken Fleck has been cleared of any wrong doing,” St. George announced on its social media Saturday. “We look forward to him getting back into the ministry God has called him to.”
St. George celebrated Fleck’s 50-year anniversary of entering the priesthood in June, when he presided over a special Mass attended by an estimated 700 people.
The archdiocese said in July it requested to interview the person making the allegation to gather more information, but that request was denied. The abuse was alleged to have occurred more than 30 years ago at Our Lady of Peace Parish on the South Side of Chicago, where Fleck was pastor from 1984 until 1996.
Fleck also served St. Jude the Apostle Parish in South Holland as an associate pastor from 2002 to 2003, which was later combined into Christ Our Savior Parish, the de facto home parish of Pope Leo XIV.