The letter arrived in late July with the tone of the two before it, the ones that announced the Rev. David Ryan , a longtime Chicago-area priest, had been placed on leave amid allegations of child sexual abuse.

This one, like those previous, came with a sense of the somber, an acknowledgment of the severity of the accusations and a reminder of the presumption of innocence.

The letter was dated July 29, with Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, addressing the St. Francis de Sales parish community in Lake Zurich. It marked at least the third time since 2020 that Cupich had sent such a note acknowledging the accusations that have embroiled Ryan.

The cardinal opened this latest letter with a line that now felt familiar amid controversy that refuses to fade:

“It is with gr

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