[11] In August 2019, Cardinal Blase Cupich asked Clements to step aside from ministry while the Church investigated allegations that he sexually abused a minor in 1974.

[12][13][14][5] The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services later determined that the allegations were "unfounded” (a designation meaning that the DCFS closed the investigation because it did not concern a current child victim).

[4] After an 11-month investigation, the Independent Review Board of the Archdiocese of Chicago determined that "'in light of the information presented, there is not reasonable cause to believe that Clements sexually abused' the accuser when he was a minor.

[7] The goal of the program was to assist churches nationwide in helping recovering drug addicts through job counseling, spiritual consolation, and professional treatment.

[18] The Father Clements Story was produced as a television movie in 1987 by NBC and starred actors Lou Gossett, Jr., Malcolm-Jamal Warner, and Carroll O'Connor.