More than 4,000 priests accused of sex abuse, report says

[Hoss68]

Rachel Zoll, Associated Press
Published February 16, 2004


NEW YORK - A draft of the upcoming national survey of sex abuse claims against Roman Catholic priests has been viewed by CNN, which reported Monday that 4,450 clergy have been accused of molesting minors since 1950.

The draft survey said 11,000 abuse claims have been filed against the U.S. churchmen during that period, CNN reported.

Robert S. Bennett, a prominent Washington attorney and member of the National Review Board, the lay watchdog panel the bishops formed to oversee the study, refused comment on the statistics CNN reported.

He emphasized that the study is not complete and no definitive numbers have been tallied. Drafts are circulating only among board members and researchers for the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, which is conducting the survey, he said.

No bishops have seen the John Jay study, said Bennett, who also is overseeing the board's investigation into the causes of the clergy abuse scandal. The results of both inquiries are to be released Feb. 27.

``Both the National Review Board report and the John Jay study are still in the process of being written,'' he said. ``People should wait until then to draw their conclusion.''

Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, was traveling Monday and could not immediately be reached for comment, said his spokesman, David Spotanski.

A woman who answered a phone line at John Jay's research center would not give her name and said the college had no comment.

The bishops commissioned the unprecedented study as part of a series of reforms meant to restore trust in their leadership. The national survey won't break down statistics by individual diocese, but some bishops are releasing local figures to fulfill their pledge of transparency.

Reporters from The Associated Press have been tracking those numbers, and have found that 84 of 195 U.S. dioceses have reported claims so far - with 1,413 clergy accused of abuse since 1950.

That statistic is already much greater than previously estimated by victims' groups and the media. It is not known how many priests worked in those dioceses during that time, but the number is expected to be in the tens of thousands. The dioceses have reported 2,990 abuse claims so far.

The draft survey said 78 percent of those abused were between the ages of 11 and 17, and that more than half the accused priests had a single allegation filed against them, CNN reported.

It said the report blames the sex abuse crisis on the bishops' failure to grasp the gravity of the problem, their misguided willingness to forgive and their emphasis on avoiding scandal, among other things.

Victim advocates say the survey ultimately will underestimate the number of cases because the report is based on self-reporting by bishops.

[Ascout]

"investigation into the causes of the clergy abuse scandal"


They need to convene a board for that?

And what is being investigated....clergy abuse....or the scandal? ...'cause the latter one is because too many people are coming forward and starting to talk...can't keep a lid on it anymore.

[se0sea]

I am Roman Catholic.

I cant believe this has happened so much.TOO much!
I'm not ashamed to be raised as one,but am really pissed and just dont understand why.

I know many who were raised Roman Catholic and I would like to see what they feel about this.

[kruser79]

Although I wasn't raised as one, my Dad's family is staunch Roman Catholic (even spent a year in the same Catholic school my Dad attended, St. Theresa's). I haven't a clue into why this is so deep and widespread. Could it be a perverse mental twisting of the celibacy vows? Or maybe the pressure of an entire community relying on your every word.
In any case, I'm aghast, just trying to fathom the number of lives this has impacted. I have to believe, that as a shepard you are held to a higher standard. Violating a higher statute means a harder fall.....

[efin98]

If what happened in the Boston Achdiosis is an indicator, things are going to get worse for the church before they get better. 4,000 is a low figure, there is probably at least double that still being either covered up or uncovered. It's a dark day for the church but it's self inflicted.

[Hoss68]

Is it just me, or does it seem that most of those violated by clergy are male victims?

[efin98]

There are actually quite a few females that were violated but the overwhelming majority are males. I believe that the female abuse is probably supressed alot more than the male abuse as it is a direct violation of canon law so those cases are fewer and far between getting discovered.