Weblog

NEW YORK - The number of sex abuse claims against Roman Catholic clergy dropped for the third consecutive year, but total payouts to victims nearly doubled to reach their highest level ever, according to a new report for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.Dioceses and religious orders received 691 new allegations last year, compared with 714 in 2006. The overwhelming majority of claims date back decades Settlements with victims increased by 90 percent over the same period, to more than $526 million - the largest amount for one year.
The findings, released Friday, are part of an annual review the American bishops commissioned in 2002 as the abuse crisis consumed the church. A companion audit of bishops’ child safety policies found that nearly every diocese was following the plan.Still, the bishops’ child protection officer cautioned against “issue fatigue.”Auditors found that some lay-clergy review boards - created in every diocese to help bishops respond to abuse - hadn’t met in more than a year because no new allegations had been made. Two archdioceses - Denver and Anchorage - hadn’t reported abuse claims to civil authorities until after the lapse was discovered in the audit.The abuse crisis erupted in 2002, with the case of one predator priest in the Archdiocese of Boston, then spread to dioceses nationwide and beyond. The bishops responded by enacting the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, which requires dioceses to conduct background checks on workers, provide safety training to children and reach out to victims.
Nearly 14,000 molestation claims have been filed against Catholic clergy since 1950, according to tallies released by the bishops’ conference. Abuse-related costs have reached at least $2.3 billion in the same period.Last year, total abuse-related costs, including settlements, legal fees, therapy for victims and support for offenders, surpassed $615 million for dioceses and religious orders.The National Review Board, the lay panel the bishops established to monitor their policies, said dioceses should improve background checks on priests from other countries and review standards of conduct with them. American dioceses are relying increasingly on overseas priests as the number of U.S. clergy sharply decline.Most of the new allegations were made by adults who said they had been abused about three decades ago. A large majority of the 491 clergy accused last year were dead or missing, or had either been barred from public church work or defrocked because of other molestation cases.About 40 percent of the clergy was newly accused.