Abuse claims fall;
payouts increase
By Rachel Zoll, AP
from the Web, March 8, 2008
NEW YORK -- The number of sex
abuse claims against Roman Catholic clergymen 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.
The findings, released Friday, are part of an annual review the American bishops
commissioned in 2002 amid the abuse crisis. A companion audit of bishops'
child safety policies found that nearly every diocese was following the plan.
Findings
Dioceses and religious orders received 691 new abuse allegations last year,
compared with 714 in 2006. Most claims date back decades.
The number of accused clergy rose by 10 percent to 491. Most offenders
were dead or missing, or had already been barred from public church work or
defrocked because of other molestation cases. About 40 percent of the
clergymen hadn't been accused before.
Settlements with victims increased by 90 percent from 2006 to 2007, to more than
$526 million.
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.
Overall costs
Since 1950 -- nearly 14,000 molestation claims filed; related costs reached at
least $2.3 billion
Vigilance
Teresa Kettelkamp, executive director of the Office of Child and Youth
Protection, said the sense of urgency surrounding the issue is easing, but "just
because the number of victims has decreased, don't feel that there aren't more
victims out there needing encouragement to come forward." U.S. dioceses
are relying more on overseas priests. The National Review Board, the lay
panel the bishops set up to monitor their policies, said dioceses should improve
background checks on priests from other countries and review standards of
conduct with them.
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