UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org
Number of Priests Accused of Sexually Abusing Children As Reported by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishopswith Numbers of Persons Alleging Abuse
Compiled by BishopAccountability.org
From reports commissioned by the USCCB
Updated April 10, 2012
As of April 10, 2012, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has counted 6,115 clerics “not implausibly” and “credibly” accused in 1950-2011 of sexually abusing minors. The USCCB total omits allegations made in 2003.
As of April 10, 2012, the USCCB has counted 16,324 individuals who have alleged that they were abused as minors by priests. The USCCB total omits persons who made allegations in 2003.
In the table below, we provide year-by-year the USCCB’s data – on accused priests and persons making allegations – which add up to 6,115 accused priests and 16,324 survivors. The numbers in the table are color-coded for easier reference. We also provide links to all the USCCB source documents.
The USCCB hired the John Jay College of Criminal Justice to evaluate data submitted by member bishops regarding the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests, bishops, deacons, and seminarians. In its 2004 report, the John Jay College found that, according to survey forms completed by the bishops, they had received in 1950-2002 “not implausible” allegations of sexual abuse of minors committed by 4,392 priests, including 12 bishops.
In 2004, the USCCB commissioned the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University to begin collecting annual data on allegations and settlements, and starting in Spring 2005, CARA has published a report each year. (See Bendyna’s 2/15/05 letter to Skylstad describing the commission, in the 2005 Report, PDF p. 12.) Among other data, that report counts the number of diocesan and religious order priests “credibly” accused of abuse during the previous calendar year, and states how many of those had been accused in prior years or are being accused for the first time. These data were obtained using a survey that was available to the bishops and superiors of religious orders online. See, for example, the 2009 diocesan and religious order surveys (with aggregate U.S. numbers filled in), and see below for the Manchester diocese’s summaries of its responses to the surveys.
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