UNITED STATES
Catholic Culture
The clerical abuse scandal cost American dioceses $108,954,109 in 2013, according to a report released on March 28 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
Only 62% of those funds were allotted to settlements ($61.1 million) and therapy for abuse victims ($6.1 million). The remaining funds were spent on attorneys’ fees ($28.9 million), support for offenders ($10.4 million), and other costs ($2.4 million), according to the 2013 “Report on the Implementation of the Charter for Protection of Children and Young People.”
The clerical abuse scandal cost religious institutes an additional $14,411,168 in 2013. These expenses brought the total cost of the clerical abuse scandal to American dioceses and religious institutes between 2004 and 2012 to $2,744,881,843: $2,351,903,157 for dioceses and eparchies, and $392,978,686 for religious institutes.
The report added that dioceses, eparchies, and religious orders spent $41,721,675 for child protection efforts in 2013.
During the 2013 audit period, “370 new credible allegations of sexual abuse of a minor” were lodged by 365 persons– nine of them minors, the rest of them adults who said they were abused when they were minors. “These allegations were made by 365 individuals against 290 priests or deacons,” the report stated. 56% of them “had already been identified in prior allegations,” and 73% “are deceased, already removed from ministry, already laicized, or missing.”
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