ATLANTA (GA)
CNN
June 4, 2019
Between June 2017 and June 2018 the Catholic Church in the United States spent a whopping $301.6 million on costs related to clergy sexual abuse, including nearly $200 million in legal settlements, according to a report commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The new report also revealed that, during the same 12-month period, the church fielded 1,051 new “credible allegations” of sexual abuse of a minor by priests and other clergy.
The number of allegations and the costs related to abuse were significantly higher than reported in previous years, which the report attributes to a victim-compensation program adopted in New York state last year. That program fielded 785 new allegations of abuse against Catholic clergy, many from past decades.
What’s remarkable is that these numbers may rise against next year.
The information in the new report, released last Friday, predates the escalation of the church’s sexual abuse scandal last summer. That’s when abuse allegations surfaced against former cardinal Theodore McCarrick and a damning report by a Pennsylvania grand jury accused some 301 “predator priests” of abusing more than 1,000 victims.
Most of those accusations dated from before 2002, when the bishops instituted new sex-abuse polices.
But those policies do not apply to bishops, a loophole the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have pledged to fix next week at their annual meeting in Baltimore.
How the money was spent
Called the “Report on the Implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,” the 74-page document is based on statistics provided by religious orders, the country’s 197 Catholic dioceses and information obtained by an outside auditor, StoneBridge BusinessPartners.
Here’s how the $301 million was spent:
— Settlements: $194,346,291.
— Other payments to victims: $7,317,904.
— Support for offenders: $23,366,845.
— Attorney fees: $30,517,658.
— Other costs: $7,070,839.
— Child-protection efforts, including background checks and training: $39,290,069.
According to the report, between June 2017 and June 2018 there was an 132% increase in allegations, a 133% increase in victims, and a 51% increase in offenders reported over the previous 12 months.
The $301 million spent by dioceses and religious institutes on child protection efforts and costs related to abuse allegations represents a 14% increase from the previous year, according to the report.
The vast majority of the accused abuse occurred before 1999, according to the report. Nearly half (48%) is alleged to have occurred before 1975 and an additional 40% between 1975-1999, the report says.
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