US Dioceses Rarely Told Results of Priest Abuse Probes Study, AFP, June 12, 2008

US Dioceses Rarely Told Results of Priest Abuse Probes: Study

AFP
June 12, 2008

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jU7nXfgcEWZfr3DOC0GpB1aQ_CPw

ORLANDO, Florida (AFP) — US Catholic officials told families the outcome of their probes into accusations of sexual abuse by priests in less than one-third of the cases, a study said Thursday.

Unveiled during a Conference of Catholic Bishops meeting in Orlando, Florida, the preliminary study into the sex abuse scandal that has rocked the church showed that 40 percent of cases were reported between 1988-1998.

US Catholic officials rarely told families the outcome of their probes into accusations of sexual abuse by priests

During that decade, nine out of 10 US dioceses received reports of sexual abuse by priests, said the study by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York.

Families of alleged victims had to make more than one effort to contact the diocese in 60 percent of the cases, it said.

"In 75 percent of the cases the dioceses conducted an investigation but the family was contacted about the result of the diocesan investigation in less than one-third of the cases," the study said.

The research was based on studies of identity and behavior of leaders and graduates of seminaries, and interviews with priests and bishops. The final findings will be released in a few years.

The semi-annual spring meeting of US bishops came two months after Pope Benedict XVI paid a landmark visit to the United States that was aimed at healing the wounds caused by the priest sex abuse scandal.

Benedict referred to the scandal repeatedly during his stay, and took the unprecedented and unexpected step of meeting in Washington with victims of predator priests.

The US church was shaken financially and morally by the scandal, which erupted in 2002 when the then-archbishop of Boston confessed to having shielded a priest he knew had sexually abused youngsters.

Numbers put forward by the US church show there have been 14,000 victims of some 4,000 to 5,000 clerics since the 1960s, and both abuse victims and their supporters have left the church over the scandal.