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	U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Washington Post March 21, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/20/AR2009032002981_pf.html Group Reports Rise in Clergy Sex Abuse Claims U.S. Catholic leaders processed more than 800 allegations of clergy sexual abuse last year, a 16 percent increase from 2007. The majority of the allegations involved abuse that occurred decades ago. A report issued last week by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops showed 803 allegations were filed by 706 victims last year against 518 clergy members. The church also spent more than $436 million in legal settlements, attorneys' fees and counseling costs. Just 13 of the 803 cases involved alleged abuse of a minor that occurred during 2008. Nearly all of the cases involved accusations of molestation that occurred decades ago. The church said 83 percent of those accused were dead, defrocked or missing. The relative lack of recent cases shows that the American church has "turned a corner" in the abuse scandal that erupted seven years ago, said Teresa M. Kettlekamp, director of the bishops' abuse-prevention office. Victims' advocates, however, raised questions about a section in the report that said "many dioceses are conducting . . . investigations themselves without also making a report to civil authorities," which would be a direct violation of the bishops' 2002 reforms. David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, worried that children could be at risk while church officials sift through allegations without first alerting law enforcement. "To be honest, this is precisely what got us into this mess to begin with: untrained, biased church amateurs trying to be cops, investigators, forensic experts and prosecutors," he said. Kettlekamp, however, said her report raised the issue only as a cautionary warning to dioceses not to try to handle criminal behavior on their own. She said she would not include it in a "problem category." "Our rule of thumb is that if it involves a current minor, you involve the civil authorities immediately and rely on their expertise," she said in an interview. "I'm not saying we have this problem; I'm saying I don't want this to become a problem." The increase from 691 allegations in 2007 to 803 in 2008 appears to be fueled by a 93 percent spike in abuse involving members of religious communities. Those allegations nearly doubled, from 92 to 178; 40 percent of the 2008 allegations involved one religious order. By comparison, the number of allegations reported by the nation's 195 dioceses increased by 26, or 4 percent, from 2007. Leader Meets With Obama on Policy Changes President Obama met this week with the nation's top Catholic bishop, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, after weeks of growing tension over policy changes in the young administration. George, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, met with Obama for 30 minutes Tuesday to discuss "important opportunities for the government and the Catholic Church to continue their long-standing partnership to tackle some of the nation's most pressing challenges," the White House said in a statement. The USCCB said George "expressed his gratitude for the meeting and his hopes that it will foster fruitful dialogue for the sake of the common good." It was the first time Obama and George have met since the November election, according to the White House, though they have spoken twice on the phone. The U.S. Catholic bishops have blasted Obama for opening federal funding to international family planning groups and embryonic stem cell research while planning to roll back conscience protections for health-care workers. At the same time, Catholic Charities USA and other Catholic advocates have praised Obama's proposed federal budget, which includes funding boosts for health care, affordable housing, food stamps and Medicaid. RELIGIOUS MATERIALS Coalition Protests Proposed Prison Ban A coalition of religious organizations and the American Civil Liberties Union have joined forces to protest a proposed rule by the federal Bureau of Prisons to allow officials to ban religious materials from prison chapel libraries if they could possibly promote "violence or criminal activity." A 14-page letter -- signed by leaders of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, the American Jewish Congress, Muslim Advocates, the United Methodist Church, Seventh-day Adventists and others -- was submitted this week to the Bureau of Prisons general counsel. "Distributing and reading religious material is as protected under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as worshipping in churches or preaching from the pulpits," said David Shapiro, staff attorney for the ACLU's National Prison Project. "It is not the role of the government to dictate what is religiously acceptable." The outcry comes two years after federal prison officials were widely criticized for trying to push a list of "acceptable materials" that restricted several popular books, including megachurch pastor Rick Warren's "The Purpose Driven Life." Anger over that move prompted Congress to pass the Second Chance Act, which forbids prisons from restricting access to religious materials -- with an exception for works that could incite criminal behavior.
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