DRMIZER
11-09-2003, 02:01 PM
26 Priests Identified as Likely Molesters
The Washington Archdiocese said yesterday that 26 of its priests have been credibly accused of child sexual abuse over the past 56 years and that it has spent $4.3 million on victim compensation, legal fees and other expenses stemming from those cases.
About 85 percent of the incidents of abuse occurred before 1980, and the last known incidents occurred in 1990, said archdiocesan spokeswoman Susan Gibbs. She said that none of the 26 priests is still in active ministry.
The archdiocese compiled the figures as part of a survey mandated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Under policies that the bishops adopted last year, all of the country's 194 Catholic dioceses are required to conduct such reviews and to send the results to researchers who are compiling a national study on the scope of the child sexual abuse scandal in the church.
The dioceses are not required to release their figures to the public, however, and church officials have said that the national study will not list the number of abusers or the financial costs for each diocese.
So far, only about a dozen dioceses have made a full public accounting of how much money they have spent on sexual abuse settlements, and relatively few have disclosed the numbers of their priests who have been accused of abuse.
The Archdiocese of Baltimore was among the first to disclose such figures. In September 2002, the archdiocese announced that it had spent more than $5.6 million in the previous 20 years for abuse-related expenses, and it named 56 priests who had been accused of molesting children in incidents since the 1950s.
The Rev. Robert J. Rippy, a spokesman for Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde, said yesterday that the bishop wants to give survey results to the priests in his diocese before he discloses them to the public. After that, "I'm sure . . . the bishop will release" them, Rippy said.
Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, archbishop of Washington, released the figures for his jurisdiction Wednesday night to about 250 diocesan priests gathered for a two-day meeting in Cambridge, Md. Once he had done that, McCarrick felt that it was "appropriate to share it with the parishioners," Gibbs said.
McCarrick said most priests in the audience were relieved and saddened by the numbers.
"I think they were glad to get the information, and I think generally they were troubled and dismayed that we had these cases," he said. "They knew that these terrible problems were present in our diocese, but I think they thank God that we have not had the terrible problems that other dioceses have had -- although one case is a horror and one case is a tragedy."
Gibbs released the names of the 16 accused priests whose cases have been covered in the news media. She said the archdiocese is not naming the other 10 priests because they are deceased and "it didn't seem appropriate to release names of people who could not speak for themselves and are no longer a risk to children."
Gibbs said the archdiocese review found that 119 people had alleged abuse by priests during the 56 years.
The total of 26 credibly accused priests represents about 2.5 percent of the 1,056 diocesan priests who have worked in the archdiocese during that period.
Frederick S. Berlin, a psychiatrist at the Johns Hopkins University medical school in Baltimore and a consultant to the U.S. Catholic bishops on the issue of clerical sexual abuse, said the percentage "is compatible" with past estimates that 2 percent to 3 percent of Catholic clergy have been involved in sexual abuse of minors.
The president of the U.S. bishops conference, Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, has said the national study, being done by researchers at John Jay College in New York and due to be completed in February, probably will produce "startling" numbers.
At the same time, Gregory has cautioned that there are no comparable studies showing what percentage of people in other occupations -- or what percentage of the total male population -- has committed child sexual abuse.
David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the number of abusers disclosed by the Washington Archdiocese sounded too low.
"It's crucial that we keep in mind that this is, again, self-reporting," Clohessy said. "I think any reasonable person would assume that those numbers don't fully reflect the reality."
As for the amount spent by the archdiocese, Clohessy said, "Sadly, we'll never know accurate numbers because . . . no truly independent outside auditors get to examine archdiocesan finances."
Gibbs said that of the $4.3 million the archdiocese incurred in abuse-related expenses, $3.2 million was for "victim assistance," including $2.6 million for compensation and $627,500 for counseling. The rest included $650,500 for legal fees and $501,000 for priest evaluation and care.
All of those expenses were paid by insurance companies or with reserve funds set aside to cover insurance deductibles, Gibbs said. None of the money came from donations to the church, she said.
Among other dioceses that have disclosed total spending on child sexual abuse cases, the amounts have included $426,000 in the Diocese of Rochester, N.Y.; $3.6 million in Belleville, Ill.; $4.1 million in Seattle; $4.9 million in Winona, Minn.; and $16.8 million in Chicago.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9879-2003Nov6.html
The Washington Archdiocese said yesterday that 26 of its priests have been credibly accused of child sexual abuse over the past 56 years and that it has spent $4.3 million on victim compensation, legal fees and other expenses stemming from those cases.
About 85 percent of the incidents of abuse occurred before 1980, and the last known incidents occurred in 1990, said archdiocesan spokeswoman Susan Gibbs. She said that none of the 26 priests is still in active ministry.
The archdiocese compiled the figures as part of a survey mandated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Under policies that the bishops adopted last year, all of the country's 194 Catholic dioceses are required to conduct such reviews and to send the results to researchers who are compiling a national study on the scope of the child sexual abuse scandal in the church.
The dioceses are not required to release their figures to the public, however, and church officials have said that the national study will not list the number of abusers or the financial costs for each diocese.
So far, only about a dozen dioceses have made a full public accounting of how much money they have spent on sexual abuse settlements, and relatively few have disclosed the numbers of their priests who have been accused of abuse.
The Archdiocese of Baltimore was among the first to disclose such figures. In September 2002, the archdiocese announced that it had spent more than $5.6 million in the previous 20 years for abuse-related expenses, and it named 56 priests who had been accused of molesting children in incidents since the 1950s.
The Rev. Robert J. Rippy, a spokesman for Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde, said yesterday that the bishop wants to give survey results to the priests in his diocese before he discloses them to the public. After that, "I'm sure . . . the bishop will release" them, Rippy said.
Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, archbishop of Washington, released the figures for his jurisdiction Wednesday night to about 250 diocesan priests gathered for a two-day meeting in Cambridge, Md. Once he had done that, McCarrick felt that it was "appropriate to share it with the parishioners," Gibbs said.
McCarrick said most priests in the audience were relieved and saddened by the numbers.
"I think they were glad to get the information, and I think generally they were troubled and dismayed that we had these cases," he said. "They knew that these terrible problems were present in our diocese, but I think they thank God that we have not had the terrible problems that other dioceses have had -- although one case is a horror and one case is a tragedy."
Gibbs released the names of the 16 accused priests whose cases have been covered in the news media. She said the archdiocese is not naming the other 10 priests because they are deceased and "it didn't seem appropriate to release names of people who could not speak for themselves and are no longer a risk to children."
Gibbs said the archdiocese review found that 119 people had alleged abuse by priests during the 56 years.
The total of 26 credibly accused priests represents about 2.5 percent of the 1,056 diocesan priests who have worked in the archdiocese during that period.
Frederick S. Berlin, a psychiatrist at the Johns Hopkins University medical school in Baltimore and a consultant to the U.S. Catholic bishops on the issue of clerical sexual abuse, said the percentage "is compatible" with past estimates that 2 percent to 3 percent of Catholic clergy have been involved in sexual abuse of minors.
The president of the U.S. bishops conference, Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, has said the national study, being done by researchers at John Jay College in New York and due to be completed in February, probably will produce "startling" numbers.
At the same time, Gregory has cautioned that there are no comparable studies showing what percentage of people in other occupations -- or what percentage of the total male population -- has committed child sexual abuse.
David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the number of abusers disclosed by the Washington Archdiocese sounded too low.
"It's crucial that we keep in mind that this is, again, self-reporting," Clohessy said. "I think any reasonable person would assume that those numbers don't fully reflect the reality."
As for the amount spent by the archdiocese, Clohessy said, "Sadly, we'll never know accurate numbers because . . . no truly independent outside auditors get to examine archdiocesan finances."
Gibbs said that of the $4.3 million the archdiocese incurred in abuse-related expenses, $3.2 million was for "victim assistance," including $2.6 million for compensation and $627,500 for counseling. The rest included $650,500 for legal fees and $501,000 for priest evaluation and care.
All of those expenses were paid by insurance companies or with reserve funds set aside to cover insurance deductibles, Gibbs said. None of the money came from donations to the church, she said.
Among other dioceses that have disclosed total spending on child sexual abuse cases, the amounts have included $426,000 in the Diocese of Rochester, N.Y.; $3.6 million in Belleville, Ill.; $4.1 million in Seattle; $4.9 million in Winona, Minn.; and $16.8 million in Chicago.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9879-2003Nov6.html