Friday, May 06, 2011

Abuse audits reveal problems

Most U.S. dioceses are in compliance with the U.S. bishops’ “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,” but annual audits are uncovering problem areas and reports of boundary violations short of abuse, such as inappropriate hugging.

“Management letters” were issued to 55 of the 188 dioceses participating in the annual compliance assessments.

The letters “offered guidance for performance improvement or highlighted potential problem areas.”    

U.S. dioceses and religious orders received 505 new credible allegations of child sex abuse by clergy in 2010, a slight decrease from the previous year and a significant drop from the 1,092 new allegations reported in 2004.

Only seven of the new allegations involved children under the age of 18 in 2010, with two-thirds of the new allegations having occurred or begun between 1960 and 1984.

Costs associated with child sex abuse amounted to $123.7 million for U.S. dioceses and $25.9 million for religious orders in 2010, bringing to nearly $2.7 billion the amount spent by the U.S. Catholic Church to address clergy sex abuse since 2004.

The Diocese of Lincoln, Neb., was the only diocese that did not participate in the 2010 survey.