c. 2005 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ More than 1,000 people alleged abuse at the hands of 756 Catholic clergy in 2004, the nation’s Catholic bishops said Friday (Feb. 18), a sign that the three-year abuse scandal continues to rock the church.

In addition, officials said various dioceses paid $157.8 million for abuse settlements, therapy and legal fees last year. Since 1950, the Catholic Church in the United States has paid at least $840 million to settle abuse cases.

“Continued vigilance and dedication to this effort is not a choice, it is a necessity,” said Kathleen McChesney, the outgoing director of child protection for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The numbers show in sharp detail that the abuse crisis which erupted in the Archdiocese of Boston three years ago continues to haunt the church. In fact, the scandal took a significant toll on the church in 2004 as three dioceses declared bankruptcy.

Combined with numbers released last year, at least 11,750 victims have made credible allegations against 5,148 clerics between 1950 and 2004. Neither of the two studies included data from 2003, and officials conceded the figures could fluctuate.

The figures were released as part of the bishops’ second annual report on child abuse, which found that nearly all _ 96 percent _ of dioceses have implemented abuse reforms adopted in 2002. Last year, that figure was 90 percent.

On-site audits by former FBI agents with the Boston-based Gavin Group found seven dioceses still have work to do. One conservative bishop, Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Neb., refused to allow auditors into his diocese.

The cases reported in 2004 followed patterns first spotted last year:

_ Most of the abuse occurred during a spike between 1965 and 1974.

_ Victims were overwhelmingly boys between 10 and 14 years old.

_ Half of the clerics involved had been previously accused of abuse.

_ Nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of the accused priests were already dead, defrocked or pulled from active ministry.

In addition, the report said 46,231 priests and deacons have undergone criminal background checks that were mandated in the 2002 reforms. Checks have also been completed on 179,656 teachers, 177,612 church employees and 769,348 volunteers.

The report said only half of all Catholic children have been trained in prevention programs designed to help them avoid _ or report _ abuse. The report said dioceses spent $20 million in 2004 on “child protection efforts.”

There was evidence, however, that the scandal is not simply “history,” as some bishops contended: 22 of the 1,092 allegations made by 1,083 people involve abuse committed in 2004, and there were nine additional cases of priests tied to child pornography. All new cases were turned over to law enforcement, McChesney said.

Most troubling for victims groups was an estimate that at least 42 priests or deacons who were accused in 2004 “remain in active ministry pending a preliminary investigation of an allegation.” Some 305 priests were temporarily suspended and 148 were permanently yanked from their pulpits.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) said the number of abusive priests still in ministry is probably much higher, and said the report violates the bishops’ promises of swift action against accused priests.

“It says to us again that when you look at behavior, not policies and promises and paperwork, you see the same destructive patterns of siding with priests and against victims,” said David Clohessy, SNAP’s national director.

With the policies coming up for routine review this year, the bishops’ president, William Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., declined to say whether the church needs a nationwide policy that calls for automatic suspension. “I can’t second-guess the individual decisions of bishops,” he said.

Nearly all sides agreed the church has more work to do in responding to victims. McChesney said some victims “have been frustrated, hurt and sometimes humiliated by the response of the church.”

In her final report, McChesney said audits on existing programs go only so far, and urged the bishops to make sure that the handling of allegations and victims is actually effective.

“Compliance does not measure quality,” she said.

MO/PH END ECKSTROM