Report finds higher percentage of clergy accusations in StL

ST. LOUIS -- Roman Catholic clergy in the St. Louis archdiocese and Jefferson City diocese have been accused of sexual abuse of minors at a higher rate than the national average, officials said Friday.

A national study of priest abuse cases from 1950 to 2002 showed that about 4 percent of priests were accused of sexual wrongdoing with minors.

The St. Louis archdiocese said about 5 percent of its clergy in the study period -- 70 of 1,210 priests -- were accused of sexually abusing children. The Jefferson City diocese said 27 diocesan priests, or 6 percent of those who served in the study period, had been accused of sexual misconduct.

St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke said the numbers were higher than he expected. He pledged to maintain a zero-tolerance policy for offending priests and deacons.

"It's very sad for me," Burke said. "I have a deep love for the church, but this is a terrible wound on the little ones. It saddens me profoundly."

Burke rejected suggestions that the church underreported the problem. "It would be very difficult to pass off false numbers," he said. "We've made an effort to be completely transparent."

The figures -- including those for Missouri's two other dioceses -- are part of a larger examination of reported clergy sexual misconduct over the 52-year period in the nation's 195 Catholic dioceses and eparchies.

The national study found that 4,392 of the 109,694 clergy faced abuse allegations.

As a result of that abuse, the Roman Catholic Church paid out $533.4 million. The St. Louis archdiocese paid out $3.17 million in legal fees, therapy and counseling for both victims and offenders from 1994 to 2003. The Jefferson City diocese spent $1.5 million in therapy, settlements and legal fees.

The national report also examines the causes of the molestation crisis and puts much of the blame on American bishops for not cracking down on errant priests.

The report was commissioned by the National Review Board, a lay watchdog panel formed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops after the church was rocked by a series of allegations of sexual misconduct by priests in 2002.

"Any way you look at this, it's a staggering toll of pain," said David Clohessy of St. Louis, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, an advocacy group for victims of abuse by priests.

Clohessy was especially troubled that the report focuses on what he called "bad apple priests" and not "complicit bishops."

Jefferson City Bishop John R. Gaydos said the report "reopens many wounds," but was a necessary step to protect young people.

Springfield-Cape diocese

The Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, over its 48-year history, removed three priests because of abuse allegations, Bishop John Leibrecht said. The diocese made one financial settlement of $50,000 in 1994. Three additional allegations were not substantiated.

Leibrecht said one of the removed priests was returned to active ministry, until he broke one of the conditions. Another was placed in a parish for celebrating Mass only, then removed after bishops adopted sweeping new rules in Dallas in 2002.

Leibrecht said he would make different decisions today, but at the time, "we thought we were acting responsibly, given advice from professionals." He said it was not fair to judge past actions by today's standards.

The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph reported in January that over its 56-year history, 20 of its 476 priests were accused of sexual misconduct with minors. Five of the 20 were exonerated. Of the 15 remaining cases, 11 were found to be credible, four were inconclusive. The diocese spent $855,826 from insurance reserves.

Nationwide, dioceses fielded 10,667 abuse claims since 1950. Of those, claims by 6,700 were substantiated, about 3,300 were not investigated because the accused clergymen were dead, and an additional 1,000 or so claims were found to be unsubstantiated.

Burke, writing in the archdiocesan newspaper Friday, said: "What must be said from the start is that even a single act of sexual abuse of a child by a member of the clergy is a grave ill. Every reasonable means must be taken to avoid the commission of the crime of child sexual abuse by clergy, which violates a most sacred trust and can be the cause of profound and lasting harm to the victim."

Burke said payment to victims or alleged victims was to assist with healing, not to obtain silence.

Burke said he would meet with victims, discipline clergy as needed, continue criminal checks on priests and seminarians, and cooperate with authorities. But he said he had no plans to meet with SNAP, a position sure to disappoint the group that says it wants Burke "to truly hear us."

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On the Net

Archdiocese of St. Louis: www.archstl.org

Diocese of Springfield-Cape Giradeau: www.diocspfdcape.org

Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph: www.diocese-kcsj.org

Diocese of Jefferson City: www.diojeffcity.org

Bishops' conference: www.usccb.org