NCR research: Costs of sex abuse crisis to US church underestimated

NCR research: Costs of sex abuse crisis to US church underestimated

Nov 2, 2015

by Jack Ruhl, Diane Ruhl Accountability

Plaintiff Lee Bashforth holds a photo of himself outside Los Angeles Superior Court on July 16, 2007, the day that the Los Angeles archdiocese and attorneys for more than 500 victims of clergy sex abuse arrived at a $660 million settlement. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

The U.S. Catholic church has incurred nearly $4 billion in costs related to the priest sex abuse crisis during the past 65 years, according to an extensive NCR investigation of media reports, databases and church documents.

In addition, separate research recently published calculates that other scandal-related consequences such as lost membership and diverted giving has cost the church more than $2.3 billion annually for the past 30 years.

Between 1950 and August of this year, the church has paid out $3,994,797,060.10, NCR found.

That figure is based on a three-month investigation of data, including a review of more than 7,800 articles gleaned from LexisNexis Academic and NCR databases, as well as information from BishopAccountability.org and from reports from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Up until now, "nearly $3 billion" has been the most widely cited figure by media, academics and activists for the cost to the U.S. church for clergy sex abuse and its cover-up. NCR research shows that figure is too low, probably by as much as a billion dollars – and perhaps much more.

https:// www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/ncr-research-costs-sex-abuse-crisis-us-church-underestimated