Beast Watch

Collated USCCB Data On the Number of U.S. Priests Accused of Sexually Abusing Children and the Numbers of Persons Alleging Abuse 1950–2018 Compiled by BishopAccountability.org From reports commissioned and released by the USCCB Updated February 16, 2020 As of May 31, 2019, information published by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) indicates that the conference has counted 7,002 clerics "not implausibly" and "credibly" accused of sexually abusing minors in the period 1950 through June 30, 2018, with three gaps in the USCCB data. Out of the 118,184 priests who have worked in those years, the 7,002 priests accused of abusing children are 5.9% of the total. The USCCB reports also show that the conference has counted 20,052 victims who are known to the bishops in the period 1950 through June 30, 2018. After a brief introduction, we provide a table showing the sources for those numbers below. Who are the 7,002 accused priests? Since 2005, BishopAccountability.org has maintained a Database of Accused Priests and other accused clergy. As of November 21, 2019, there were 6,488 names in that database, including 5,808 priests, 35 bishops, 108 deacons, and 47 seminarians, for a total of 5,998 accused clerics and future clerics, in those categories that the USCCB has counted – more than a thousand fewer than 7,002. Note that 370 religious brothers and 119 religious sisters are also listed in our database – categories not included in the USCCB data. Source https://www.bishop-accountability.org/AtAGlance/USCCB_Yearly_Data_on_Accused_Priests.htm