Children accused more than 4.000 priests of sexual abuse in the years between 1950 and 2002, according to a draft survey commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The survey, to be released February 27, found that children made more than 11,000 allegations of sexual abuse by priests. The 4,450 accused priests are about 4 percent of the 110,000 priests who served during the 52 years covered by the study. The report is based on a nationwide survey of church records, and was compiled by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice for the Conference. The BishopÕs Conference commissioned the survey to get a better understanding of the scope of the crisis. The report said that 6,700 of the 11,000 allegations were investigated and substantiated, and another 1,000 were unsubstantiated. The remaining 3,300 were not investigated because the priests involved were dead at the time the allegation was made. The survey also said that several factors contributed to the problem, including failure to grasp its gravity, overemphasis on the avoidance of scandal, use of unqualified treatment centres, misguided willingness to forgive and insufficient accountability. More than 44,000 priests currently serve in the United States, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The BishopÕs Conference, so far, has declined to comment on the survey. (From CNN.com)

This is a sad state of affairs, particularly, where vulnerable children are involved. No doubt a large percentage have made false claims in order to ÒmilkÓ the Roman Catholic Church from its vast amounts of money É a danger which Òhoarded-upÓ treasures brings along. But the fact of the matter remains É many children have been, and (although we hope and pray not) are being abused. And then the word of Scripture comes to us in 1 Corinthians 10:12.