The report, which found 89 presumed victims and some 68 people accused, was never meant to provide an accurate or historic look at the clergy abuse problem in Italy. The country's bishops never authorized such research despite demands from survivors for a full accounting, which some other Catholic Churches in Europe have published.
The numbers paled in comparison to the tally of known cases kept by Italy's main survivors' group, Rete L'Abuso, which estimates some 1 million victims in the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country. The group has identified some 178 accused priests, 165 priests who were convicted by Italian law enforcement and some 218 new cases.
Zanardi noted that an unusually high percentage of the accused were lay church workers - some 34%, compared to the 66% of priests or religious brothers. He noted that lay abusers often find it easier to access potential victims in Italy's vast church-run volunteer programs since background checks are less stringent.
From the start, the scope of the Italian report was far more limited than the approach taken by the Catholic hierarchy in many European countries to try to respond to clamoring for accountability about clergy sexual abuse.
this is a serious scandal
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: GlobalNational - 🏆 81. / 51 Read more »
Source: CTVNews - 🏆 1. / 99 Read more »
Source: GlobalNational - 🏆 81. / 51 Read more »
Source: ottawasuncom - 🏆 4. / 92 Read more »
Source: OttawaCitizen - 🏆 21. / 68 Read more »
Source: DurhamRadioNews - 🏆 70. / 51 Read more »