This is a step forward for the Church and an opportunity for Church leaders to learn from the experiences of the past so that abuse of minors is prevented in the future.

We have fully supported all reform efforts enacted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in the June 2002 meeting in Dallas. Too, the Diocese of Dallas disclosed its own history of abuse in an extensive year-end report, and that was published Jan. 2. The information contained in this report is part of the national report released today.

Our people in the Diocese of Dallas are to be commended for their many efforts to ensure a safe environment for young people in all our churches, schools and other institutions. Our first concern is always with the victims and to prevent abuse as much as is humanly possible.

There have been no reported incidences of clerical abuse of minors in the Diocese in recent years. We are very grateful for that fact. We urge all people to help us remain vigilant in our society.

-- Charles V. Grahmann, Bishop of Dallas
-- Joseph A. Galante, Coadjutor Bishop of Dallas

Diocese: Few abusers here

Dallas Morning News
January 5, 2004

A "relatively low number" of local Catholic clergy have been involved in sexual abuse of minors since 1950, the Dallas Diocese said in a report published Friday. During that time, 48 victims leveled "credible allegations" against 15 priests and one deacon - 1.4 percent of the 1,153 clerics who have served, according to the Texas Catholic newspaper. The nation's 195 dioceses were each asked to prepare sexual abuse reports as part of a study commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The study is to be released tomorrow.

Diocese reports 48 'credible' cases
Abuse of minors by Dallas-area priests termed 'relatively low'

By Susan Hogan/Albach shogan@dallasnews.com
Dallas Morning News
January 5, 2004

A "relatively low number" of local Catholic clergy have been involved in sexual abuse of minors dating to 1950, the Dallas Diocese said in a report published Friday. During that time, 48 victims leveled "credible allegations" against 15 priests and one deacon - 1.4 percent of the 1,153 clerics who have served the diocese, according to the report, which was published in Texas Catholic, the diocese's newspaper. The diocese doesn't identify any of the clerics except Rudy Kos, the pedophile priest who received a life sentence in 1998 after being convicted of sexual abuse. Nor does the report say who determined that allegations against six other accused clerics weren't credible - the diocese or civil authorities. Diocesan spokesman Bronson Havard couldn't be reached for comment. The nation's 195 dioceses were each asked to prepare reports on the history of clergy sexual abuse in their territory as part of a study commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The bishops said the reports were necessary to understand the scope of the abuse crisis. But sexual abuse victims said they expected the reports to be skewed favorably toward dioceses since they were based on self-reporting. "What you're seeing here is part of a nationwide effort to make it appear that the diocese is complying with the reporting statutes, being responsive to complaints about abuse and being compassionate to victims," said Dallas attorney Sylvia Demarest, one of the lawyers who successfully sued the diocese in the 1990s on behalf of victims of Mr. Kos. The diocese said it paid out $ 39.1 million in settlements to sexual abuse victims - the bulk stemming from lawsuits involving some of the victims of Mr. Kos. Of that total, $ 25.2 million has come from insurance, the diocese said. The remaining $ 13.9 million has come from the sale of surplus property and from reserve funds. In addition, it said, the diocese has paid $ 8.6 million in legal and other professional fees related to sexual abuse claims. "No settlement funds came from the Catholic Community Appeal, Catholic Charities or Catholic schools," the report said.