More than 15 years have passed since sexual abuse by the Catholic Church became a national scandal and more news about children being sexually abused by priests continues to surface to this day.
In June 2018, a former archbishop of Washington, D.C., was accused of abusing a teenager decades ago and was then removed from the ministry after the evidence was found credible. In August 2018, the attorney general of Pennsylvania released an unsettling report that listed over 1,000 cases of abuse by the church. Earlier this year on January 31st, a Catholic Church in Texas released a list of the names of about 300 priests who have been credibly accused of sexually abusing children for nearly eight decades.
Economic Consequences
Since the 1980s, the Catholic Church has paid more than $3.8 billion in settlements and monetary awards. The survivors of Catholic Church sex abuse struggle with mental health issues and substance abuse, and there are hundreds of victims that have committed suicide. This horrific crisis has created an enormous financial loss to victims that far exceed the settlement money. These economic consequences include:
- Wages Lost
- Increased Cost Of Healthcare
- Financial Loss Of Family Members
- Cost Of Investigations
- Cost Of Trying The Perpetrators
- Cost Of Incarcerating The Perpetrators
- Cost Of Managing Paroles
