HUGE PROBLEM

A Record Number of Sex-Abuse Cases Were Reported to the Vatican This Year

One-thousand cases were referred to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from all over the world.

The Vatican office that processes clergy sex-abuse complaints saw a record number of cases reported from across the globe this year, the Associated Press reported Friday.

One-thousand cases were reportedly referred to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF)—with complaints from Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Italy, Poland, and the United States making up most of the cases. The CDF said it received complaints this year from countries that had no previous history of sex abuse cases, and said the spike in complaints marked a four-fold increase to the number of cases seen a decade ago. Monsignor John Kennedy told the AP that he planned on adding more people onto the CDF to help with the onslaught of cases, and said the current staff of 17 individuals were struggling to keep up.

The CDF is reportedly working on a database to access statistics from cases processed throughout the last two decades, and it will publish a guidebook for bishops and religious superiors to use so they can process cases.