Thursday, October 23, 2025

Catholic Church Sexual Abuse Crisis

 

Catholic Church Sexual Abuse Crisis

BOSTON (MA)
Encyclopædia Britannica [Chicago IL]

October 21, 2025

By Heidi Schlumpf

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Top Questions

What have been the financial implications of the sexual abuse scandal for the Roman Catholic Church?

In the United States alone, between 2004 and 2023, the church spent more than $5 billion on cases involving sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy, and three-quarters of those payments went to victims. The church in Australia paid more than $200 million to victims from 1980 to 2017. Moreover, the scandal has led to a decline in church donations and attendance.

What was The Boston Globe’s Spotlight series on sexual abuse and the Roman Catholic Church?

In 2002 The Boston Globe’s Spotlight series exposed rampant sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy in the Boston archdiocese and a cover-up by church authorities. The series found that the archdiocese knowingly reassigned abusive priests to different parishes rather than removing them from the ministry. The scandal caused Boston to become a focal point for the abuse crisis in the United States and resulted in…

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