Washington D.C., Jan 5, 2004 / 22:00 pm
The results of the audit of the dioceses and eparchies of the United States, which was called for by the Bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, was released on Tuesday at 10:00 AM (Eastern Time), during a press conference held at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.
The review found 90% of the 195 U.S. dioceses were fully complying with the plan drafted by the bishops in Dallas on June, 2002, but made several recommendations regarding how to improve the prevention of child abuse by priests and Church personnel.
The audit was commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office of Child and Youth Protection and was performed by the Gavin Group of Boston, a firm led by a former FBI official.
Present at the press conference were Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; Kathleen McChesney, Executive Director of the USCCB's Office of Child and Youth Protection; William Gavin, President of the Gavin Group; as well as William R. Burleigh and Ray H. Siegfried II, both members of the National Review Board.