section_path: Catholicism today/Sex abuse cases
section_name: Sex abuse cases
paragraph_text: Sex abuse cases
  
  Major lawsuits emerged in numerous countries in recent decades claiming that priests had sexually abused minors. In response to the ensuing scandals, the Church has established formal procedures to prevent abuse, encourage reporting of any abuse that occurs and to handle such reports promptly, although groups representing victims have disputed their effectiveness.
  
  Some priests resigned, others were defrocked and jailed, and there were financial settlements with many victims. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops commissioned a comprehensive study that found that four percent of all priests who served in the US from 1950 to 2002 had faced some sort of accusation of sexual misconduct.