"Special Reports: Catholic Bishops and Sex Abuse"

Adapted from this source: www.dallasnews.com/ etc.

"Roughly two - thirds of top U.S. Catholic leaders have allowed priests accused of sexual abuse to keep working, s systematic practice that spans decades ad continues today, a three - month Dallas Morning News review shows.

"The study -- the first of its kind -- looked at the records of the top leaders of the nation's 178 mainstream Roman Catholic dioceses, including acting administrators in cases where the top job is vacant.

"Excluded from the study were auxiliary bishops who, in larger dioceses, serve in subordinate roles but still can vote on many matters before the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the 17 bishops who lead eparchies, which are diocese - like entities that worship according to the Eastern rite.

"In checking whether a bishop had protected priests or other church representatives accused of sexual abuse, reporters Brooks Eggerton and Reese Dunkin relied on published reports, court records, interviews and church records obtained in civil litigation."

Primarily adolescent boys...

"Most protected priests were accused of sexually molesting minors -- primarily adolescent boys, but also younger ones, and a sizable number of girls of various ages.

"The newspaper's study also covered behavior that indicated a sexual attraction o minors, such as viewing child pornography or, in one case, trading sexually charged e - mails with someone a priest believed was a minor. "