On February 18, 2005, the Catholic Church acknowledged that it had received at least 1,092 new allegations of sexual abuse against at least 756 priests and deacons during 2004.  The revelation that this remarkable number of crimes had been reported during a single year was properly reflected in some headlines:

Church finds that more than 1,000 reported abuse last year
Duluth News Tribune, MN - Feb 18, 2005
... is over, is the reluctance of the church to deal ... The first audit last year found that between 1950 ... 10,667 children were abused by 4,392 Catholic priests and ...  

But the PR shills employed by the Church clearly earned the millions they rake in for burnishing the bishops' public image with fake audits and other advances in disinformation.  Thanks to the Church's highly spun numbers and feigned expressions of compassion,  apologists for the hierarchy persuaded reporters all over the country to focus, not on the astonishing number of new allegations, or on the crowds of unsupervised molesters who are, thanks to the bishops, currently roaming our streets, or on the criminal activity that the Church is still concealing, but on the progress that has allegedly been made. 

Catholic monitor lauds anti-abuse efforts
Kansas City Star (subscription), MO - 4 hours ago
... released the results of a national audit the bishops ... The church has spent at least $840 million on ... McChesney, who is Catholic, occupied a uniquely sensitive ...
Bishops: Abuse Claims Mostly Old Cases Times Daily
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Catholic Church Continues its Healing Process

WIFR, IL - Feb 22, 2005
The US Catholic Church releases its annual child protection audit. It's a yearly report card on how churches are dealing with child abuse policies. ...

Report Outlines Catholic Church's Policies To Protect Kids
WBAL Channel.com, MD - Feb 18, 2005
... place under the church's Charter for the Protection of Children, according to an annual compliance audit released Friday by the Conference of Catholic Bishops. ...

W.Va. Catholic Church Gets Good Marks
WTRF, WV - Feb 18, 2005
The latest review of sex-abuse prevention programs in the Roman Catholic Church finds West Virginia in pretty good shape. According to the audit released Friday ...

Catholic dioceses pass check for abuse
Washington Times, DC - Feb 18, 2005
... The 2004 audit, conducted by the Gavin Group of Boston, reviewed 194 Catholic dioceses to ... charter was created nearly three years ago by church leaders in ...

Child sex abuse audit lauds NH diocese
The Union Leader, NH - Feb 18, 2005
... commendations are a “tribute to the many Catholic faithful” who ... a work of everyone in the church,” he said ... The new national audit found 187 of the total ...

Diocese Meets Child-protection Rules
The Day (subscription), CT - Feb 19, 2005
... The audit of the Norwich Diocese was part of a national audit that found nearly all the ... The crisis of sexual abuse of minors within the Catholic Church is not ...

Archdiocese gets positive rating on abuse
Washington Times, DC - Feb 10, 2005
A recent audit found the Archdiocese of Washington compliant with new Roman Catholic Church policies on reporting child sexual abuse, church officials said ...

Abuse report backs diocese
KMSB, AZ - Feb 19, 2005
... The latest audit focused on record-keeping related to programs and protocol for ... sexual abuse of children by priests erupted in the Catholic Church locally and ...

New audit finds near-total compliance with policies on sex abuse
Catholic News Service - Feb 18, 2005
... The audit also reported major inroads in conducting background ... More than 82 percent of the church's 13,663 deacons ... over half the minors in Catholic schools and ...

Diocese in compliance with abuse statutes
Appleton Post Crescent, WI - Feb 20, 2005
... The audit does not address the quality and effectiveness of compliance, Isely ... to addressing the abuse issue and restoring confidence in the Catholic Church. ...

Audit: Area churches following national standards on abuse
Chicago Daily Southtown, IL - Feb 19, 2005
... abuse against at least 756 Catholic priests and ... The audit, which measured whether dioceses were complying ... scandal, said the Chicago church had "satisfactorily ...

Indiana's 5 dioceses pass review
Indianapolis Star - Feb 18, 2005
Auditors found that all five Catholic dioceses in Indiana were complying with ... in Hamilton, Boone and Madison counties, the audit said church officials had ...

Bishops: Abuse Claims Mostly Old Cases
KABC, CA - Feb 19, 2005
WASHINGTON — Roman Catholic bishops say the 1,092 new sex abuse ... the claims were made in 2004, church leaders said ... A companion audit found that nearly all the ...

Bishops contend most concerned long-ago incidents
Houston Chronicle - Feb 18, 2005
... "The crisis of sexual abuse of minors within the Catholic Church is not ... A companion audit found that nearly all the nation's 195 dioceses were fully complying ...

Bishops: New claims of abuse in 2004 not a sign of present problem
Athens Banner-Herald (subscription), GA - Feb 19, 2005
... sexual abuse of minors within the Catholic Church is not over," McChesney said. "What is over is the denial that this problem exists.". The audit was conducted ...

Green Bay Diocese in compliance
Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter, WI - Feb 19, 2005
... The audit does not address the quality and effectiveness of compliance, Isely ... to addressing the abuse issue and restoring confidence in the Catholic Church. ...

Audit: Area churches following national standards on abuse
Chicago Daily Southtown, IL - Feb 19, 2005
... abuse against at least 756 Catholic priests and ... The audit, which measured whether dioceses were complying ... scandal, said the Chicago church had "satisfactorily ...