Child and Youth Protection

Since 2002, the Church in the United States has experienced a crisis without precedent in our times. The sexual abuse of children and young people by some deacons, priests, and bishops, and the ways in which these crimes and sins were addressed, have caused enormous pain, anger, and confusion. As bishops, we have acknowledged our mistakes and our roles in that suffering, and we apologize and take responsibility again for too often failing victims and the Catholic people in the past. From the depths of our hearts, we bishops express great sorrow and profound regret for what the Catholic people have endured.

The 2011 revision of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,  re-affirmed our deep commitment to creating a safe environment within the Church for children and youth. We have listened to the profound pain and suffering of those victimized by sexual abuse and will continue to respond to their cries.  

2013 Annual Report

The National Review Board and the Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops are pleased to announce the publication of the 2013 Annual Report on the Implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.

From the 2013 audit, we can say the Catholic Church in the United States has: 

• Trained 98% of our nearly two million volunteers, employees, educators, clergy, and candidates in parishes in how to create safe environments and prevent child sexual abuse. 
• Prepared more than 4.6 million children to recognize abuse and protect themselves. 
• Ran background checks on more than 97% of our 2 million volunteers and employees, 168,000 educators, 52,970 clerics and 6,400 candidates for ordination.

To view archived Annual Reports, please visit our Reports and Research.