244 priests face child abuse claims

THE Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles — America’s largest — released a detailed study yesterday on child sex abuse by its clergy since 1930, reporting the highest number of claims against a US diocese to date.

Los Angeles church officials say that, over the decades, they received allegations from 656 people who said they had been molested by 244 priests, deacons, religious brothers, seminarians and one other person.

More than 5,000 priests worked in the archdiocese during that period.