162 BOSTON PRIESTS ACCUSED OF ABUSE (A report says 815 minors were molested by clergy in the archdiocese since the 1950s, but victims groups say that number is too low)

The Archdiocese of Boston said yesterday that 162 of its priests had been accused of sex abuse since 1950, about 7 percent of all the priests serving in the archdiocese during that time.  According to a report released by Archbishop Sean O'Malley, Boston priests were alleged to have molested 815 minors, with more than half of the incidents linked to just seven churchmen.  Besides priest ordained by the archdiocese, the church said, 44 members of religious orders, 10 visiting priests and three deacons were accused of sexually abusing a total of 150 people during the same time period.  Victims' advocates immediately decried the numbers as an undercount for the epicenter of the nationwide Catholic abuse crisis, a place where hundreds of victims have come forward since the scandal erupted two years ago.

(Boston, Massachusetts)