The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport has paid $52.5 million to settle claims of abuse by priests since 1953. That’s according to a report released by the diocese on Wednesday.
The Bridgeport Diocese says in the report it settled 156 cases since the 1950s.
Bishop Frank Caggiano said in a statement, “The much-needed financial accounting that is the focus of this report only hints at the profound toll of human and spiritual suffering caused by the sexual abuse of children.”
The report says that 97.7 percent – or $51.5 million – of the settlements were for claims of abuse that occurred before 1990.
Most of the abuse happened in the 1970s. There was one settlement of an alleged abuse of a child by a priest that happened after 2000.
In New York City, a 74-year-old Catholic bishop has stepped down from public ministry after being accused of sexual abuse.
The allegations lodged against auxiliary Bishop John Jenik involved inappropriate behavior with a teenage boy in the 1980s, according to a report in The New York Times.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, said in a statement Wednesday that the Lay Review Board found the allegations credible.
Jenik says he is innocent and appealed to the Vatican to clear him.
Dolan said Jenik "may not function or present himself as a bishop or priest” pending the outcome of the review.
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