The study released Tuesday dates back to 1950 and provides insight into the decades of sexual abuse and harassment.
The two historians behind the report from the University of Zurich reveal that most abuses have gone unreported. In addition, documents have been destroyed to reveal information.
According to the researchers, “Church leaders have ignored, concealed or minimized most cases of sexual abuse analyzed until the 21st century”.
– This is undoubtedly only the tip of the iceberg, says Professor Marietta Meier in a statement.
Most of the victims are male
Furthermore, it appears that more than half of the victims, 56 percent, were boys or men, while 39 percent were girls or women, the other five percent have not been identified by gender.
74 percent of the victims were children.
“This has been preoccupying us for a long time and we are saddened and ashamed of this,” Renata Asal-Steger, president of Switzerland’s Roman Catholic Central Conference, said in a statement.
See the interview with Olivier Savignac, who was exposed as a 13-year-old by a priest within the Catholic Church.