Editor's note: The following is a summary of the "Report to the People of God: Clergy Sexual Abuse in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles from 1930-2003," issued Feb. 17 by the archdiocese. The full report is available at www.la-archdiocese.org.

The sexual abuse of a minor by anyone is a sin, a crime and a horrific violation of a child or young person. That such abuse would be committed by a cleric is even more appalling, and cannot be tolerated by the Church.

The document that follows is a report to the people of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles from Cardinal Roger M. Mahony concerning the deeply painful and scandalous phenomenon of sexual abuse of minors by clergy over the decades.

The facts recounted here are upsetting to all in the leadership of the Archdiocese and, surely, to all the people as well. The picture, while not unique to this Archdiocese, leaves us all ashamed of what we have failed to do to protect the youth of our Church.

Based upon Archdiocesan files and lawsuits of persons seeking monetary damages, the following emerges over the last 75 years:

---More than 5,000 priests have served in the Archdiocese.

---656 persons have accused 244 priests, deacons, brothers, seminarians and one bogus priest of child sexual abuse.

---113 diocesan priests have been accused, 43 are deceased, 54 are no longer in ministry, and 16 remain in ministry.

---Of the 16 in ministry, the Archdiocesan Clergy Misconduct Oversight Board has determined that the allegations against 12 either do not constitute child abuse or are not sufficiently credible standing alone to warrant removal from ministry without further corroboration; and the allegations against the remaining 4 are so recent that a preliminary investigation has not been completed or the information available at this time is not sufficient to warrant removal.

Seven of the accused persons are alleged to have abused since 1995.

This painful story begins with the Church's misunderstanding of the nature of the problem. The Church treated clerical sexual abuse primarily as a moral weakness and a sin. For years this misunderstanding underlay ineffectual policies for dealing with abuse of minors. Changes in Church and professional psychological thinking unfolded over nearly two decades and gradually empowered the Archbishop and the Church as a whole to improve those policies, and finally to take proactive steps to guard the welfare of the young and to remove offending clerics from ministry.

We know now that steps that seemed appropriate in the middle 1980s were in fact insufficient. In some cases, they unintentionally left the door open to further abuse. Even in the late 1990s the learning process was still evolving. In 2002, Cardinal Mahony, as well as the National Conference of Catholic Bishops as a whole, approved a firm policy of zero tolerance for any offenses by any cleric or employee of the Church.

Understandably, some believe the journey to policy refinement has gone too slowly; we should have known better and acted more swiftly and more surely. Their views are understandable. We too regret with all our hearts that we did not see the right path much earlier. Corrective and protective steps that seemed effective 15 years ago proved to be less successful than desired.

Our understandings were more limited in the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. Experiences of personal violation were not as easily revealed to others. There was concern in families and in the Church for the privacy of victims, motivated by the conviction that actions that might disclose their painful experiences would produce intolerable suffering.

But we can say in hindsight that the cocoon of silence was harmful to some victims. Secretly enduring the memories of their abuse was not a route to their personal recovery. We have heard and taken to heart expressions of such feelings in the past two years. The Church has for years made professional counseling available to victims, but the general climate of nondisclosure did not serve all victims well. That is why we wish to invite any victim who even now has not begun to unburden himself or herself to step forward and report any past sexual abuse by clergy to the Archdiocese or to law enforcement.

Some say that over the years the Church was not truly concerned for the victims, but was primarily seeking to protect itself from scandal. The Church needs to examine its conscience to assess to what extent that may have been a motivation for non-disclosure.

Some are also asking why the Church did not consistently ensure that reports of abuse were conveyed to law enforcement. Reports to law enforcement almost always lead to public disclosure of the victim's identity. This choice usually was left to the victim or family. Prior to 1997, laws did not require all clergy to make such reports. The Archdiocese reported cases regularly but informally. Now, all credible allegations involving living clergy are reported in writing to law enforcement by the Archdiocese, whether or not the victim is now a minor and whether or not the victim or his or her parents have made a report. No offense will be hidden.

This report and the accompanying letter from Cardinal Mahony recount the facts of a sorrowful chapter in the history of our local Church. A record of cases of sexual abuse by clergy is laid out in this report for all to see.

The Archdiocese humbly asks forgiveness from victims, their families and friends, from the Faithful, and from society in general for the mistakes of the past. The facts and analysis of the local Church's response to these issues are put forward so that people may understand how choices were made, however flawed they all too often were. Cardinal Mahony, the Archdiocese and the Church as a whole are committed to acting on what we have learned in order to protect our youth in the years to come.

The Church is an institution of human beings, subject to human failings, even though the hand of the Holy Spirit and our Lord Jesus Christ goes with us at all times. We make imperfect choices at times, but we will strive to see and follow the light.