A sweeping, year-long study of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and others in Switzerland has turned up more than 1,000 cases since the mid-20th century, as the Swiss church becomes the latest in Europe to reckon with the abuse scandal.
With few exceptions, those accused of wrongdoing were all male. Nearly three-fourths of the documents examined showed the sexual abuse involved minors.
The report, commissioned by the Swiss Conference of Bishops and led by two University of Zurich historians, offers a deep look at the sexual abuse and harassment that has confounded the Catholic Church across the globe in recent decades — upending the lives of many victims and their families, and tarnishing the image of the institution.