| 301-1911 | 1610 years |
Simony: the buying and selling of spiritual offices and graces, from the 4th century to the Roman Curia |
Italy, Vatican City |
| 380-385 | 5 years |
Execution of Priscillian in 385, the first execution of Christians for heresy, on the accusation of bishops |
Germany, Spain |
| 388-389 | 1 year |
Callinicum 388: Christians burned down a synagogue at the instigation of their bishop, and Bishop Ambrose of Milan forced the emperor to drop rebuilding and punishment |
Syria |
| 389-391 | 2 years |
Alexandria around 391: at the instigation of Bishop Theophilus the temples were destroyed, the images of the gods melted down for the church, and the books of the Serapeum plundered |
Egypt |
| 412-415 | 3 years |
Alexandria 412 to 415: Bishop Cyril drove the Jews out of the city, and a Christian mob led by a reader of his church murdered the philosopher Hypatia |
Egypt |
| 517-816 | 299 years |
Serfs and slaves owned by churches and monasteries in the early Middle Ages |
Germany, France, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom |
| 517-581 | 64 years |
Gallic and Frankish synods 517 to 581: bans on sharing meals and marriage with Jews, Easter curfew, exclusion from office |
France |
| 576 | less than 1 year |
Clermont 576: after the synagogue was destroyed, Bishop Avitus gave the Jews the choice between baptism and expulsion |
France |
| 590-604 | 14 years |
Pope Gregory I (590 to 604): pagans in Sardinia were to be forced into conversion with crushing payments, blows, torments and confinement |
Italy |
| 612-694 | 82 years |
Visigothic kingdom 612 to 694: forced baptism, removal of children and enslavement of the Jews, decreed and confirmed at the Councils of Toledo |
France, Spain |
| 750-1440 | 690 years |
Donation of Constantine, a forged charter on papal rights of rule |
France, Italy, Vatican City |
| 767-769 | 2 years |
Rome 768/769: Antipope Constantine and his followers were blinded, and the Lateran Synod had the blind man beaten and thrown out |
Italy |
| 823-824 | 1 year |
Rome 823: two high papal officials were blinded and killed in the Lateran by servants of Pope Paschal I, and the pope shielded the murderers |
Italy |
| 847-1628 | 781 years |
Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals around 850: about a hundred forged papal letters, part of canon law for centuries |
France, Italy |
| 848-870 | 22 years |
Gottschalk of Orbais 848/849: condemned twice for his doctrine of predestination, flogged and imprisoned until his death |
Germany, France |
| 897-904 | 7 years |
Cadaver Synod of 897: Pope Stephen VI had his dead predecessor Formosus exhumed, put on trial and thrown into the Tiber |
Italy |
| 903-911 | 8 years |
Rome 903/904: Christopher threw Pope Leo V into prison, Sergius III overthrew both; according to the Britannica he had them strangled |
Italy |
| 954-964 | 10 years |
Pope John XII (955 to 964): elected at 18 on his father's orders, deposed, bloody revenge on opponents |
Italy |
| 1018-1089 | 71 years |
Pavia 1018/1022 and Melfi 1089: children of clerics were declared unfree property of the Church, and priests' wives were to be enslaved |
Italy |
| 1022 | less than 1 year |
Orléans 1022: a council condemned thirteen clerics and laymen as heretics, and King Robert had them burned alive |
France |
| 1032-1048 | 16 years |
Benedict IX sold the papacy in 1045: installed as a youth, three times pope, three popes at once |
Italy |
| 1095-1291 | 196 years |
Crusades to the East |
Germany, France, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Turkey |
| 1145-1241 | about 96 years old |
Pope Gregory IX (Ugolino of Segni) |
Germany, France, Italy |
| 1160-1216 | about 56 years old |
Pope Innocent III (Lotario de’ Conti) |
France, Italy |
| 1180-1233 | about 53 years old |
Conrad of Marburg, papal persecutor of heretics in Germany |
Germany |
| 1184-1699 | 515 years |
Persecution of the Waldensians |
France, Italy, Spain |
| 1199-1917 | 718 years |
Prohibition and restriction of the Bible in the vernacular for lay people |
France, Spain, Vatican City |
| 1204 | less than 1 year |
Sack of Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade |
Turkey |
| 1209-1229 | 20 years |
Albigensian Crusade |
France |
| 1215-1592 | 377 years |
Fourth Lateran Council: compulsory badge for Jews |
Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Hungary, Vatican City, United Kingdom, Austria |
| 17 Mar 1230-27 May 1234 | 4 years |
Crusade against the Stedingers 1232 to 1234, peasants on the Lower Weser declared heretics for refusing to pay dues |
Germany |
| 1231-1542 | 311 years |
The Inquisition: origins, procedure, punishments |
Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Vatican City |
| 1233-1239 | 6 years |
Northern France 1233 to 1239: The inquisitor Robert le Bougre had people burned without judgment, about 180 in one day at Mont-Aimé |
Belgium, France |
| 1233-1966 | 733 years |
Book burnings and the Index of Forbidden Books |
France, Italy, Spain, Vatican City |
| 1249-1334 | about 85 years old |
Pope John XXII (Jacques d’Euse) |
France |
| 1264-1314 | about 50 years old |
Pope Clement V (Bertrand de Got) |
France, Italy |
| 1300-1562 | 262 years |
Sale of indulgences, forgiveness of sins for money |
Germany, Vatican City, United Kingdom |
| 1300-1307 | 7 years |
Parma and Vercelli 1300 to 1307: Crusade against the Apostolic Brethren; Segarelli burned, Margherita slowly burned, Dolcino torn apart with red-hot pincers |
Italy |
| 1307-1314 | 7 years |
Arrest, torture and burning of the Templars |
France |
| 1317-1320 | 3 years |
Avignon 1317: Under John XXII, Bishop Hugues Géraud was partially flayed alive and burned, and court clerics were convicted of sorcery under torture |
France |
| 1317-1320 | 3 years |
Carcassonne 1317 to 1320: The Franciscan Bernard Délicieux, who had defended the victims of the Inquisition, was tortured and died in chains in prison |
France |
| 1317-1350 | 33 years |
Marseille 1318: Four Franciscans were burned for refusing to obey the pope on habits and stores; afterwards stakes throughout southern France |
France |
| 1318-1389 | about 71 years old |
Pope Urban VI (Bartolomeo Prignano) |
Italy |
| 1337-1338 | 1 year |
Deggendorf 1337/38, murder of the Jewish community over an alleged desecration of the host and a pilgrimage lasting centuries |
Germany |
| 1342-1394 | about 52 years old |
Robert of Geneva (Antipope Clement VII) |
France, Italy |
| 1369-1415 | about 46 years old |
Jan Hus |
Czechia |
| 1376-1377 | 1 year |
Cesena 1377: Cardinal legate Robert of Geneva had the inhabitants of the town cut down by mercenaries |
Italy |
| 1378-1391 | 13 years |
The 1391 pogroms in Spain: years of inflammatory sermons by Archdeacon Ferrand Martínez, thousands of Jews murdered, survivors forcibly baptised |
Spain |
| 1382-1428 | 46 years |
England 1382 to 1428: persecution of the Lollards, burnings of heretics, ban on the English Bible, Wyclif's bones dug up and burned |
United Kingdom |
| 1385-1456 | about 71 years old |
John of Capistrano (Giovanni da Capistrano) |
Germany, Italy, Poland |
| 1385-1386 | 1 year |
Nocera and Genoa 1385/86: Pope Urban VI had six cardinals imprisoned and tortured, five never came out again |
Italy |
| 1389-1471 | 82 years |
Italy 1389 to 1471: Popes had the Fraticelli hunted, their villages razed, their children taken away and burned at Fabriano before Nicholas V |
Italy |
| 1411-1415 | 4 years |
Spain 1411 to 1415: mass conversions by Vicente Ferrer, exclusion law at his request, the forced Disputation of Tortosa and a papal bull against the Jews |
Spain |
| 1412-1431 | about 19 years old |
Joan of Arc |
France |
| 1420-1431 | 11 years |
Crusades against the Hussites 1420 to 1431: Pope Martin V called for the destruction of the "heretics" in Bohemia, and several crusading armies marched into Bohemia |
Germany, Czechia |
| 1420-1498 | about 78 years old |
Tomás de Torquemada, Grand Inquisitor of Spain |
Spain |
| 1430-1793 | 363 years |
Witch hunts in Europe |
Germany, France, Poland, Switzerland, Spain, United Kingdom |
| 1 Jan 1431-18 Aug 1503 | 72 years old |
Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia) |
Italy, Spain, Vatican City |
| 1452-2023 | 571 years |
Papal bulls on conquest and enslavement and the "Doctrine of Discovery" |
Bolivia, Portugal, Vatican City |
| 21 Sep 1452-23 May 1498 | 45 years old |
Girolamo Savonarola |
Italy |
| 1453 | less than 1 year |
Breslau 1453: Under the papal inquisitor John of Capistrano Jews were tortured, 41 burned in one day and their children forcibly baptised |
Poland |
| 23 Mar 1475-20 Jun 1478 | 3 years |
Ritual murder trial of Trent 1475, the Jewish community is tortured and executed after the death of the child Simon |
Italy |
| 28 Jun 1476-18 Aug 1559 | 83 years old |
Pope Paul IV (Gian Pietro Carafa) |
Italy, Vatican City |
| 1478-1480 | 2 years |
Florence 1478: Pazzi conspiracy with the pope's nephew, an archbishop and two priests; Giuliano de’ Medici stabbed to death during High Mass in the cathedral |
Italy |
| 1478-1834 | 356 years |
Spanish Inquisition |
Spain |
| 10 Nov 1483-18 Feb 1546 | 62 years old |
Martin Luther |
Germany |
| 1486-1860 | 374 years |
Spain 1486 to 1860: statutes of "purity of blood" (limpieza de sangre) in religious orders, cathedral chapters and the Inquisition |
Spain |
| 1499-1610 | 111 years |
Spain 1499 to 1610: forced baptism, persecution and expulsion of the Moriscos |
Spain |
| 19 Apr 1506-21 Apr 1506 | 3 days |
Lisbon 1506: two Dominicans called for the extermination of "heretics", and more than 2,000 baptised Jews were murdered within 48 hours |
Portugal |
| 23 May 1536-31 Mar 1821 | 284 years |
Portuguese Inquisition |
Brazil, India, Portugal |
| 21 Jul 1542-7 Dec 1965 | 423 years |
Roman Inquisition (Holy Office) |
Italy, Vatican City |
| 1548-1600 | about 52 years old |
Giordano Bruno |
Italy |
| 1555-1870 | 315 years |
Ghetto of Rome in the Papal States |
Italy, Vatican City |
| 15 Feb 1564-8 Jan 1642 | 77 years old |
Galileo Galilei |
Italy |
| 1569 | less than 1 year |
Bull "Hebraeorum gens" 1569, Pope Pius V expels the Jews from the Papal States |
Italy, Vatican City |
| 1571-1776 | 205 years |
Spanish Inquisition in the Americas (Mexico, Lima, Cartagena) |
Colombia, Mexico, Peru |
| 24 Aug 1572-3 Oct 1572 | 41 days |
St Bartholomew's Day Massacre 1572 and the reaction in Rome |
France, Vatican City |
| 1577-1847 | 270 years |
Compulsory sermons for Jews, Gregory XIII obliges them in 1577 and 1584 to listen to conversion sermons |
Italy, Vatican City |
| 1601-1878 | 277 years |
Castrati in the papal choir of the Sistine Chapel from 1601 |
Italy, Vatican City |
| 1731-1732 | 1 year |
Expulsion of the Salzburg Protestants 1731/32 by Prince-Archbishop Firmian |
Austria |
| 1838 | less than 1 year |
Sale of 272 enslaved people by the Jesuits in Maryland |
United States |
| 23 Jun 1858 | 1 day |
Mortara case 1858, a Jewish child is taken from his parents on the orders of the Inquisition |
Italy, Vatican City |
| 1883-1999 | 116 years |
Residential schools for Indigenous children in Canada |
Canada |
| 1914-2000 | 86 years |
Abuse in Irish homes and industrial schools (Ryan Report) |
Ireland |
| 1917-1981 | 64 years |
Scotland, Smyllum Park and Bellevue, children's homes of the Daughters of Charity 1917 to 1981 (Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry 2018) |
United Kingdom |
| 1922-2003 | 81 years |
Crimen sollicitationis, secret instruction of the Holy Office on abuse cases involving clergy (1922, 1962) |
Vatican City |
| 1922-1996 | 74 years |
Magdalen Laundries in Ireland (McAleese Report) |
Ireland |
| 1922-1998 | 76 years |
Homes for unmarried mothers and their children in Ireland (Mother and Baby Homes) |
Ireland |
| 1926-1978 | 52 years |
Bad Nauheim and Allerheiligen 1926 to 1978: In children's health homes of Caritas Mainz children were force-fed, punished and beaten; sexual violence is attributed to a resident priest |
Germany |
| 1928-1983 | 55 years |
Western Australia 1920s to 1980s: In the Christian Brothers' homes boys had to do hard labour instead of learning; the order's leadership knew of abuse from 1919 and moved offenders |
Australia |
| 1929-2022 | 93 years |
Catholic scouts DPSG 1929 to 2022: Study calls sexualised violence a widespread, structural problem; those in charge tended to protect perpetrators |
Germany |
| 11 Feb 1929 | 1 day |
Lateran Treaties of 1929 between the Holy See and Mussolini's government |
Italy, Vatican City |
| 1930-2023 | 93 years |
Diocese of Augsburg 1930 to 2023: Inquiry commission found 77 accused clergy; under Bishops Stimpfle and Dammertz the diocese reacted inappropriately in two thirds of cases |
Germany |
| 1933-1984 | 51 years |
Scotland, children's homes of the Sisters of Nazareth 1933 to 1984 (Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry 2019) |
United Kingdom |
| 20 Jul 1933 | 1 day |
Reich Concordat of 1933 between the Holy See and the German Reich |
Germany, Vatican City |
| 1935-2022 | about 87 years old |
Edmund Dillinger, priest of the Diocese of Trier |
Germany |
| 1939-2021 | 82 years |
Nebraska 1939 to 2021: The Attorney General found 258 victims and 57 accused; according to the report, church authorities placed the church's reputation above the protection of children |
United States |
| 1939-1989 | 50 years |
Stolen newborns in Spain (niños robados) |
Spain |
| 1939-1945 | 6 years |
Slovak State under the priest Jozef Tiso 1939 to 1945, disenfranchisement and deportation of the Jews |
Slovakia |
| 1939-1945 | 6 years |
Forced labourers in Catholic institutions in the German Reich 1939-1945 |
Germany |
| 1940-2016 | 76 years |
Altoona-Johnstown 1940 to 2016: Grand jury found at least 50 offenders and hundreds of victims; bishops returned offenders to ministry and kept a price chart for silence |
United States |
| 1940-2023 | 83 years |
Archdiocese of Baltimore: 2023 report of the Maryland Attorney General on 156 abusers and more than 600 abused children |
United States |
| 1940-2002 | 62 years |
Sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Boston (Attorney General's report 2003) |
United States |
| 1940-1978 | 38 years |
Neerkol (Queensland) 1940 to 1978: In the Sisters of Mercy orphanage children were abused by priests, nuns and workers and cruelly punished; the diocese paid for the offending priest's defence |
Australia |
| 1940-2019 | about 79 years old |
Winfried Pilz, priest of the Archdiocese of Cologne and president of the children's mission society |
Germany |
| 1941-2002 | 61 years |
Archdiocese of Paderborn 1941 to 2002: Study found 210 accused and 489 victims; Archbishops Jaeger and Degenhardt put convicted priests back into pastoral work |
Germany |
| 1941-2019 | 78 years |
Legionaries of Christ: abuse by the founder Marcial Maciel and other priests |
Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain, United States |
| 1945-2025 | 80 years |
Diocese of Fulda 1945 to 2025: Inquiry commission found 37 accused clergy and 120 victims; diocesan leaders protected offenders and moved convicted priests to other dioceses |
Germany |
| 1945-2022 | 77 years |
Sexualised violence in the Diocese of Mainz since 1945 (EVV study) |
Germany |
| 1945-2020 | 75 years |
Sexual abuse by clerics in the Diocese of Münster (study by the University of Münster) |
Germany |
| 1945-2023 | 78 years |
Diocese of Osnabrück and Archdiocese of Hamburg, University of Osnabrück study on sexualised violence since 1945 (2024) |
Germany |
| 1945-2022 | 77 years |
Diocese of Passau, University of Passau study on sexual abuse and physical violence by clergy 1945 to 2022 |
Germany |
| 1945-2019 | 74 years |
Diocese of Würzburg, expert report of 2025 commissioned by the Independent Commission for Reappraisal (1945-2019) |
Germany |
| 1945-2010 | 65 years |
Sexual abuse of minors in the Catholic Church in the Netherlands (Deetman Commission) |
Netherlands |
| 1945-2019 | 74 years |
Sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising (expert report 2022) |
Germany |
| 1945-1956 | 11 years |
Child migration to Australia: Catholic agencies sent children from England to institutions of the Christian Brothers and the Sisters of Nazareth (IICSA 2018) |
Australia, United Kingdom |
| 1945-2019 | 74 years |
Missouri 1945 to 2019: The Attorney General found 163 instances of abuse by priests and deacons; for decades the church protected its priests instead of the victims |
United States |
| 1945-1992 | 47 years |
Violence and sexual abuse at the Regensburger Domspatzen (Weber Report) |
Germany |
| 1946-2023 | 77 years |
Diocese of Speyer 1946 to 2023: Study found 109 accused clergy; at the Engelsgasse children's home a former vicar general was among the main accused |
Germany |
| 1946-2019 | 73 years |
Archdiocese of Berlin, expert report of 2021 on sexual abuse by clerics since 1946 |
Germany |
| 1946-1989 | 43 years |
Mecklenburg 1946 to 1989: Abuse by Catholic clergy in East Germany; offenders were moved to the West, the Stasi recruited them as informers |
Germany |
| 1946-2014 | 68 years |
Sexual abuse by Catholic clerics in Germany (MHG study) |
Germany |
| 1946-2002 | 56 years |
Archdiocese of Philadelphia, grand jury report of 2005 on abuse by 63 priests and cover-up by Cardinals Krol and Bevilacqua |
United States |
| 1947-1951 | 4 years |
Ratline via Rome: the priest Draganović and the escape of Klaus Barbie |
Argentina, Bolivia, Germany, Italy, Croatia, Austria |
| 1948-1991 | 43 years |
Scotland, Benedictine schools Fort Augustus and Carlekemp 1948 to 1991 (Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry 2021) |
United Kingdom |
| 1949-2014 | 65 years |
Maitland-Newcastle 1949 to 2014: A state commission found that bishops knew of a child abuser for decades and never reported him; a letter of 1976 speaks of a "cover-up" |
Australia |
| 1950-2010 | 60 years |
Sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Belgium (parliamentary report 2011) |
Belgium |
| 1950-2019 | 69 years |
Sexual abuse by Catholic priests in Colorado (Special Master's report 2019) |
United States |
| 1950-2019 | 69 years |
Sexual abuse by Catholic clerics in Illinois (Attorney General's report 2023) |
United States |
| 1950-2002 | 52 years |
United States, John Jay Report of 2004 on sexual abuse by Catholic priests and deacons 1950 to 2002 |
United States |
| 1950-2022 | 72 years |
Sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in Kansas (Kansas Bureau of Investigation report 2023) |
United States |
| 1950-1983 | 33 years |
Scotland, boarding schools of the Marist Brothers in Largs and Dumfries 1950 to 1983 (Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry 2021) |
United Kingdom |
| 1950-2026 | 76 years |
Michigan from 1950: The Attorney General had all seven dioceses searched in 2018; reports list 56 accused in Lansing, 51 in Grand Rapids, 44 in Marquette, 38 in Saginaw, 28 in Gaylord and 19 in Kalamazoo |
United States |
| 1950-1995 | 45 years |
Derry and Belfast 1950s to the 1990s: A state inquiry found systemic abuse in the homes of the Sisters of Nazareth, including sexual abuse by priests |
United Kingdom |
| 1950-2022 | 72 years |
New Zealand 1950 to 2022: Allegations against 1,122 Catholic clergy and religious; the Church moved offenders, accused Brothers were sent to Papua New Guinea |
New Zealand |
| 1950-2025 | 75 years |
Violence and abuse in church institutions in Austria (Klasnic Commission) |
Austria |
| 1950-2022 | 72 years |
Sexual abuse of children in the Catholic Church in Portugal (Independent Commission 2023) |
Portugal |
| 1950-1989 | 39 years |
Sexual abuse in Catholic institutions in Australia (Royal Commission) |
Australia |
| 1950-1985 | 35 years |
Rubane House (Northern Ireland) 1950 to 1985: De La Salle Brothers beat and abused boys; the order did not report brothers who confessed, to protect its reputation |
United Kingdom |
| 1950-2022 | 72 years |
Sexual abuse in the environment of the Catholic Church in Switzerland (pilot study, University of Zurich) |
Switzerland |
| 1950-2013 | 63 years |
Victoria, Australia: parliamentary inquiry "Betrayal of Trust" into the handling of child abuse (2013) |
Australia |
| 1950-2020 | 70 years |
Sexual violence in the Catholic Church in France 1950 to 2020 (CIASE Report) |
France |
| 1951-1994 | 43 years |
Ireland, Northern Ireland, USA 1951 to 1994: Father Brendan Smyth abused children for over four decades; his order and dioceses did not report him, and a 14-year-old victim had to swear secrecy |
Ireland, United States, United Kingdom |
| 1953-1983 | 30 years |
Scotland 1953 to 1983: At the Christian Brothers' St Ninian's home, according to the inquiry, sexual abuse was endemic throughout |
United Kingdom |
| 1954-1997 | 43 years |
Melbourne 1954 to 1997: Royal Commission found a "culture of secrecy" under Archbishop Little; offenders' resignations were disguised as ill health and minutes concealed the abuse |
Australia |
| 1955-1993 | 38 years |
New Zealand, Marylands School and Hebron Trust, abuse by the Brothers of St John of God (Royal Commission 2023) |
Australia, New Zealand |
| 1957-1990 | 33 years |
Canisius-Kolleg Berlin and other Jesuit schools, abuse and beatings by priests (Raue Report 2010) |
Germany |
| 1957-2002 | 45 years |
Long Island 1957 to 2002: A grand jury found that the Diocese of Rockville Centre used deception and intimidation to keep victims from legal action |
United States |
| 1957-2013 | 56 years |
Franciscan Conventuals 1957 to 2013: In 1971 the order exerted massive influence on criminal proceedings against a boarding-school head in Bonn; parents were urged to withdraw the complaint |
Germany |
| 1957-1971 | 14 years |
Middletown 1957 to 1971: The director of the Catholic girls' school St Joseph's regularly beat the girls; the inquiry found this amounted to systemic physical abuse |
United Kingdom |
| 1958-2021 | 63 years |
Sexualised violence by clergy in the Diocese of Essen (IPP study 2023) |
Germany |
| 1958-2004 | 46 years |
Maine 1958 to 2004: The Diocese of Portland did not inform parishes about accused priests; according to the Attorney General this put children at risk |
United States |
| 1958-2012 | 54 years |
Michigan 1958 to 2012: A priest was moved twice despite complaints of abuse of altar boys; a bishop suggested keeping him in place so the rumours would not be confirmed |
Vatican City, United States |
| 1960-2012 | 52 years |
England, Benedictine schools of Ampleforth and Downside, abuse and cover-up (IICSA 2018) |
United Kingdom |
| 1960-2017 | 57 years |
Ballarat 1960 to 2017: Royal Commission found a "catastrophic failure" of diocesan leadership; Bishop Mulkearns kept moving offenders, destroyed a report and put the Church's reputation above children |
Australia |
| 1960-1979 | 19 years |
Belfast, Derry, Newry 1960s and 1970s: Girls of school age worked in the laundries of the Good Shepherd Sisters; a priest asked girls whether they were virgins |
United Kingdom |
| 1960-1993 | 33 years |
Sexual abuse in schools run by religious orders in Ireland (Scoping Inquiry 2024) |
Ireland |
| 1960-2023 | 63 years |
Sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Spain (Ombudsman's report 2023) |
Spain |
| 1961-2018 | 57 years |
Diocese of Trier 1961 to 2018: According to the investigation, priest Edmund Dillinger abused 19 people; the diocese covered up allegations and arranged his move to Cologne in 1971 |
Germany |
| 1961-1996 | 35 years |
Australia 1961 to 1996: Marist Brothers Chute and Sutton abused pupils; superiors knew of admissions, made Chute a principal and disguised Sutton's file under a false name |
Australia |
| 1962-2010 | 48 years |
Sexual abuse in six dioceses of Pennsylvania (grand jury report 2018) |
United States |
| 1962-2003 | 41 years |
New Hampshire 1962 to 2003: The Diocese of Manchester acknowledged that the state likely had evidence to convict it of child endangerment |
United States |
| 1962-2002 | 40 years |
Abuse and cover-up in the Diocese of Ferns (Ferns Report) |
Ireland |
| 1964-2023 | 59 years |
South Tyrol 1964 to 2023: Report on the Diocese of Bozen-Brixen found 41 accused priests; one priest was merely moved for almost 50 years |
Italy |
| 1965-2019 | 54 years |
Sexual abuse by clerics in the Diocese of Aachen (WSW expert report 2020) |
Germany |
| 1965-1977 | 12 years |
Mount Cashel orphanage: abuse by Christian Brothers and an arrangement with the justice system (Hughes Commission) |
Canada |
| 1967-2001 | 34 years |
Diocese of Trier, University of Trier study on sexual abuse during the terms of office of Bishops Stein and Spital (1967-2001) |
Bolivia, Germany, Ukraine |
| 1967-2001 | 34 years |
Brisbane 1967 to 2001: Abuse victim Joan Isaacs received 30,000 dollars after two years of negotiation and had to commit herself to silence |
Australia |
| 1968-2012 | 44 years |
Ireland 1968 to 2012: The Church's child-safeguarding board found serial abusers at Spiritan schools; one abused 28 children and remained in ministry until 1996 |
Ireland |
| 1970-2015 | 45 years |
England and Wales, state inquiry (IICSA) into abuse in the Catholic Church 1970 to 2015 |
United Kingdom |
| 1970-2010 | 40 years |
Queensland 1970 to 2010: The Marist Brothers ignored complaints about two Brothers and withheld from abuse victims what they knew |
Australia |
| 1972-2022 | 50 years |
Archdiocese of Cologne 1972 to 2022: Carol-singers president Winfried Pilz was listed as an abuser from 2012; the archdiocese informed neither the Diocese of Dresden-Meissen nor the children's mission society |
Germany |
| 1973-2012 | 39 years |
Ireland 1973 to 2012: A Dominican admitted abuse in 1973, the provincial left him in ministry; he abused further children |
Ireland |
| 1974-2007 | 33 years |
Sydney 1974 to 2007: The archdiocese offered abuse victim John Ellis 30,000 dollars and denied the abuse in court in order to deter other victims from suing |
Australia |
| 1975-2018 | 43 years |
Handling of sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Cologne (expert report 2021) |
Germany |
| 1975-1989 | 14 years |
Abuse by priests in the Archdiocese of St. John's, Newfoundland (Winter Commission) |
Canada |
| 1975-2012 | 37 years |
Ireland 1975 to 2012: The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart for years did not pass abuse allegations against 17 members to police and authorities, and in 2011 publicly claimed the opposite |
Ireland |
| 1975-2004 | 29 years |
Abuse and cover-up in the Archdiocese of Dublin (Murphy Report) |
Ireland |
| 1975-2002 | 27 years |
Peru, Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, abuse by the founder and leadership, dissolved by the Vatican in 2025 |
Peru |
| 1976-1977 | 1 year |
Christian von Wernich, police chaplain during the Argentine military dictatorship |
Argentina |
| 1978-2014 | 36 years |
Cover-up of abuse in the Archdiocese of Freiburg (report of the File Analysis Working Group) |
Germany |
| 1979-2017 | 38 years |
Armidale and Parramatta 1979 to 2017: A bishop moved a priest he believed a danger to children and passed him to another diocese without warning; the priest was convicted of 79 offences |
Australia |
| 1981-2010 | 29 years |
Diocese of Hildesheim, the case of the priest "Anton P.", institutional failure 1981 to 2010 (IPP expert report 2017) |
Germany |
| 1986-2004 | 18 years |
Adelaide 1986 to 2003: A Catholic special school hired a man with several sex-offence convictions as bus driver for intellectually disabled children without any check |
Australia |
| 1990-2018 | 28 years |
Sexual abuse by clerics in Poland (church survey 2019) |
Poland |
| 1992-2019 | 27 years |
The case of Theodore McCarrick (Vatican report 2020) |
Vatican City, United States |
| 1993-2009 | 16 years |
Cornwall (Ontario) 1993 to 2009: Diocese paid a victim who undertook not to pursue criminal proceedings and to keep silent; the bishop reinstated a charged priest "with joy" |
Canada |
| 1993-2008 | 15 years |
Wollongong 1993 to 2008: An accused priest resisted his removal for twelve years; the Congregation for the Clergy in Rome ruled in his favour, and the supreme tribunal took five and a half years |
Australia, Vatican City |
| 12 Apr 1994-16 Apr 1994 | 5 days |
Church of Nyange 1994: parish priest Athanase Seromba convicted of genocide |
Rwanda |
| 17 Apr 1994-8 Jun 2001 | 7 years |
Rwanda 1994: massacres at the Benedictine convent of Sovu, two nuns convicted in Brussels in 2001 |
Belgium, Rwanda |
| 27 Mar 1995-27 Feb 1998 | 2 years |
The Groër case: abuse allegations against the Archbishop of Vienna |
Vatican City, Austria |
| 1996-2009 | 13 years |
Cover-up in the Diocese of Cloyne and the attitude of the Vatican (Cloyne Report) |
Ireland, Vatican City |
| 1996-2013 | 17 years |
Ireland 1996 to 2013: State audits found that dioceses reported 43 percent of allegations only after more than a year or never, and religious orders failed to report 88 percent promptly |
Ireland |
| 1996-2014 | 18 years |
Melbourne from 1996: The Church's "Melbourne Response" compensation scheme capped payments to abuse victims at 50,000 dollars; victims were discouraged from going to the police |
Australia |
| 1996-2011 | 15 years |
Philadelphia 2011: A second grand jury found that the archdiocese's personnel chief sent known offenders to parishes with schools and that dozens of suspects remained in ministry |
United States |
| 2004-2014 | 10 years |
Construction of the bishop's residence in Limburg for around 31.5 million euros |
Germany |
| 2007-2010 | 3 years |
Toowoomba 2007/2008: A Catholic school did not report abuse allegations against a teacher to police; he continued abusing and was convicted of 44 offences against 13 girls |
Australia |
| 2011-2019 | 8 years |
The Karadima case: conviction and dismissal from the clerical state |
Chile, Vatican City |
| 8 Apr 2018-31 May 2018 | 54 days |
Abuse and cover-up in the Church in Chile |
Chile |
| 13 Jun 2020 | 1 day |
Diocese of Limburg, project "Listening to victims, preventing abuse" (2020), file analysis of 46 cases |
Germany |