On June 6, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection released its 2024 Annual Report – Findings and Recommendations on the Implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.
The report is based on the audit findings of StoneBridge Business Partners, a specialty consulting firm headquartered in Rochester, New York, which provides forensic, internal, and compliance audit services to leading organizations nationwide. A survey conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University regarding allegations of abuse of minors is also included as a part of the report.
This is the twenty-second such report since 2002 when the U.S. bishops established and adopted the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, a comprehensive framework of procedures to address allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy and establish protocols to protect children and young people.
The 2024 report covers July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024. During that period, 902 allegations were reported by 855 victim-survivors of child sexual abuse by clergy throughout the 195 Catholic dioceses and eparchies that reported information. This is a decrease of 406 allegations reported in the previous audit year. Out of the 902 allegations, 26 involved current-year minors. All other allegations were made by adults alleging events that occurred when they were minors.
The report notes the ongoing work of the Catholic Church in continuing the call to ensure the safety of children and vulnerable adults. In 2024, the Church conducted 2,237,906 background checks on clergy, employees, and volunteers. In addition, in 2024, over 2.2 million adults and over 2.8 million children and youth were trained in how to identify the warning signs of abuse and how to report those signs.
Annual Audit
Annually, the Diocese of Grand Rapids fully participates in the audit conducted by StoneBridge Business Partners, an independent auditing agency, to ensure we are successfully meeting and improving safe environment policies and procedures in accordance with the USCCB’s Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People (2002). Each year, since the implementation of the Charter, the diocese has been found to be in compliance, including for the current audit year.
Every three years, dioceses are required to participate in an onsite audit at the chancery. In August 2025, the Diocese of Grand Rapids will once again participate in an onsite audit at the chancery as well as onsite audits conducted at parishes and schools. Audits at the parish/school level, while not specifically outlined by the Charter, are helpful in understanding how policies and procedures are being implemented and verifying that the requirements of the Charter are being followed at the local level.
Promise to Protect, Pledge to Heal
The Diocese of Grand Rapids is committed to protecting children and vulnerable adults from harm. Our safe environment program aims to prevent sexual abuse within our community and to help heal the wounds of survivors. To aid in this work, we employ a safe environment director whose role it is to ensure effective implementation of the safe environment program in the diocese that includes these components.
Reporting Abuse
The Diocese of Grand Rapids encourages individuals with a reasonable cause to suspect sexual abuse of a minor by a member of the clergy (bishop, priest, or deacon) or by any person acting under the authority or apparent authority of the Church to contact the Michigan Attorney General’s hotline at 844-324-3374, as well as the diocese’s victim assistance coordinator at 616-840-2079 or by email, vac@grdiocese.org. You are also encouraged to report abuse directly to the appropriate civil authorities. Individuals who believe they were sexually abused as a minor by a priest or deacon or any person acting under the authority or apparent authority of the Church are urged to follow the same reporting procedures.
Learn more about:
Reporting abuse
Safe environment policies and practices
Compliance and audits
