The sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church has left many questioning their own churches, clergy members and even their faith.
Wisconsin is part of the LaCrosse Diocese, which has been without a bishop since Raymond Burke left in January to become an archbishop in Missouri.
As they wait for his successor, current leaders agreed to talk openly with us about the scandal and how they're responding to it. From 1950 until 2002 the Diocese says there were 58 allegations of sexual abuse involving 28 priests.
Of those, 31 were substantiated, 24 were unsubstantiated and three were withdrawn or the accused was exonerated. In all, that means the church found 10 clergy members were guilty of sexual misconduct.
Those 10 make up 1.4 percent of the several hundred who served in the Diocese during that time. The national average is about four percent.
Father Lawrence Dunklee of the LaCrosse Diocese Office for Clergy says, "I can get up and say only 1.4 percent, but I look out and someone has been a victim, or has a child who is a victim. They don't care about what the percentage is. What's most important is how do we respond to those who have come forward, and not worry about statistics. I don't spend a lot of time worrying about that."
For more information about the study log on to www.dioceseoflacrosse.com.
The victims we interviewed also recommend the Survivors Network for Those Abused by Priests at www.survivorsnetwork.org.
