The president of the U.S. bishops said the findings mark “another tragic chapter in the church's long struggle to confront the crimes of sexual abuse by clergy.”
Vatican-U.S. relations have grown increasingly strained in recent years, but the election of Joe Biden has prompted hopes for improved diplomatic ties.
The Vatican has imposed sanctions on a prominent Polish cardinal, retired Archbishop Henryk Gulbinowicz, after he was accused of sexually abusing a seminarian and of covering up abuse in another case.