Vatican Aware of Abuse for Centuries, Study Says

That case -- brought by a woman who said she was raped by seven Los Angeles priests as a teenager and impregnated -- has been cited by California Catholic dioceses in hundreds of legal motions involving sexual abuse lawsuits in attempts to relieve the church of liability.

Plaintiff attorneys say they hope to use evidence in the new report to overturn this decision. They used the argument for the first time this month during a three-day mock trial in Los Angeles staged by plaintiff attorneys to focus public attention on California molestation cases.

"It devastates the church's argument that 'We had no idea this was happening' and that 'No priest would ever do this,' " said Larry Drivon, a Stockton attorney who represents hundreds of alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse in California.

But church attorney Callahan, who represents the Diocese of Orange in nearly 100 cases now in mediation, said that most studies show the molestation rate within the Catholic clergy to be 3% to 5%.

Said Callahan: "Is that foreseeable or an aberration?"