“Our first job is to listen, to be empathetic,” said Deacon Bernie Nojadera, the executive director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat for the Protection of Children and Young People.

At least 1,000 children identified in the investigation were raped in Catholic places of worship, in schools, and in diocesan owned vehicles.

The state’s attorney general said that his office’s two-year investigation identified 301 priests who abused children and more than 1,000 victims.

Archbishop Gregory said Catholics are specifically "enraged" about allegations of abuse by Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick and find "any pastoral negligence in protecting our people is similarly grievous."

Bishop Edward Scharfenberger said, “we have reached a point where bishops alone investigating bishops is not the answer.”

Some experts believe that while many seminaries have established policies to protect adults studying to be priests and members of religious communities, seminary culture sometimes remains an obstacle to protecting them from predatory behavior.