The Catholic Church in America “has been particularly negligent” in its handling of child abuse claims, Berkowitz said when told about the high number of Child Victims Act cases filed against the Buffalo Diocese.

“You will find cases against every religious organization and every group that deals regularly with children,” Berkowitz said. “But the Catholic Church’s refusal to deal with this problem for so many years has put it in a situation where so much damage has been done that you have dioceses all over the country in bankruptcy.”

Opposing views

Amherst attorney Steven Boyd, whose firm has filed about 90 Child Victims Act lawsuits, said he believes the Catholic church does have a bigger problem with child molesters than other religions.

“Based on the people who come to our offices, no other denomination has the depth of problems experienced by the Catholic church,” Boyd said. “Religious groups that allow their people to get married certainly don’t have these problems.”

David F. Pierre Jr. takes a much different view. He is a devout Catholic and Massachusetts-based author who has written three books claiming that a large number of the abuse allegations made against Catholic priests are false.