More allegations made against priests

The audits were conducted by the Gavin Group Inc. of Boston, headed by a former FBI official.

Fifty-six auditors from the Gavin Group conducted audits of the 194 dioceses that participated. The auditors first mailed paperwork the dioceses needed to fill out and return, then made follow-up visits.

But auditors will not visit about 100 dioceses that instead will forward reports on their compliance. Gavin noted that visits give a stronger indication of whether there is resistance to change at a diocese.

Anne Burke, a justice of the Illinois appellate court and the former acting chairwoman of the church's National Review Board, a group of laypeople charged with monitoring the church's response to the sexual abuse crisis, said she feared it was too soon for the church to rely on self-reporting.

"I'm afraid of backsliding," Burke said.