ASSOCIATED PRESS: The Philadelphia archdiocese on Monday announced the allegation against Msgr. Michael Flood [NOT PICTURED, LEFT], who denies wrongdoing. The archdiocese says the alleged victim filed a civil lawsuit last week in Delaware. The plaintiff is not identified by name; he is described as a student at St. John Neumann High School in Philadelphia, where Flood taught in the late 1970s. Church officials say they cannot begin their own investigation because the plaintiff is unnamed. They say the 71-year-old priest will continue serving as pastor at St. Luke the Evangelist parish in Glenside. MORE
RELATED: One in every 33 women who attend worship services regularly has been the target of sexual advances by a religious leader, a survey released Wednesday says. The study, by Baylor University researchers, found that the problem is so pervasive that it almost certainly involves a wide range of denominations, religious traditions and leaders. For its study, Baylor used the 2008 General Social Survey, a nationally representative sample of 3,559 respondents, to estimate the prevalence of clergy sexual misconduct. Women older than 18 who attended worship services at least once a month were asked in the survey whether they had received “sexual advances or propositions” from a religious leader. The study found that close to one in 10 respondents — male and female — reported having known about clergy sexual misconduct occurring in a congregation they had attended. MORE