1.   Byrne, who served on the Sexual Abuse Advisory Board, said he also does not know the number of complaints involving priests.

2.   Cases have also emerged around the country, including several in the New York area, involving priests who belong to religious orders.

3.   Byrne said the panel will be able to make its recommendations involving priests directly to Mahony rather than go through other church officials.

4.   However, he said, he believes some accusations are several years old and might involve priests who are no longer alive.

5.   In Middlesex County, an identical Globe motion is pending to unseal four other settled lawsuits involving priests that were also impounded.

6.   Instead, they noted, the bulk of the cases involved priests preying on adolescents.

7.   Like dioceses in Philadelphia and Los Angeles, among others, the Archdiocese of St. Louis was prompted to reexamine abuse cases after the scandals involving priests in Boston.

8.   Some involve priests who forced nuns they impregnated to have abortions.

9.   So far, the sexual abuse scandals involving priests have not provoked widespread defections among Hispanics, a bedrock of the Roman Catholic Church in America.

10.   The after-shocks brought forth a slew of accusations and revelations involving pedophile priests from New York to California, Maine to Florida.