700 priests charged with U.S. pedophile

The extent of the paedophile priests scandal seems to have no stop in the United States, where justice announced yesterday that about 700 members of Illinois's clergy have been charged, under which for several decades for child abuse.

Illinois prosecutor Lisa Madigan launched an investigation in August to this industrial state in the north of the US, following the publication of a report on the Pennsylvania Church that triggered a wave of controversy in the US.

Since that time, church services have been examining the archives of 10 secular dioceses, and preliminary conclusions are all equally shocking.

The Illinois diocese made public the names of 185 priests targeted by some serious charges, but they warned charges against at least 500 other priests, writes Lisa Madigan in a report on the case.