Coverage in the Washington Post indicates that the audit is based on voluntary responses, rather than an independent review of records and files: "In most audits, investigators can compel access to objective data -- bank statements, legal documents and the like," said Barbara A. Blaine, founder of the Chicago-based Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. "In this case, the interviewers had to rely largely on subjective material that was given voluntarily, and given by essentially the same men who have, for decades, fought to keep the crimes of clergy concealed."

And not all areas are in compliance...