At least 550 people filed sex-abuse claims against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee by Wednesday's deadline in its bankruptcy proceedings - by far the largest number of claims among the eight Catholic diocesan bankruptcies in the United States since 2004, and on par with a 2009 Jesuit bankruptcy that covered victims in five states.

Milwaukee victim-survivors and their attorneys called the number "staggering," although they contend it still fails to reflect the magnitude of the Catholic sex-abuse crisis in southeastern Wisconsin. They said some victims were unwilling to file because they were intimidated by the process or did not think they could prevail against the church.

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