If you make a claim, beeliner, especially if it is contentious, the responsibility for sourcing it is yours.

Peter, you remind me of J. Wellington Wimpy: "Let's you and him fight."

I don't think that mine are contentious. But since Ake made his assertion first, let him provide substantiation first and then I will do so.

The JW statistic is pretty well documented. The society refuses to release the names, claiming ecclesiastical privilege, but do not dispute the number as far as I know.

I don't believe that the RCC has ever claimed such a privilege unless the information was imparted as part of a sacramental confession, in which case the confidentiality is inviolate.

But I'm not trying to start an argument here, and as I mentioned previously, you also challenged Ake's assertion.