A support group for sexual abuse victims urged the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops Friday to stop priests from filing defamation lawsuits against people who accuse those priests of child molestation.

Calling such lawsuits “brutal,” “un-Christian” and “vengeful,” leaders of the 4,100-member Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests argued that priests should defend themselves by less intimidating methods.

In a letter to Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the survivors network said the recent spate of lawsuits “directly contradicts what you and so many church leaders have repeatedly stressed: that you want victims to come forward and disclose their abuse.”

Since the sexual abuse scandal erupted in Boston in January and began to spread across the country, priests in at least five dioceses Cleveland; Oklahoma City; Tulsa, Okla.; St. Louis; and Orange County, Calif. have turned the tables on their accusers by filing civil lawsuits seeking monetary damages for defamation. None of the cases has gone to trial. The aggressive defense efforts come at a time when doubts have been raised about accusations against a high-ranking clergyman in Boston, who was named in a civil lawsuit two weeks ago.

The Rev. Robert Silva, president of the National Federation of Priests’ Councils, which represents 25,000 of the nation’s 47,000 Roman Catholic priests, said the lawsuits were a necessary antidote to false accusations.

“Sexual abuse of children by a priest is a horrible crime,” Silva said. “At the same time, there is a different crime, the crime of defamation of character, to which priests are particularly vulnerable at this time.”

Their pastoral duty, Silva added, does not require priests to give up their right to defend themselves in court. “It is a basic civil right. It is not un-Christian. It is not vengeful. It is not brutal,” he said. “It is justice.”

In addition to defamation lawsuits, several other legal defenses are being used by priests who have been removed from ministry after allegations of child sexual abuse. Some are appealing to the Vatican, contending either that they are innocent or that the “zero tolerance” policy adopted by the U.S. bishops in Dallas in June violates the 10-year statute of limitations in canon law, the church’s legal code.

Priests in at least three cities Boston, Detroit and Miami are threatening to sue bishops in civil courts for violating their employment rights. In Trenton, N.J., a priest is pursuing a defamation claim under canon law, through the church’s internal legal system, against a fellow priest.

Monsignor Francis Maniscalco, a spokesman for the bishops’ conference, said it did not have the power to prevent individual priests from filing lawsuits.

“We are dealing with priests who say that they are innocent of the charges. It is no help to either priests or authentic victims to have false allegations made,” Maniscalco said.