Washington ? Roman Catholic activists said Tuesday they have compiled an Internet database listing the names of 573 U.S. priests who have faced public accusations of child sex abuse since 1996.

The list at www.survivorsfirst.org was assembled by 10 Boston-area Catholics operating as a group called Survivors First. It is drawn from U.S. newspaper articles and, in some cases, court documents.

The group decided at the last minute to drop 100 names from its public list and instead to provide information about where to find newspaper articles about 290 other molestation cases.

Paul Baier, a software entrepreneur who led the project, said his group was “incredibly cautious” about choosing the priests it would name. Survivors First has allegations from victims against 2,100 clerics in its files, but is still researching many of the claims, he said.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, meeting this week to approve a sex abuse policy for the American church, has not undertaken a complete count of molestation cases since victims began going public in 1985.

The bishops are expected to adopt the new policy today.

The total number of accused clerics in the Survivors First database should be compared with the 90,000 priests of the past generation, not the 46,000 currently serving, he said. Using the figure of 2,100 priests with claims against them, that means about 2.3 percent of priests have been accused of abuse, he said. The Web site also has a listing of false charges made against clergy.

For accused priests, the list provides information on each cleric’s city and diocese, and the status or outcome of any criminal or civil cases, Baier said. There are five categories: priests convicted of crimes, civil settlements in which criminal guilt was not admitted, pending criminal cases, pending civil cases and other situations.