Kansas City, Mo ? The Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph says it spent $836,331 to deal with allegations of sexual abuse against 19 priests between 1951 and 1992.

The figures — the first diocesan accounting of the number of priests and the amount of money involved in sexual abuse allegations — were published in the current issue of The Catholic Key, the diocesan newspaper. The Rev. Patrick Rush, the diocese’s vicar general, said the diocese was responding to inquiries people made during an annual charitable fund drive called Together We Can.

“People who made this request of us in this campaign have a right to this information, and I am glad to put it out,” Rush said Tuesday.

The diocese said it spent $356,526 on legal expenses, $263,800 to settle claims, $198,829 for therapy of priests and $17,176 to counsel victims. Insurance covered $72,727 of the settlements.

Rush said the money did not come from the Together We Can campaign, which is for charities and schools. Instead, money comes from revenue the diocese gets from its 100 parishes and from investment income, Rush said.

Each parish contributes 9.25 percent of its revenue for diocesan expenses, financial officer Dave Malanowski said.

The payments related to sexual abuse date to the mid-1980s, although the allegations covered a period that began in 1951, Rush said. Some allegations surfaced as late as last year.

“Any abuse case is one too many, but I am grateful that (the cost) has been this minimal in terms of that,” Rush said.