The announcements were a small step forward for the 1.5-million member Archdiocese of Philadelphia, which has been racked by charges that widespread abuses were ignored, even as it struggles with contentious cutbacks in neighborhood Catholic schools and parishes.

“We cannot change the past, but I pray and I do believe that the lessons of the last year have made the church humbler, wiser and a more vigilant guardian of our children’s safety,” Archbishop Chaput said.

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The grand jury allegations were especially shocking to many church members because they suggested that priests under investigation for abuse were still wearing the cloth years after the national church had declared a zero-tolerance policy.

When the suspensions were announced in February and March 2011, church critics called them long overdue and evidence of official failure to act. But many priests and church supporters called them an overreaction to bad publicity, unfairly tarring priests who had not been credibly accused of crimes.

Some priests had been accused of serious sexual abuse, others of “boundary issues” violations like improper sexual conversations or light physical contact.

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The grand jury report led to criminal charges against Msgr. William J. Lynn, who was responsible for looking into abuse claims but, it alleged, had been more concerned with shielding the church from scandal. Monsignor Lynn, the most senior church official in the country to be criminally indicted in the sexual abuse scandal, is on trial in Philadelphia on charges of conspiracy and child endangerment. He has pleaded not guilty.

At least one priest who was declared unfit this week has told friends that he is angry and innocent, and will appeal the decision.

Asked to describe his meetings with the priests whose investigations have concluded, Archbishop Chaput said they were “difficult, very difficult.” For those found suitable for ministry, he said, “there was great relief and joy.”

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The five priests will be under permanent supervision from now on, the archbishop said. “Minimally, it would require a process of monitoring for the rest of their lives.”

The five will not face criminal charges, said Tasha Jamerson, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office, because the statute of limitations had run out by the time of the grand jury report.

Barbara Blaine, the president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, said Friday, “We are shocked that 14 months after a grand jury raised concerns over 37 accused priests, only eight of these cases are resolved.”