Poll: Many Americans Concerned About Sex Abuse by Priests
Analysis By Gary Langer
N E W Y O R K, Feb. 21
— Americans by nearly a 3-1 margin say the Roman Catholic Church is not doing enough to deal with sexual abuse of children by priests, and majorities — including most Catholics — favor laws requiring it to disclose allegations of abuse to police and parishioners alike.
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In an ABCNEWS poll, 60 percent of Americans call the issue "a major problem that requires immediate attention," and nearly two-thirds say the church is not doing enough to deal with it. Eighty percent, including three-quarters of Catholics, say the church should be required by law to report allegations of abuse to the authorities.
Attention has been refocused on the issue by the case of John J. Geoghan, a former Boston priest accused of molesting more than 100 boys, who was sentenced today to nine to 10 years in prison on a child abuse conviction. Two-thirds of Americans say they have heard of his case, and most of those who know about it say it has heightened their concern.
One clear cause of discontent is the church's past practice of quietly transferring accused priests like Geoghan to other parishes, The poll found 94 percent of Americans disapprove of that practice, a number that nears unanimity; and 85 percent disapprove of it "strongly." Nearly as many Catholics, 76 percent, strongly disapprove.
Nearly nine in 10 people say parishioners should be told of such allegations, and more than six in 10 say this should be required by law, rather than left to the church's discretion. Catholics, again, agree in similar numbers. (Just under a quarter of Americans — 23 percent in this poll — identify themselves as Catholics.)
Marriage
A smaller majority of Americans, 55 percent, suspect that the church's ban on marriage by priests contributes to the problem (and fewer, 36 percent, think it's a "major" factor). In this case Catholics are less likely to agree — 40 percent see the marriage ban as a contributing factor, and just 24 percent think it's a major factor.
Catholics in some other regards are more forgiving of their church. Fewer, 48 percent, call this issue a major problem; and 37 percent say the church is doing enough to deal with it.
Views on the Catholic Church
The Issue
Among All Americans
Among Catholics
Favorable view of church
63 percent
88 percent
See abuse as a major problem
60
48
Think church is doing enough
22
37
Think it's hurt church's reputation
59
51
Think marriage ban is a factor
55
40
Disapprove of priest transfers
94
89
Require disclosure to police
80
75
Require disclosure to parishioners
62
58
Extent
Two results suggest that people see cases of abuse within the church as involving a limited number of priests. Very few Americans, about one in 10, think priests are more likely than other men to sexually abuse children. And among Catholics who know their parish priest, two-thirds say they trust him "completely" around children. (Among regular churchgoers, moreover, "complete" trust rises to 86 percent.)
Opinion is fractured as far as the frequency of the abuse problem. Most people, 55 percent, think abuse of children by priests occurs either "infrequently" (28 percent) or "very rarely" (26 percent). Among Catholics, 65 percent call it infrequent, or very rare. People who think it happens more often, naturally, are more likely to call it a major problem.
Significantly, Catholic men — who presumably are in the best position to know — are the most likely to say the problem occurs "very rarely"; 44 percent say so.
Damage
The issue has done some damage to views of the church. Nearly six in 10 Americans say it has "hurt the overall reputation of the church" in their eyes; 51 percent of Catholics say the same.
Fewer, however, say it's done "a great deal" of damage to the church's reputation. And most still hold basically favorable views of the church, with 63 percent of Americans saying they have an overall favorable opinion of the Catholic Church, about the same as it was in a 1999 poll (68 percent). Among Catholics, 88 percent view the church favorably overall.
Still, even among Americans who have a favorable opinion of the church, 55 percent see sexual abuse of children by priests as a major problem that needs immediate attention.
Churchgoers
Support for the church is highest among its most loyal followers — those who attend services at least once a week. (About four in 10 Catholics say they do so.) Fifty-seven percent of churchgoing Catholics say the church is doing enough to deal with the issue; that dives to just 25 percent among Catholics who go to church less often.
Regular churchgoing Catholics also are less apt than other Catholics to say the issue has hurt the church's reputation in their eyes; less likely to see the marriage ban as a factor; less likely to support legislation requiring notification of parishioners; and, as noted, more apt to say they completely trust their parish priest around children.
At the same time, regular churchgoing Catholics are as likely as anyone else to disapprove of the practice of transferring accused priests to other parishes. And two-thirds of regular churchgoers support a law requiring the church to report accusations to the police. Such legislation, exempting alleged abuse revealed during confessionals, exists in some states, and is before the Legislature in Massachusetts. In the past, the Archdiocese of Boston has opposed it.
Views Among Catholics
The Issue
Attend Church Weekly
Attend Less Often
See abuse as a major problem
42 percent
52 percent
Think church is doing enough
57
25
Think it's hurt church's reputation
39
59
Think marriage ban is a factor
30
46
Disapprove of priest transfers
87
90
Require disclosure to police
67
79
Require disclosure to parishioners
47
65
"Completely" trust parish priest
86
50
Methodology
This ABCNEWS poll was conducted by telephone Feb. 19-20 among a random national sample of 1,008 adults. The results have a three-point error margin. Field work was conducted by TNS Intersearch of Horsham, Pa.
Previous ABCNEWS polls can be found in our PollVault.
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