Poll Analysis: Priests Say Catholic Church Facing Biggest Crisis of the Century

Allegations of Abuse and The Bishops' Conference

The survey contacted priests in the weeks following the yearly conference of Roman Catholic Bishops in the United States. During this conference in June 2002, which took place in a heightened atmosphere of crisis and was extensively covered by the media, the bishops drafted a set of guidelines for dealing with priests who are accused of sexual misconduct. The zero tolerance guidelines set forth in the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People require bishops to report allegations of child sexual abuse to civil authorities and remove accused priests from public ministry. Because bishops are heads of their local dioceses and cannot be sanctioned by other bishops, the guidelines do not address the issues of discipline of bishops who are involved in misconduct themselves or who cover up for priests who are accused of misconduct.

Generally speaking, while priests approve of and trust the bishops who head their own dioceses -- three out of four said they approved (39% approved strongly and 37% somewhat) of the way the bishop in their own diocese is handling his duties overall -- two-thirds disapprove of the way bishops in general have handled the allegations of child sexual abuse against priests.

There is also a sense among priests that the problems are happening elsewhere, outside their home dioceses. Eight in 10 overall said they were satisfied that adequate procedures had already been established in their own diocese for dealing with the issue of child sexual abuse by priests even before the Bishop's conference last June.

When asked to name what bothered them the most about the crisis, priests mentioned the bishops' response to the crisis most often at 21%. (Next highest mention was concern about unsubstantiated claims of abuse at 16%, followed by the media response to the crisis at 14%.)

While this shows that some are clearly worried about unsubstantiated claims, a majority (60%) indicated they believe that most (19%) or many (42%) of the allegations of sexual misconduct that have been leveled at priests are true, and over half (53%) said they think the Church has been too lenient in disciplining priests who are accused of misconduct. (Thirteen percent feel the Church has been too harsh, and 26% say the level of discipline has been just right.)

Not surprisingly, a priest's religious leanings play a role in his perception of how the crisis is being handled. Generally speaking, priests who identify as liberal (i.e. non-orthodox) on the religious ideological spectrum tend to feel more strongly about the lack of protection of accused priests by their bishops, but also to be more inclined to believe that the bulk of the allegations against priests are true. Also, they are less satisfied with the guidelines set forth in the Bishops conference last June, and more willing to advocate that bishops resign if they are found to have covered up for abusing priests than are their more conservative brethren.

When priests were asked about the greatest challenges they face in their life and work, issues surrounding the scandal were not immediately foremost in their minds, but that is not to say that concerns are not there. Priests most often mentioned the need to combat secularism and materialism in the laity (12%), the problems of burnout from excessive demands on their time (15%), and the issues of effective ministry (10%). However, aggregating mentions of related issues -- media attacks on the Church, the problems laity and clergy are having in the wake of the abuse scandals, and concern over lost credibility -- reveals that just under two in 10 priests expressed concern about one or more of those issues.

Many priests indicated in their written comments at the end of the survey that they feel that the Church and especially the clergy have been portrayed unfairly by the media, who they feel do not understand the life that priests lead. Nearly three in four said they think the news media's treatment of the Church is too negative.

Satisfaction With the Bishop's Charter

When priests were asked to rate the guidelines set forth in the Charter, two-thirds said they were at least somewhat satisfied that it adequately addresses the issues dealing with sexual abuse by priests but 25% said they were not. Six percent said they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. The largest proportion said they were "mostly" (33%) or "somewhat" (26%) satisfied that it addressed the issues.

When asked to rate the Charter on a variety of specifics, priests expressed the greatest satisfaction with the way the compact set about protecting minors. Three out of four priests said it does at least a good job of protecting minors from sexual abuse. Over half (55%) gave the Charter an excellent or good rating for its ability to help restore confidence in the Catholic Church. However, when it comes to being fair to those who are accused of abuse, only 34% of priests said it did a good job and 65% said it did only a fair or poor job when it comes to providing for the discipline of bishops who cover up for abusive priests.

Priests rate how well the Bishop's compact will:

Excellent/ Fair/

Good Neutral Poor

Protect minors from sex abuse 75% 8 12 Restore confidence in the Church 55% 17 24 Treat accused priests fairly 34% 16 45 Provide discipline for bishops who cover up for abusive priests 15% 13 65

When asked what outcome they would most like to see if a bishop is found to have protected a priest who has sexually abused a minor, only 11% said they thought that the bishop should be arrested, and hardly anyone suggested the bishop should not apologize (1%). Most (75%) agreed that a bishop in that position should apologize and impose new safeguards. That group includes 34% who said that the bishop should take those steps and then continue to serve, and 41% who said the bishop should take those steps and then resign. Thirteen percent did not answer the question.

Bishops