Study: Catholics aware of church's abuse response trust church more

Published: 2006-04-21

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Those Catholics who say they are aware of the church's policies and actions in response to clergy sexual abuse are more likely to give bishops high marks in leadership, according to a new study released April 19 by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. The study found, however, that the number of Catholics who said they gave to diocesan appeals "declined from 38 percent in April 2002 to 28-29 percent in 2004 and 2005." It said that in a 2003 poll 55 percent of Catholics who had stopped giving to diocesan appeals the previous year said they did so in reaction to the sex abuse cases. But the study found little to no change from 2001 to 2005 in the percentage of Catholics who give to their parish, in their church attendance patterns or in the proportion of U.S. adults who identify themselves as Catholic. CARA is an independent Catholic research agency based at Georgetown University in Washington.

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