Let me suggest that it was not scandal that caused this, but the perpetual mistake of the church: improper involvement in the secular world.
The side effect of doing this is the creation of “social Catholics”. People who are indifferent to the religion, but want in on the secular influence and business connections of the church.
In short order, this hypocrisy breeds active dislike for the church, some even despising it and its doctrines.
Catholics who would have left because of scandal would not be mad at the church. Instead they would be saddened and disappointed.
But social Catholics are angry with the church. They hate that they had to pretend to be Catholic, to get “Catholic benefits”. And if you go down the list of what the church supports, they will oppose every one of those things, just because.
They also demand things they know the church will reject, because it would be harmful to the church. Then they sneer when the church is constant in its beliefs.
And yet they still call themselves “Catholic.”
Catholics still call those who have left the RCC *Catholic*.
Once a Catholic, always a Catholic, in the RCC mind.
My personal sneer lies in the fact that the church is not constant in their beliefs.