Posted on 06/24/2002 7:59:00 PM PDT by Polycarp
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Analysis
By Gary Langer
— Eight in 10 Americans favor criminal charges against bishops who've failed to act on sexual abuse accusations against priests — a view that underscores the depth of public discontent with the abuse scandal in the Catholic Church.
Apart from criminal charges, more than eight in 10 Catholics and non-Catholics alike say bishops who failed to act on abuse allegations should be removed from their position. Only around one in 10 say they should be allowed to remain as bishops.
Such results show the level of continued unhappiness with the way the Church has handled past cases in which priests have been accused of sexually abusing minors — and also public discontent with the way the Church has dealt with the ensuing scandal.
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| Meeting Will Produce Improvements | 59 percent | 77 | ||||||||
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Meeting Did Produce Improvements | 38 | 44 | |||||||
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Missed Chance
The U.S. bishops' meeting in Dallas this month looks like another missed opportunity: Before the meeting, 59 percent of Americans — rising to 77 percent of Catholics — thought it would produce "meaningful improvements" in Church policy on the issue. But today far fewer — 38 percent of all Americans, and 44 percent of Catholics — say such improvements actually materialized.
Views were much the same after a delegation of American Church leaders met with Vatican officials in Rome in April — before the meeting, majorities expected meaningful progress; afterwards, far fewer said such progress did occur.
Should Abusive Priests Be Removed?
One specific point of contention concerns what should be done with priests who've committed abuse. More than three-quarters of Americans, again including equal numbers of Catholics and non-Catholics, say that all priests who have sexually abused a child should be automatically removed from the priesthood. Fewer than two in 10 prefer the bishops' plan, which would allow some such priests to remain in the priesthood, albeit stripped of their duties and forbidden from wearing the collar.
More broadly, 66 percent of Americans, and 61 percent of Catholics, disapprove of the way the Church is handling the situation; more than four in 10 disapprove "strongly." Only about a third of Catholics, and a quarter of all Americans approve of the Church's response — levels that have held stable since April, despite the Rome and Dallas meetings.
Methodology
This ABCNEWS.com/Beliefnet poll was conducted by telephone June 19-23, among a random national sample of 1,023 adults, including 251 Catholics. The results have a three-point error margin for the full sample and six points for Catholics. Sampling, data collection and tabulation was conducted by TNS Intersearch of Horsham, Pa.
Previous ABCNEWS polls can be found in our PollVault.
| Copyright © 2002 ABC News Internet Ventures. Click here for Press Information, Terms of Use & Privacy Policy & Internet Safety Information applicable to the site. |
Count me in that. We were told they understood our feelings and would solve the problem but it turned out to still be a protection operation.
Time to throw them to the wolves. Jail is the proper remedy to show we mean it.
cutting a head off the Hydra....
I think I need a dope slap because I feel awful nominating a Bishop for incarceration...
Eight in 10 Americans favor criminal charges against bishops who've failed to act on sexual abuse accusations against priests...
73 percent favor obstruction or accessory charges against bishops who knew of an allegation and didn't call the police or remove the priest from duty.
That's a rational want from 90% of people.
A grand jury in Boston, where the scandal erupted this winter, reportedly is considering filing charges against Cardinal Bernard Law, though such action is said to be unlikely.
But people won't get what they want, is they way I read it. No surprise that people probably won't get the justice they seek from government.
The laws don't provide for prosecution of bishops in these cases.
I second the nomination.
We must be careful for what we wish. Viscerally, I wouldn't mind seeing a few bishops at hard labor at a maximum security facility.
However, once we say that bishops may be commonly held liable at criminal law for their actions relating to the administration of their sees, we enter into dangerous territory. Perhaps before we satisfy our desires, we ought to first listen to bishops and priests from other countries where governments exercised intrusive authority in the inner workings of the Church.
It would be far better for we lay Catholics to discover other mechanisms to hold our bishops accountable than to turn them over to the law for their administrative failings (morally reprehensible as they may be). Frankly, I still think that selecting particular dioceses for Copper Sundays still sounds like a good idea to me.
sitetest
Of course state AG Tom Riley is a good catholic lad and will bag his current grand jury findings and exonerate this turd burglar.
There really should NOT be a statute of limitations on child sexual assault (child, meaning MINORS of any age).
Methinks . . . . They ARE the wolves (in sheep's clothing).
However, I suspect that there are at least a few bishops that could stand some reflection and penance in a monastery for the rest of their days.
This is always in my thoughts! Not once in the last 6 months has this consideration falied to present itself to my conscious thoughts when contemplating this scandal.
Yet it may come to this regardless. That may be the single most bitter legacy of this scandal. The day may come when American Catholics worship in the open under gov't appointed Patriotic Churches while Roman Catholics join their suffering brethren in China by their exile to the underground.
If open schism ever occurs here, our gov't will definitely award the church properties to those in schism, not Rome.
Better go straighten out my tin foil beany. Its chafing again behind the ears.
...While going on TV over and over again to say that he is cooperating fully with Investigatiors looking into 115 complaints on 61 Priests for SeXual Abuse of our kids, and its Cover-Up by his Office,
...Los Angeles Cardinal ROGER MAHONEY has yet to supply LAPD and Los Angeles Sheriff Dept investigatiors with one sheet of Documentation on these priests.
...Boston's Cardinal LAW supplied Investigators with lots of Documentation on its 85 accussed priests, so has New York and San Jose.
...In contrast Cardinal MAHONEY has forced the Los Angeles District Attorney to seek supoena's from the Los Angeles Grand Jury for production of such doucments. Furthermore an Archdiocese Lawyer is fighting this process in Court in trying to get some of these Priests off the hook ..just like he succeeded in doing once in the Mid-1990's.
NEVER FORGET
They may as well have held the boys down while they were raped.
Amen.
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