Catholics' opinions
Results of a Boston Globe/WBZ-TV poll of 800 Catholics living in
the Archdiocese of Boston, conducted Feb. 4-6, 2002, by KRC/Communications Research.
Q.
How often do you attend Mass?
39% At least once a week
20% At least once a month
25% Less than once a month
12% Never
4% Don't know*
* or chose not to answer
Church leaders
Key
Extremely favorable
Favorable
Don't know/ refused
Neutral
Unfavorable
Extremely unfavorable
Q.
Is your opinion of Pope John Paul II ...
20%
50%
3%
12%
13%
3%
Q.
Is your opinion of your parish priest …
29%
44%
11%
11%
2 %
1
%
Q.
Is your opinion of Cardinal Bernard Law ...
5%
24%
5%
14%
33%
18%
Cardinal Law
Q.
How would you rate Cardinal Law's ...
performance as a
spiritual leader?
Excellent
11%
Good
27%
Fair
21%
Poor
32%
Don't know*
10%
advocacy for church
teachings in the
public arena?
Excellent
8%
Good
28%
Fair
23%
Poor
24%
Don't know*
18%
administration
of the Boston
archdiocese?
Excellent
5%
Good
25%
Fair
25%
Poor
33%
Don't know*
13%
* or chose not to answer
Q.
How would you rate the job Cardinal Law has done handling instances of
sexual abuse of children by priests?
Of respondents who
attend Mass weekly
Excellent
3%
Good
16%
Fair
19%
Poor
51%
Don't know*
11%
Of respondents who attend Mass
1 to 3 times each month
Excellent
2%
Good
19%
Fair
15%
Poor
63%
Don't know*
2%
* or chose not to answer
Q.
When asked, 'Do you agree or disagree that Cardinal Law should resign?'
48% of the total sample agreed Law should resign, and 28% disagreed.
Breakdown based on church attendance:
Of respondents who
attend Mass weekly
31% Agree
52% Disagree
17% Don't know*
Of respondents who attend
Mass 1 to 3 times each month
61% Agree
29% Disagree
10% Don't know*
* or chose not to answer
Sexual abuse of children
Q.
Compared with other institutions that work with children like public schools or scouting organizations, do you think the Catholic church does a better job or a worse job when it comes to dealing with cases of sexual abuse of children?
9% Better
18% No difference
59% Worse
14% Don't know*
* or chose not to answer
Q.
Do you think sexual abuse of children by priests ...
66% Is a widespread problem that happens more often than we know
16%
10%
8% Don't know*
Is a relatively unusual problem that doesn't happen very often?
Depends on location, circumstance, or situation
* or chose not to answer
Q.
In general, do you think the leaders of the Catholic church care
more about protecting priests who have sexually abused children or helping the people who were sexually abused by priests?
64% Protecting priests
16% Helping people
11% Both the same
9% Don't know*
* or chose not to answer
Q.
Do you agree or disagree that Cardinal Law made a mistake in
his handling of cases of sexual abuse of children by priest, but after his sincere apology he should be forgiven?
51% Agree
32% Disagree
16% Don't know*
* or chose not to answer
New policy
Q.
As you may have heard, over the last few weeks, Cardinal Law has announced a new policy in which the church will report to public authorities all complaints of sexual abuse, and will train clergy and staff about recognizing sexual abuse and will continue to offer pastoral care to victims and their families. Do you think this policy goes too far or not far enough or is about right?
3% Too far
35% Not far enough
56% About right
6% Don't know*
* or chose not to answer
Q.
How confident are you that Cardinal Law will be able to implement this policy?
23% Very confident
39% Somewhat confident
31% Not confident
7% Don't know*
* or chose not to answer
Note: Some totals may not add to 100% due to rounding. Margin of error: +/– 3 percentage points on questions answered by all Catholics. When pollsters offered choices to the respondents, the choices were rotated so that different options were offered first to different respondents.
