By 2005, as the church responded with new rules and safeguards, many Catholics were willing to give bishops the benefit of the doubt, sociologist William D’Antonio of Catholic University of America said.
However, “Six years later, as the scandal continues and becomes worldwide, the laity seem much more distressed by it,” said D’Antonio, who has led five major surveys of American Catholics since 1987. “The laity seems to be losing their patience.”
In the 2011 study of 1,442 adult Catholics, 69 percent of respondents said the Catholic bishops have done a fair or poor job in handling accusations of sexual abuse by priests.
More than four in five respondents said the issue has hurt church leaders’ political credibility, reported researchers D’Antonio, Mary Gautier of the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate and Michele Dillon of the University of New Hampshire.
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