Survey: Catholics don't know Charter

Only one-third of Catholics in a national survey said they had heard of the U.S. bishops' policies to prevent child sex abuse. And only one-sixth said they have heard of the abuse prevention programs in their own diocese.

The findings came from a survey conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA). The topics was the bishops' "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People," which was adopted five years ago.

CARA, an independent Church research agency at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., surveyed 1,048 self-identified Catholics. The margin of error was plus or minus three percent.

Findings

The survey found a wide disparity in what the respondents knew about the charter:

* Forty-five percent knew the Church has a policy to report any allegation of abuse of a minor to authorities and cooperate with investigations;

* nearly as many knew there is a zero-tolerance policy, whereby anyone credibly accused of abusing a minor is removed from ministry;

* only 14 percent knew the charter requires dioceses to undergo annual independent audits to determine whether they are enforcing their policies;

* only 15 percent knew dioceses have to submit annual reports on their adherence to the charter; and

* most respondents were unaware that, of the known incidents of sexual abuse of minors by priests since 1950, the vast majority -- about three-fourths -- occurred between 1960 and 1984, with a significant drop in the numbers since then.

Awareness

"Although few Catholics are aware of the steps the Church has taken, when informed about them, large majorities approve these actions," CARA said.

A majority of respondents said that knowing about the Church's sex abuse procedures and policies is likely to increase their confidence in the bishops.

Cara said that at least 71 percent of respondents gave at least a "fair" rating to the way the country's bishops as a whole have handled the issue. When respondents were asked about how well their own bishop was doing, the ratings were higher. (CNS)

(6/28/07)