WASHINGTON -- Catholics are far from impressed by church leaders' handling of the sexual abuse crisis, according to poll results reported by USA TODAY.
The latest USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll shows Catholics are still critical of church leaders, despite their apologies and efforts to resolve the scandal. The poll's results are based on responses from 256 Catholics who were included in a larger poll of 1,003 adults nationwide last month.
Among the poll's findings:
- 75 percent say the Catholic Church has done a bad job dealing with abusive priests, up from 70 percent a month ago.
- 77 percent of respondents say any priest guilty of abuse in the past should be removed from the priesthood. Eighty-two percent say those found guilty in new cases should be removed.
- The pope should remove a cardinal or bishop who knew about abuse and moved the priest to another parish rather than reporting him to police, according to 87 percent of Catholic respondents.
