Damage from scandal 'will last'

HALF of the general public believe the damage caused to the Catholic Church by their response to clerical sexual abuse is permanent.

And the other half believe the permanence of the damage is dependant on how the Church responds to the issue.

Almost eight out of 10 people surveyed said the Church's response to allegations of child abuse was inadequate, the Time to Listen study found.

The report surveyed more than 1,000 people across the country, representing all ages and both genders.

"Only 42% believed that the Catholic Church would safeguard children entrusted to its care while 40% trusted the Church to handle problems with its own clergy," the report said.

Some 70% of those surveyed said the individual abuser was responsible for the occurrence of child sexual abuse.

Almost 40% saw the Church hierarchy as having responsibility for the management of the abuse, while 41% said civil authorities were responsible.

Just over 90% of the public said they would not accept a clerical abuser returning to ministry following conviction.

However, 24% said they would be willing to accept it if the abuser received treatment and supervision.

The report found the general public significantly overestimated the percentage of child abuse cases committed by the clergy, but underestimated the number of priests and brothers convicted.

People surveyed said clerics were "equally likely" to sexually abuse children compared to other men.

The report found the public was largely dependent on the media for information about child abuse and people had little knowledge of the positive actions taken by the church.

Some 36% of respondents said clerical sexual abuse affected their attendance at mass and time spent praying.

"It has also had an impact on willingness to trust Church personnel, with 41% unwilling to automatically trust a priest on first arrival in their community," said one of the authors, Professor Hannah McGee.

However, faith in God remained strong with 93% believing in God.

Over 70% of the public said priests in general had been unfairly judged as a result of the abuse scandals.

Some 54% said they were satisfied with priests today, while 44% said they were satisfied with the Church.

Two-thirds of people said they looked to priests for moral guidance. Only one-third looked to the Church for guidance on human sexuality.