In the wake of the sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church, the polling company Zogby International conducted interviews with one hundred Catholic leaders, as well as a survey of one thousand randomly chosen lay Catholics, to determine how Catholics themselves assess the Church’s current problems and prospects. John Zogby, director of the study entitled "The Views of American Catholics and Opinion Leaders on Issues Regarding the Catholic Church," discussed its results in detail at a November 13 Center seminar jointly sponsored by the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life at Boston College.
Zogby explained that the study took into account distinctions among liberal, moderate, and conservative Catholics on a variety of topics, but found significant agreement about the responsibility of the bishops and the need for greater participation of the laity. Both leaders and laity saw the Church’s tendency for secrecy and its desire to preserve its image among the primary causes of the sex scandals, and both expressed concern about the lack of communication and poor management within the Church. The study surprisingly reveals, however, that the majority of ordinary Catholics are "much more optimistic than the opinion leaders in believing that the Church is heading in a new direction."
Commenting on the study, J. Bryan Hehir of Catho-
lic Charities U.S.A. emphasized the unprecedented na-
ture of the current crisis and remarked on its unique context—i.e., a huge, diverse American church characterized by a highly educated laity, the prominence of women, and expectations for behavior set by secular standards. He spoke of the intersection of deep personal failures, leadership failures of both internal oversight and external interaction with the wider society, and institutional failures. Hehir said the finding that 49 per cent of respondents were still positive about the U.S. bishops’ job performance was "better than could be expected," and he expressed vigorous support for organizational and procedural reforms. Before the Church could again have "a moral voice," it had "to reestablish pastoral trust and public credibility."
Alan Wolfe of the Boisi Center, who confessed to "a bias toward optimism," assessed the data in a quite favorable light. Younger Catholics were more apathetic but also more positive about the Church, he noted, while older Catholics were more upset but also more committed. Despite the crisis, neither group was abandoning the Church in large numbers, and together they formed "a combination of voice and loyalty" of which Catholics could be proud. They care enough about the institution to stay and try to make it better, Wolfe said. "The Church has changed America, and America has changed the Church." The new demands from American Catholics for greater participation, communication, and transparency should improve the way the Church governs itself.
Calling his own reaction to the study similar to that of Hehir and Wolfe, Center senior fellow George Weigel pointed out that the data underscored the dual nature of the crisis: it resulted from both sexual misconduct and church misgovernance. The survey also testified to a "tremendous residue of affirmation of the Church," however, and indicated that Catholics understand "reform must be true to the distinctive form of the Church given by Christ himself." An exclusive emphasis on "process" and structural, bureaucratic change is "insufficient" to address the crisis, Weigel argued. What is needed is "a fresh look" at seminary education, priestly life, the criteria for selecting bishops, and ways of affirming settled church doctrine. Reform unmoored from doctrinal truth and a clear moral message "leads to ecclesiastical death."
Center vice president Michael Cromartie moderated the question period. Participants included Alan Cooperman and E. J. Dionne of the Washington Post, Kevin Eckstrom of Religion News Service, Cathy Grossman of USA Today, Jody Hassett of ABC News, writer Wendy Kaminer, Diane Knippers of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, Mark O’Keefe of Newhouse News Service, Michael Paulson of the Boston Globe, Thomas Reese of America, writer Margaret O’Brien Steinfels, Peter Steinfels of the New York Times, John Wilson of Books & Culture, and Rachel Zoll of the Associated Press.
