Most U.S. adults think sexual abuse of children is equally common among religious leaders and other adults who work with children

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June 7, 2019

Americans See Catholic Clergy Sex Abuse as an Ongoing Problem

Most U.S. adults think sexual abuse of children is equally common among religious leaders and other adults who work with children

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Most U.S. adults think sexual abuse of children is equally common among religious leaders and other adults who work with children

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Americans See Catholic Clergy Sex Abuse as an Ongoing Problem
Weekly Mass attenders more likely than less-frequent attenders to talk with others about recent reports of sexual misconduct
Among regular attenders, Catholics more likely than other groups to hear their clergy speak out in support of victims of sexual abuse
Among Americans who attend religious services at least yearly, most have not heard clergy talk about sexual abuse
Among Catholics, general consensus that sexual abuse of children is not a uniquely Catholic problem
White Catholics more likely than Hispanics to say sex abuse is especially common in the Catholic Church
Weekly Mass attenders more likely than others to think recent reports of abuse reflect things that no longer happen
Most Americans do not think sexual abuse of children is more common among religious leaders than among other adults
Most Catholics say sexual abuse is just as common in other religious traditions as among Catholic clergy
Catholics more likely than other religious groups to think sexual abuse in the church is a thing of the past
Evangelicals, mainline Protestants and Jews among least likely to say they have heard about sexual abuse by religious leaders outside of Catholic Church
Vast majority of U.S. adults have heard about reports of sexual abuse by Catholic priests, bishops
Roughly two-thirds of weekly Mass attenders give Pope Francis positive rating for handling recent reports of sex abuse
One-quarter of U.S. Catholics say they have scaled back Mass attendance, donations in response to recent reports of sexual abuse and misconduct
Catholics more likely than non-Catholics to say recent reports of sex abuse reflect past problems
Vast majority of U.S. adults have heard about recent reports of sexual abuse in Catholic Church
One-quarter of U.S. Catholics say they have scaled back Mass attendance, donations in response to recent reports of sexual abuse and misconduct
PF_06.11.19_church.sex.abuse 00 19
Most Catholics say sexual abuse is just as common in other religious traditions as among Catholic clergy
Most Americans do not think sexual abuse of children is more common among religious leaders than among other adults
Among Catholics, general consensus that sexual abuse of children is not a problem unique to religion

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ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts.

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