More than three in four people believe the Catholic Church's response to the sexual abuse of children by priests is inadequate, according to a new survey which highlights the extent of the damage inflicted on the Church by paedophile scandals.
The poll shows that only 42 per cent of people believe the Church will safeguard children entrusted to its care, while 40 per cent trust it to take care of problems with its clergy.
Four in five people believe the Church should provide counselling for abused people, with most recommending it be carried out by independent counsellors but funded by the Church.
Two thirds (65 per cent) said financial support such as general compensation was needed for victims, and 55 per cent said the Church should acknowledge the abuse, mainly through an apology in the media.
The findings are part of an ongoing three-part study commissioned by the Bishops' Committee on Child Protection to consider the Church's management of the issue of child sexual abuse.
The telephone survey of 1,081 people, predominantly Catholic, was carried out from January to May. It was conducted by Prof Hannah McGee and Prof Ciaran O'Boyle, and Ms Helen Goode, of the Health Services Research Centre at the department of psychology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
The study shows a high level of intolerance towards priest perpetrators returning to ministry. This resistance, however, lessened if safeguards were in place to protect against recidivism.
Some 92 per cent of people said a priest who abused children should not be allowed to return to the ministry, with only 6 per cent saying he should.
However, 24 per cent said they would accept a priest who had abused children into their neighbourhood to work if he had undergone psychological treatment and was being supervised by another priest. This figure rose to more than 36 per cent if, in addition to the supervision and treatment, the priest's work did not involve contact with children.
Some 70 per cent of people felt the individual abuser was responsible for the abuse, while only 6 per cent felt the abuser should be responsible for management of the problem. Some 16 per cent believed the Church Hierarchy to be responsible for the occurrence of abuse, and 39 per cent thought the Hierarchy was responsible for its management.
Some 41 per cent held non-Church groups, including the Garda and State agencies, responsible for the management of clerical sexual abuse.
In all 77 per cent of people felt the Church's response to the sexual abuse of children by priests was inadequate, with 14 per cent deeming it adequate. Some 72 per cent felt that the Church was not dealing with the abuse problem directly. People were equivocal about overall satisfaction with the Church, with 44 per cent satisfied while 43 per cent were not.
Just over half (52 per cent) said they did not believe that priests who sexually abuse children are homosexuals while 20 per cent did, and 76 per cent said they did not regard choosing the priesthood was an indication that a person had sexual problems. However, opinions were more divided over the question of whether homosexual men should be allowed to become priests, with 35 per cent saying they should not, 39 per cent said they should and 26 per cent unsure.
Some 94 per cent believed the Church has been damaged as a result of clerical sexual abuse of children, with 4 per cent disagreeing. Of those who agreed that damage had been done to the Church, over half believed it was permanent, while 38 per cent did not.
In all 72 per cent agreed or strongly agreed that the majority of priests and religious have been unfairly judged as a result of child sexual abuse. Some 16 per cent disagreed with this.
The screening of a BBC documentary last Easter which detailed complaints of child sexual abuse about Co Wexford priest Sean Fortune, had a significant negative impact on attitudes as it was screened about halfway through it.
More than half (53 per cent) of those questioned before the publicity surrounding the Suing the Pope programme said they trusted the Church to take care of problems with its own clergy. However, this dropped to 33 per cent after the programme.
The study also highlights differences in opinion depending on age, gender and residence, with women, urban dwellers and younger people generally more negative and cautious than men, rural dwellers and older people.