Durham survey reveals differing responses of Catholic laity to abuse crisis
A third of Catholics who previously went to Mass have reduced their attendance or stopped going altogether as a result of the child sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, according to a new report by Durham University’s Centre for Catholic Studies.
This figure is also reflected in a fall in the number of financial donations with a third of Catholics who previously donated no longer giving money to the church.
However, the survey data shows that regular churchgoers have a more positive attitude towards the Church than non-attenders.
Over 3,000 adults who identify as Roman Catholic responded to a YouGov survey. More than three-quarters (79 per cent) of people surveyed think that the Church must change a great deal to prevent further cases of child sexual abuse.
The sample was representative of the Catholic population in England and Wales. It included regular (attending at least once a month) and occasional (attending less than once a month) churchgoers as well as those who do not go to Mass but identify as Catholics.
The survey suggests that the scandal of abuse has been a direct cause of intentional distancing from the Church as demonstrated by the figures on Mass-going and financial donations.
However, those attending Mass regularly were more likely to consider child abuse in the Church to be a thing of the past (32 per cent) compared to those who never attend Mass (17 per cent). Regular Mass-goers were also more likely to view the abuse as being about the same at other institutions that work with children (48 per cent) than those who never attend Mass (41 per cent).
Among regular Mass-goers with some awareness of the response from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, 32 per cent feel that the bishops have not handled abuse cases well.
Initiatives from Pope Francis to handle child sexual abuse cases are better known and viewed more favourably than handling of cases by local diocesan bishops or the Bishops of England and Wales as a whole.
The report is part of a wider research project, called Boundary Breaking, looking at the implications of the abuse crisis for the Catholic community. This four-year study suggested that aspects of the culture and practices of the Catholic Church are implicated in how clerical child sexual abuse has happened.
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- The survey report, written by Dr Marcus Pound and Dr Gregory Ryan, is part of the Boundary Breaking Project by the Centre for Catholic Studies at Durham University.
- The research was mainly funded by Porticus, a philanthropic organisation that also funds Catholic inspired projects, with additional funding from two religious orders – the British Jesuit Province and the English Benedictine Congregation.
- If you are interested in studying at Durham, take a look at our undergraduate and postgraduate opportunities.
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