01: Morale among American Catholic priests remains fairly high, although their trust in church leadership has been shaken in the aftermath of the sex abuse crisis, according to a recent survey.
The survey was conducted by Stephen J. Rossetti of the St. Luke Institute in Silver Spring, which is a facility treating sex abusers. Rosetti surveyed a total of 834 priests in 11 dioceses last spring (It is not noted if the respondents were randomly selected).
Ninety two percent agreed that they were “happy as a priest,” and 83 percent reported their morale as “good.” But when asked about the morale of other priests, the endorsement rate dropped to 40 percent. Americamagazine (September 13) reports that 53 percent of respondents agreed the crisis negatively affected their view of church leadership, although three quarters said their own relationships with their bishops were good. But only 26 percent agreed that “priests with allegations of abuse are being treated fairly by the church.”
(America, 106 W. 56th St., New York, NY 10019-3803)
02: Europeans and Americans trust teachers, soldiers, police and doctors more than clergy, according to an international survey.
The opinion poll, carried out by the German marketing firm GfK Ad Hoc Research Worldwide, also found that clergy were trusted more than lawyers, journalists, managers and politicians. The German evangelical newsletter Idea (Sept. 14) reports that church leaders enjoyed the best reputation in Denmark, Romania, Finland, the U.S. and the UK. The lowest degree of trust in clergy came from Spain, France, and the Czech Republic.
(Idea, P.O. Box 1820, D-35528 Wetzlar, Germany)