Majority Believes Potential War with Iraq a "Just War"
Support for Bishops Policy on Sex Abuse Remains Strong
Two in Three Want Sex Abuse Settlements Revealed

• While nearly all Catholics are aware of the sex abuse scandal, only 28% of Catholics were aware of the American bishops' position opposing war with Iraq.
  
• While a majority of Catholics support the revised policy on sex abuse, overall the level of support for the policy fell
  
• 60% of Catholics feel the media has exaggerated the sex abuse scandal
  
• Most Catholics want more openness in financial and administrative matters in the Church.
  
• Overall 62% of Catholics gave President Bush a favorable rating, down from 78% a year ago
  
• Though down from 84% in late 2001, approval for the job American Bishops are doing remained the same (at 69%) as it was in March 2002 (68%)

War on Iraq

Catholics were asked first about the "just war" theory, part of Roman Catholic teaching that permits war under certain limited circumstances, and whether these conditions were being met in the case of Iraq. The conditions included: defensive, not pre-emptive (63% believe condition met); undertaken with legitimate authority (58% believe condition met); high probability of succeeding (56% believe condition met); war will not produce greater evils (73% believe condition met); minimize harm to civilian populations (78% believe condition met).

Even with this apparent support for war with Iraq, when respondents were told that the American bishops had taken a position against war with Iraq on "just war" grounds, 57% supported the bishops' position. Importantly, only 28% of American Catholics knew that the bishops oppose war with Iraq. Nevertheless, a majority (97%) was highly aware of the sex-abuse scandal.

War on Terrorism and Other Findings

A majority (56%) of Catholics feel the U.S. should use its military in the war against terrorism even if it means entering a country without the permission of its government. When considering that many American soldiers could be killed, more women object to war (53%) than men (38%). Only 36% of women and 48% of men support a war if it means that large numbers of civilians in other countries will be harmed.

Sex Abuse Issues

A strong majority of Catholics still support the American bishops' policy against sex offenders within the church, although the level of support for the revised policy is substantially weaker by an average of 10-15 percentage points than for the June policy. Most of the specific revisions adopted by the bishops (as recommended by the joint Vatican-USCCB Commission) received strong support (between 70-75%).

Specific revisions receiving less support by Catholics include:

• Heightened confidentiality of diocesan review boards (Only 23% of Catholics strongly or somewhat agree with this change while 68% somewhat or strongly disagree.)
  
• Decreased role of laity in review boards (64% support this change)
• Giving final power to defrocking an offending priest to the Vatican (47% disagree or strongly disagree while 49% support this change.)
  
• Enforcement of the canon law statue of limitations of 10 years beyond the age of 18 for victims to report abuse (61% support this change)
  
• Compliance with local law instead of automatically turning over allegations of abuse to civil authorities for investigation (58% favor the change)

60% of Catholics felt the media has exaggerated the alleged and confirmed cases of child sexual abuse by priests. After five months, 55% say their diocese is implementing the June policy, but 36% don't know with 9% saying that the policy is not being implemented.

Greater Openness Wanted in Catholic Church

Other findings show that a clear majority (65%) believes that bishops should disclose financial settlements in sex abuse cases. Catholics continue to think that the Pope should take disciplinary action against bishops who do not remove known abusers from ministry (96% in June; 94% in November). About half of the Catholics surveyed were aware of reform organizations of Catholic laity (such as Voice of the Faithful) that seek greater openness regarding church finances and administration.

"While American Catholics still strongly support the Church, they would like to see a greater openness in communication between the leadership and its members," said Charles J. Beirne, S.J., president of Le Moyne College.

Pollster John Zogby: "Catholics are not giving up on their faith or on their Bishops' leadership. They support the Bishop's strong policy on sex abuse, but the next frontier is more transparency on financial and administrative matters in the church."

Fully 81% support a greater openness in financial and administrative matters in the American Catholic Church. Similarly, 78% see a greater need for shared authority with the laity. Regarding cases of sexual abuse by priests, 65% of Catholics would like to see full disclosure of financial settlements.

Approval by American Catholics of the job American bishops are doing in leading the U.S. Church declined significantly from October 2001 (84%) to March 2002 (68%) and remained at the same level in November 2002 (69%).

A joint venture by Le Moyne College of Syracuse, N.Y. and Zogby International of Utica, N.Y., the latest "Contemporary Catholic Trends" poll was conducted of approximately 1,000 U.S. Catholics nationwide in mid-November 2002. Margin of sampling error is +/- 3.2%. (Error margins are higher for subgroups.) This is the fourth in a series of polls of America Catholics since it debuted in November 2001.

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For more information on the latest polling results contact Le Moyne Director of Communications Joe Della Posta at 315-445-4564