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Poll: Most disapprove of church reaction to sex scandal

(CNN) -- Most Americans -- and most American Catholics -- continue to hold a poor opinion of the Catholic Church's response to allegations of sexual abuse of minors by priests, a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll has found.

Catholics strongly call for the church to remove someone from the priesthood after even a single proven incident of sexual abuse. They say the pope should remove Cardinal Bernard Law as head of the Boston archdiocese and feel the same way about any bishop or cardinal who had known of sexual abuse by a priest and moved him to another parish rather than reporting it to the authorities.

The results are from interviews with 1,002 adult Americans, including 212 Catholics, conducted April 29-May 1. The sampling error is +/- 7 percentage points.

Dealing with sexual abuse problem

Overall, do you think the Catholic Church has done a good job or a bad job in dealing with the problem of sexual abuse committed by its priests?

Cardinal Law

Catholics only: Do you think the pope should or should not remove Cardinal Bernard Law as head of the archdiocese in Boston?

Responsibility for abusive priests

Catholics only: If a Catholic bishop or cardinal knew that a priest had been sexually abusing young people and had moved the priest to another parish rather than report him to the police, do you think the pope should or should not remove that bishop or cardinal as head of that diocese?

Dealing with repeat offenders

Catholics only: What should the church do with a priest who has been found guilty of repeatedly sexually abusing young people? Should the church remove him from the priesthood altogether; remove him from any parish or personal contact with any of the laity, but not dismiss him from the priesthood;or allow him to remain in a parish or other ministry if he apologizes and successfully goes through counseling?

Dealing with first-time offenders

Catholics only: What should the church do with a priest who has been found guilty of a single instance of sexually abusing a young person? Should the church remove him from the priesthood altogether; remove him from any parish or personal contact with any of the laity, but not dismiss him from the priesthood; or allow him to remain in a parish or other ministry if he apologizes and successfully goes through counseling?

Opinion of John Paul II

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