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	Polled Catholics Weigh Factors in Abuse of Children By Marjorie Connelly The New York Times May 4, 2010 http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/04/polled-catholics-weigh-factors-in-abuse-of-children/ While 35 percent of American Catholics said that celibacy plays no role in contributing to the sexual abuse of children by priests, 31 percent see the policy as a major factor and 28 percent characterize it as a minor factor in causing the abuse, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll. In addition, a majority of American Catholics said that all-male priesthood did not contribute at all to the sexual abuse of children by priests, with 27 percent calling it a minor factor and 17 percent saying it was a major factor. There was no difference between in the views of men and women. The poll also found that 37 percent of Catholics did not consider homosexuality among priests a factor in the abuse of children. However, 30 percent said it is a major factor and 23 percent a minor factor. Catholics who attend Mass at least once a week are even less likely to consider the lack of women priests, homosexuality among priests or celibacy a major contributor in causing sexual abuse by priests. The nationwide telephone poll was conducted April 28 through May 2 with 1,079 adults. For the purposes of analysis, Catholics were oversampled, for a total of 412, and then weighted back to their proper proportion. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points for all adults and five percentage points for Catholics. The complete results of the survey will be released at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
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