WASHINGTON (RNS) Top leaders of the Catholic Church in the U.S. are defending Pope Benedict XVI against accusations that he mishandled at least two clergy sexual abuse cases.
The statement, released Tuesday (March 30) by the executive committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, comes as a new poll finds the abuse scandal has caused the pope’s approval ratings to plummet among U.S. Catholics.
“As we accompany Christ in his passion and death during this Holy Week, we stand with our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI in prayer for the victims of sexual abuse, for the entire church and for the world,” said the committee, headed by Cardinal Francis George of Chicago.
The defense of the pope echoed a similar Palm Sunday statement by New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who said “Our earthly shepherd (is) now suffering some of the same unjust accusations, shouts of the mob, and scourging at the pillar, as did Jesus.”
The bishops said Benedict had responded “tenderly and reassuringly” when he held an impromptu meeting with U.S. abuse victims during his May 2008 visit to Washington, and said he was intimately involved as U.S. bishops crafted their own reforms in 2002.
Prior to his election as pope in 2005, Benedict was a cardinal in charge of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office that had assumed jurisdiction over all abuse cases the year before the scandal erupted in the U.S.
“We know from our experience how Pope Benedict is deeply concerned for those who have been harmed by sexual abuse and how he has strengthened the church’s response to victims and supported our efforts to deal with perpetrators,” the bishops said.
A new Gallup/USA Today poll, conducted over the weekend (March 26-28), found the pope’s approval rating had fallen from a high of 63 percent during his 2008 visit to 40 percent. His approval ratings among Catholics dropped from 81 percent to 61 percent.
In addition, Benedict’s unfavorable ratings more than doubled, from 15 percent last year to 35 percent now, and from 12 percent to 25 percent among Catholics. The USA Today/Gallup poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
