Only 31 percent of American Catholics now rate the honesty or ethical standards of the clergy as “high” or “very high.”

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I read down the article, and they say that Mass attendance is only 39% among Catholics, meaning their definition of “Catholic” is one that includes mostly unfaithful and lapsed Catholics. So that makes the 31% rating understandable. The article goes on and on about McCarrick and stuff like that, so I think they made a basic logic fallacy.
 
If the Catholics polled include a lot of people who don’t go to Mass, I’m guessing they probably don’t know or interact with any clergy, so their opinion is suspect given that their only interaction with clergy is news coverage of the ones who get in trouble.

These polls aren’t worth the paper they are printed on unless the pollster stands outside Sunday Mass interviewing people as they come out after the final blessing. I know all kinds of people who say they are “Catholic” but haven’t been inside a church for years or decades. At one point I was one of those people myself.
 
I wonder what percentage of Americans now trust the ethics of mega corporations that control the media, and the polling services they sponsor?
 
Americans trust the polls when the polls affirm whatever they personally think.

I never met a poll I trusted myself. I’m not at all surprised when polls wrongly predict elections.
 
Right now, 31% sounds generous and higher than I would have expected it to be. Not that it matters.
 
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Well we all know Cardinal Wuerl didn’t lie -

See the thread: Wuerl denies prior denials denied knowledge of McCarrick seminarian abuse
 
We have several threads on Wuerl and his alleged evasions or lies or whatever. Meanwhile, almost no comments on Lori trying to do things right and clean up the mess.

People love dirty laundry and love to complain. Those clergy actually doing good things are ignored.
 
It could be significant however if the same method used in this poll was used for previous polls that found a significantly higher percentage of Catholics had trust and faith in the clergy.

Ok top of that, I don’t think we can dismiss out of hand the opinions of Catholics who do the Christmas-Easter thing as it pertains to certain issues. For example, perhaps their shaken faith in the clergy has caused them to back out of involvement with the church. I’m not saying they are right, but it gives a data point that can be addressed for future retention.
 
I must say, my trust in the clergy is lower than it used to be.
 
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