Waiting for True Confession:
Community Leaders Underwhelmed
By Response of Catholic Church
An overwhelming majority of
community and business leaders across the Valley are dissatisfied with the
response of the Catholic Church to recent allegations of child abuse and sexual
misconduct, according to a recent O'Neil Associates Valley Influentials Poll.
Disappointment extends equally to the conduct of the Catholic Church nationwide
and in the state of Arizona.
Nine of ten (88%) community leaders
are displeased with the church response nationally, including 43% who are
"very dissatisfied. The Catholic Church in Arizona fares no better, with
nearly nine-tenths (86%) expressing dissatisfaction, including 39% "very
dissatisfied."
"Obviously, allegations of
child abuse is not something the public looks upon mildly," said Dr.
Michael O'Neil, director of the Valley Influentials Poll.
"Most people feel that
terrible sins have been committed," Dr. O'Neil continued, "and to
make matters worse, the Catholic Church is seen as having failed to own up to
its responsibility. It seems that many people, including community leaders,
would prefer a truly repentant sinner over a Church that often appears to be in
denial about the magnitude of the problem."
Unanimous Disapproval
Dissatisfaction is found across the
board, with only minor variations based on ideology and party affiliation.
Conservatives tend to be slightly less disapproving than liberals or moderates
of the church's response, but the difference is minimal. Republicans, however,
who tend to be more conservative, are not noticeably more supportive of the
church than are Democrats, and are only slight more supportive than
independents and those with "other" party registrations.
"Historically, Catholics have
tended to be conservative and Democrats, making them somewhat of a political
anomaly," said Dr. O'Neil, "and though that pattern may be slowly
changing in much of the country, we still see its remnants in our survey,
inasmuch as conservatives are slightly more accepting of the church's response,
whereas there is no real difference between Republicans and Democrats."
"But we must not forget the
strongest message in the data," Dr. O'Neil cautioned, "namely that
disapproval among community leaders is virtually unanimous, regardless of their
political orientation."
About the Poll. The O’Neil Associates Valley Influentials Poll is a web-based survey that was sent to all members of Greater Phoenix Leadership, Valley Leadership, East Valley Partnership, and Westmarc. As such, this survey does not purport to be a random or representative sampling of the general population of the Phoenix metropolitan area. It would be difficult, however, to conceive of a more comprehensive representation from which to draw inferences about the opinions and sensibilities of business and community leaders than the combined membership of these organizations, although, inevitably, any definition of influentials is somewhat subjective. The persons surveyed are likely to exert disproportionate influence on and be an early indicator of community opinion by virtue of their position, community involvement, and political participation. The O’Neil Associates Valley Influentials Poll was not sponsored or paid for by any outside organization. Four hundred eight participants completed the survey between June 13 and June 24, 2002, yielding a margin of error of ±4.5%. O’Neil Associates, Inc. is a Tempe-based public opinion research firm specializing in client-focused attitude and awareness studies for a wide variety of industries and organizations.
FOR RELEASE MONDAY (VIP005-2002-01)
FURTHER
INFORMATION: Michael O'Neil, Ph.D.,
480-967-4441
These
results may be reported freely provided that they are identified as the “O’Neil
Associates Valley Influentials Poll” including identification on any graphic
material.
O’Neil Associates has
tracked public opinion across the Valley, Arizona, and the Nation since 1981.
To be healthy, public debate must be informed—this is why we gladly commit our
resources to measuring opinions on the political and social issues people care
about and talk about. O’Neil Associates, however, is much more than that.
While the Valley Influentials Poll and Valley Monitor may be our
most publicly visible activities, we do most of our work for private businesses
and organizations as well as state and other public agencies. As a full-service
research firm, we assist our clients with a broad range of research efforts to
measure customer satisfaction, improve customer service, fine-tune public images,
focus marketing campaigns, engineer products, increase market shares,
strengthen employee relations, and plan, refine, and assess business
strategies.