CBS News/New York Times Monthly Poll #2, April 2010 (ICPSR 31570)

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This poll, fielded April 28 to May 2, 2010, is a part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicits public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. A national sample of 1,125 adults were surveyed, including an oversample 412 Catholic individuals. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way Barack Obama was handling his job as president, foreign policy, the economy, and health care. Opinions were sought on Israel, the leadership of the Catholic Church, and Pope Benedict XVI. Respondents were asked whether they thought the Vatican or most parish priests in the United States were in touch with the needs of Catholics, whether they were opposed to letting Catholic priests get married or letting women be ordained as Catholic priests, how important it was to them that their children practice the religion in which they were raised, how comfortable they would be if their child was alone with their parish priests, how closely they had been following the news about the reports of past sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests, whether they thought the Vatican and the Pope did a good job handling the reports of sexual abuse, and whether they thought the problem of sexual abuse was a more common problem in the Catholic Church than other faiths. Opinions were collected on United States bishops and whether respondents thought the bishops were doing a better job than they previously did in dealing with the priests who sexually abused children, whether the bishops tried to prevent sexual abuse in the past or cover it up, whether the bishops have enforced the policy of performing extensive background checks and psychological testing on persons wanting to become a priest in the United States, and whether this screening policy is going too far. Respondents were also asked if they thought the policy of having a priest permanently removed from the ministry and barred from performing priestly duties was fair in cases of priests who had sexually abused children. Respondents were also asked whether celibacy or homosexuality among priests in the Catholic church were major factors contributing to child sexual abuse by priests, whether reports of sexual abuse led respondents to question the authority of the Vatican, whether reports of sexual abuse have made respondents uncomfortable around their own parish priests, whether the respondent or anyone in their household had given money to a Catholic parish or organization in the previous 12 months, and if so, whether they had increased giving since the reports of abuse became public. Information was collected on whether the reports of sexual abuse affected the respondent's or their children's involvement in Catholic Church activities, their Mass attendance, or their feelings about remaining in the Catholic faith, whether they thought the media accurately reported the stories of child sexual abuse by priests, how much respondents had heard about the Vatican conducting a study on the quality of life of nuns, and whether respondents supported it. Other topics covered the national economy, job security, legal and illegal immigration in the United States, the new law in Arizona allowing police officers to question those they suspect are living in the country illegally. Demographic information includes sex, age, race, education level, household income, religious preference, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), political party affiliation, political philosophy, and voter registration status.

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