Catholics at odds with the Church
By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | May 16, 2003
The Boston Globe poll of local Catholics is imperfect in many ways; it's unscientific, and the questions frequently tilt toward a favored answer. Still, for all its weaknesses, that poll tells a frightening story. The full results of the Globe poll are worthy of notice.
For instance, among Catholics who attend Mass at least once a week,
And those are the Catholics who do go to Mass regularly-- about one-third of the overall total. Those who don't go to Mass are predictably less inclined to support Church teachings.
If the sex-abuse scandal magically disappeared, there would still be a crisis in the Archdiocese of Boston. There has been a crisis all along. It's only recently come to public attention.
Phil Lawler has been a Catholic journalist for more than 30 years. He has edited several Catholic magazines and written eight books. Founder of Catholic World News, he is the news director and lead analyst at CatholicCulture.org. See full bio.
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a current donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!
