LONDON, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- A large majority of British residents say the Catholic Church has not done enough to help victims of sexual abuse, a poll released Wednesday indicated.
Four in five Britons, 80 percent, and more than two-thirds of Catholics in Britain, 68 percent, agree that not enough has been done, Angus Reid Public Opinion said. About six out of 10, 59 percent, of Britons and 42 percent of Catholics say the church has handled the scandal badly.
The Vatican estimated in 2009 that the percentage of priests involved in sexual abuse during the past half century was between 1.5 percent and 5 percent. About one-quarter of Britons agreed with those numbers, with 37 percent saying they think abuse is actually less widespread, involving only a few priests, and 27 percent saying it might involve as many as half the clergy.
Half of the Catholics polled thought Pope Benedict XVI was sincere in his apologies for clerical sexual abuse and the church's handling of the issue during his recent visit to Britain, as did 43 percent of all Britons.
Angus Reid, based in Toronto, surveyed 2,005 adult members of its Springboard U.K. panel on line between Sept. 22 and Sept. 24. The poll has a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points.
Britons: Church must aid abuse victims - UPI.com
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