BOSTON (AP) -- A new poll of Boston-area Catholics found a large majority want women and non-celibate men to be allowed into the clergy. The Boston Globe/WBZ-TV poll was released yesterday, as the Archdiocese of Boston found itself in the midst of an escalating scandal involving 80 past and present priests accused of sexually molesting minors.
The Catholics questioned disagreed with church policy on a number of social and sexual questions, reflecting long-standing changes in attitudes ranging from the use of birth control to support for homosexuals
The survey polled 800 adult Catholics in the area of the Archdiocese of Boston between Feb. 4-6 by KRC/Communications Research and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
The most unpopular church policy, according to the poll, was that requiring priests to remain celibate and not marry, with 74 percent of respondents disagreeing, 19 percent agreeing, and 7 percent unsure or not answering.
Among Catholics who attended church on a weekly basis, the number disagreeing with church policy on priest marriage and celibacy fell to 61 percent, while the number agreeing rose to 29 percent and those undecided or not answering totaling 9 percent.
The numbers don't necessarily reflect a change in attitudes sparked by the recent scandals, according to scholars.
"It's too soon to expect a relationship -- I don't think people say the cardinal and the hierarchy can't be trusted, and therefore I'm changing my mind about homosexuality," Thomas M. Landy, associate director of the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, told The Boston Sunday Globe.
Another Globe/WBZ-TV poll released earlier this week found 58 percent of Boston-area Catholics believe Cardinal Bernard F. Law has done a poor job of dealing with a widening clergy sexual abuse scandal.
That poll also showed that nearly half want him to resign, although Law has declared publicly that he will not.
In yesterday's poll, 65 percent disagreed with the church's opposition to ordaining women as priests. Twenty-three percent agreed, and 12 percent was undecided.
Those surveyed were more supportive of the church's positions on abortion and the death penalty. Forty-four percent agreed with the church's policy on abortion, compared to 48 percent against, and 43 percent agreed with the church position on the death penalty, compared to the 39 percent in opposition.