FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT, MARCH 22, 2026
Two weeks ago, I told you in my bulletin column of a survey about "confidence in religion". The study that I quoted in said that confidence in religion has declined among Americans. In 1973, 16% of Americans had "hardly any confidence" in religion, and in 2024 35% of Americans had hardly any "confidence in religion".
However, during the same time period "hardly any confidence" in the news media went from 15% to 55%. The good news in this dark story is that Americans have lost confidence in the news media, politics and corporations at a much greater rate than in religion. The upshot of the study is that Americans have lost trust in all public institutions, including religion.
I found another interesting recent survey that was conducted by the highly respected opinion research organization, Gallup. This has to do with perceptions of integrity in members of various occupations or professions. People were asked about their opinions on the honesty and ethical standards of various professions. Interestingly, nurses were rated the highest. 75% of Americans have a high opinion of the honesty and ethical standards of nurses. Other professions rated high for honesty and integrity are military veterans, medical doctors and pharmacists.
People also have a positive view of the integrity of high school teachers, police officers and funeral directors. Only 27% of Americans have a high opinion of the integrity of clergy, while 48% have an average view of the integrity of clergy.
Professions regarded as low for integrity are journalists, bankers, lawyers, real estate agents. The most negative ratings are reserved for members of Congress and telemarketers. Only 7% of Americans have a high regard for the integrity of members of Congress.
Just as Americans are distrustful of institutions, there is also skepticism of the integrity of many professions. Gallup classifies clergy as "tilting high", but not majority positive. If people distrust their institutions, they will distrust the leaders of those institutions as well. Jesus Himself criticized the religious leaders of His time, because they were self focused and not focused on the needs of others, particularly the poor. How would Jesus speak today of religious leaders?
The Gallup survey does not distinguish between Catholic and other clergy. Several years ago Catholics were horrified when it was revealed that hundreds of priests had abused young people. However, even during the days when the news media exploded with scandal after scandal, I found that Catholic people still appreciated their priests. They expressed concern for innocent priests, trying to assure us priests of their support so that we were not overly discouraged.
I find that people still respect priests, but hopefully the days of excessive trust in priests is past. Perhaps because of the exposure of priest scandals, people understand better that a priest is a human, flawed and sinful, but with a wonderful and important vocation.
As Christians, we are not concerned to promote religion as an institution. We need the Church, but as an instrument to lead people to love God and their neighbor. Priests are to be servants of the people not lords over them. Priests should not get in the way of promoting the gospel, but should be devoted heart and soul to the work of God, with special care for sinners, the sick and the poor.
