Pope encourages protection of children from abuse

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis is calling for courageous defense of children to protect them from abuse.

Francis made no mention of the church scandals in many countries in which clergy abused children and hierarchy covered up for them. At a Mass he celebrated Sunday in crowded St. Peter's Square, Francis said abuse victims are in his prayers.

He stressed that all must work with courage so that children, who are among the most vulnerable people, be always defended and protected.

Ignoring sometimes heavy rain, Francis toured the square in a popemobile, but left the vehicle to embrace disabled adults and children along his route.

In a surprise, he ventured beyond the Vatican's confines, riding the popemobile down a Rome boulevard to greet thousands of cheering faithful who couldn't fit in the square.

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On Eve of Conclave, Record Criticism of Church For its Handling of Sexual Abuse Scandals

A record number of American Catholics disapprove of the church's handling of its sexual abuse scandals, underscoring the challenges facing the next pope as he seeks to restore confidence and trust in the church's leadership.

More broadly, Catholics in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll say the church, while relevant, also is out of touch with their views. Majorities differ with doctrine on issues such as ordaining women and allowing priests to marry, as well as on some central social issues.

See PDF with full results, charts and tables here.

In clearly its greatest difficulty, an overwhelming 78 percent of Catholics now disapprove of how the church has handled the issue of sexual abuse of children by priests, and two-thirds disapprove strongly - the highest and strongest disapproval since the scandals erupted more than a decade ago, up sharply since U.S. church leaders sought to address the issue in 2004.

Sixty percent of Catholics, more generally, describe the church as "out of touch" with the views of Catholics in America, and by 54-38 percent Catholics urge a new direction by the next pope, away from traditional policies and toward new approaches that better reflect "the attitudes and lifestyles of Catholics today." Less-frequent churchgoers, in particular, seek change - but even among those who attend Mass frequently, more than half call the church out of touch.

The survey was completed Sunday, in advance of the conclave starting tomorrow at which cardinals will elect the successor to Pope Benedict XVI, who resigned last month, citing fatigue.

He leaves with somewhat muted acclaim: Sixty-eight percent of Catholics give a positive rating to the way Benedict performed as pope - robust for a political figure, but weaker than might be expected for a spiritual leader. Only 19 percent say he did an "excellent" job. (The pope's personal popularity, as opposed to his performance rating, was higher in an ABC/Post poll last month - 76 percent of Catholics saw him favorably overall, 43 percent "strongly" so.)

DISCONNECTS - Criticism of the church on the sexual abuse scandal is notable both for its direction and its depth. In early 2004, as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops sought to address the issue with the release of an extensive report, 53 percent of Catholics disapproved, 32 percent strongly. Those numbers have soared by 25 and 35 percentage points, respectively.

If less intense, there are other areas of disconnect as well. Fifty-five percent of Catholics in this poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates, oppose the church's ban on marriage by priests; 58 percent oppose its prohibition on ordaining women. Both are down from their peaks in years past, 67 and 65 percent, respectively, but still reflect majority opposition among Catholics to some basic church positions.

Previous ABC/Post polling has shown differences on social issues, as well. Most American Catholics support gay marriage, for example, and 51 percent favor legal abortion.

Despite these results, acceptance of the church's continued influence is broad, if not full-throated. Eighty-six percent of Catholics see it as relevant in the world today, as do 70 percent of Americans overall. Still, many fewer - 30 percent of Catholics and 18 percent of all adults - call the church "very" relevant, including just 34 percent of frequent churchgoing Catholics.

The church's shortfall in being seen as highly relevant is in accord with other results, such as the nearly 2-1 sense that it's out of touch with the views of Catholics today, 60-34 percent, and the desire among Catholics, by a 16-point margin, for the next pope to adopt policies that reflect current attitudes and lifestyles.

CHURCHGOERS - There are differences within the Catholic faith, notably in the choice between a traditional or new path for the church ahead. Those who attend Mass regularly favor traditional church policies by 58-41 percent, while less-frequent churchgoers, by 63-24 percent, prefer an approach more in tune with current lifestyles and attitudes.

Not surprisingly, then, frequent churchgoers are much more apt to give positive ratings to the traditionalist Benedict's performance as pope - 83 percent do so, vs. 58 percent of those who attend church less frequently. (This drops to 42 percent among non-Catholics, with many more undecided.) Even among frequent Catholic churchgoers, though, just 27 percent say Benedict did an excellent job.

Among other differences, regular churchgoers favor the ban on ordaining women by a 15-point margin, 56-41 percent; but less-frequent churchgoers oppose the ban, by a much broader 70-19 percent. Further, regular attendees divide about evenly on allowing priests to marry; those who attend less often oppose this prohibition by a wide 61-24 percent. (A fifth of adults identify themselves as Catholics. Among them, four in 10 say they attend church almost every week, or more.)

To some extent these results mark a tension for the church between tending to the concerns of current frequent churchgoers while also seeking to appeal to Catholics who attend less often. Nonetheless, as noted, even among regular worshippers, 53 percent describe the church as out of touch with the views of Catholics in America today. And most strikingly, even among regular churchgoers, 74 percent disapprove of the church's handling of the abuse scandal, and six in 10 disapprove strongly.

METHODOLOGY - This ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by landline and cell phone March 7-10, 2013, among a random national sample of 1,001 adults, including 201 Catholics. Results have a margin of sampling error of 3.5 points for the full sample, and 8 points for Catholics, including design effect.

The survey was produced for ABC News by Langer Research Associates of New York, N.Y., with sampling, data collection and tabulation by Abt-SRBI of New York, N.Y.

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Domestic abuse law expanded to protect gays, immigrants

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Thursday reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act, the landmark 1994 law designed to curb domestic abuse in the United States.

At a packed signing ceremony at the Interior Department - the White House couldn't accommodate all the advocates who supported the measure, the president said - Obama signed an expanded version of the law that extends protection to gays, immigrants, Native Americans and sex-trafficking victims.

"One of the great legacies of this law is that it didn't just change the rules," Obama said. "It changed our culture. It empowered people to start speaking out ... And it made clear to victims that they were not alone, that they always had a place to go, and they always had people on their side.

"And today, because members of both parties worked together, we're able to renew that commitment," he said.

In thanking Democrats and Republicans, Obama was tacitly recognizing the bill's tough path through Congress. Republican lawmakers initially refused to support the measure, and then offered an alternative that advocates said would weaken domestic violence protections for women.

In the end, 87 Republicans in the House of Representatives and 18 in the Senate bucked party leadership to support the law and send it to Obama for his signature.

(Reporting by Deborah Zabarenko Editing by Marilyn W. Thompson and Paul Simao)

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Afghans hold anti-U.S. rally following abuse claims

Maiden Shar, AFGHANISTAN (Reuters) - More than five hundred men marched through the capital of Afghanistan's restive Wardak province on Tuesday in an outburst of anger against U.S. special forces accused of overseeing torture and killings in the area.

Shouting "Death to America", "Death to Obama" and "Death to special forces", the protesters called for the immediate withdrawal of the American soldiers and threatened to join the Taliban if their demand was not met.

A spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced on Sunday that all U.S. special forces must leave Wardak province within two weeks following the accusations that Afghans working for them had tortured and killed innocent people.

Karzai's demand could further complicate talks between the United States and Afghanistan over the presence of American troops once most NATO forces leave the country by the end of 2014.

Reuters interviewed dozens of residents of Wardak and Afghan government officials who alleged that Afghan men working with a small unit of U.S. special forces had illegally detained, tortured and killed suspected insurgents.

A U.S. defense official in Washington said a review in recent months in cooperation with Afghanistan's Defense Ministry and National Directorate of Security (NDS) intelligence agency found no involvement of Western forces in any abuse.

The peaceful two-hour protest began on Tuesday at the offices of the Wardak provincial council shortly after it held a meeting.

"If the situation remains like this, this province will collapse very soon," said protester Haji Abdul Qadim. "People will join the insurgency very soon because of the abuses of these forces."

In another incident that could feed local hostility to the American forces in Wardak, a Swedish organization which runs health clinics across Afghanistan accused the U.S. military on Tuesday of occupying and damaging one of its facilities.

The incident occurred before dawn on February 11, the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA) said in a statement.

"Foreign soldiers entered the ... health facility by force, tied up and blindfolded the guard on duty, and occupied the facility," the statement said.

Doors and windows were broken and medical equipment was destroyed, SCA director Andreas Stefansson said.

It was the second time one of SCA's clinics had been occupied by foreign forces since October, when soldiers spent three days in another Wardak clinic.

After the October incident, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) had told them it would ensure it did not happen again, Stefansson said.

"What we are seeking is that they actually live up to what they say," Stefansson said.

A spokesman for ISAF said the latest operation was carried out in conjunction with Afghan forces and aimed at detaining an insurgent leader who had taken refuge inside the clinic.

ISAF said the building was not marked as a medical facility and they had compensated residents for the damage.

Stefansson also said a group of Afghan special forces had bullied and threatened the lives of health workers at the Maidan Shar hospital several days earlier.

(Reporting by Mirwais Harooni; Writing by Dylan Welch; Editing by Tom Pfeiffer)

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