About 56 percent of Americans polled-including 57 percent of who identified themselves as Catholic-believe the Pope has left the situation ambiguous by not making it clear if the Church should remove priests who sexually abuse children or young people. Only about one-quarter (26 percent) of those polled and 30 percent of Catholics polled, say the Pope did move the policy in a clear direction.

While in Rome, some U.S. cardinals had initially hinted that the Pope had laid the groundwork for a new one-strike-and-you’re-out policy for priests who abuse minors. But by the end of the summit, the policies that emerged to deal with pedophile priests had been toned down significantly. The report released after the meeting recommended different dismissal processes for abusive priests depending on how “notorious” the case had become, among other factors.

Though the dozen U.S. Cardinals and two top-ranking U.S. bishops at the emergency summit agreed that priests who are guilty of abuse should be ousted, they seemed divided upon what the process would entail. Americans appear similarly divided in their opinion of how effective the two-day summit was. Only five percent say it went a long way toward solving the problem of sex abuse in the church. About 41 percent of the sample (47 percent of Catholic respondents) say the meeting was a good start. But a roughly equal 44 percent (and 40 percent of Catholics) say it didn’t go far enough. The majority of American Catholics polled were critical of the Church’s handling of the crisis, with 55 percent saying the church leadership is not any better today at handling the issue than it had in the past, according to the NEWSWEEK poll.

On the issue of homosexuality in the priesthood, 42 percent of all those polled say homosexuality is not a reason for the sex-abuse scandal. Fifty-five percent say it wouldn’t make much difference in solving the pedophilia problem if the church were to take steps to screen out homosexuals from the priesthood. Among Catholics polled, 45 percent say homosexual priests are not the reason for the scandal and 59 percent say screening them out wouldn’t make a difference. A 62-percent majority of all those polled, and 72 percent of Catholics, say priests are no more likely to sexually abuse young people than other groups with easy access to minors, such as teachers, coaches and youth leaders.

Americans are almost evenly split on whether a church policy change allowing priests to marry would reduce the problem of priests sexually abusing minors: Forty-seven percent say it would, but 46 percent say it wouldn’t make much difference. Among Catholics, 46 percent say a policy change would help, and 51 percent say it wouldn’t be effective. Nonetheless, an 82-percent majority say it would be a good thing if married men were allowed to be ordained as priests and 73 percent of Catholics polled agree. Sixty-five percent of the public at large, and the same percentage of Catholics, also feel that it would be a good thing if women were allowed to be ordained as priests.

The vast majority of all those polled, including Catholics, agree that the problem of priests who sexually abuse children and young people is a serious one for the Catholic Church (87 percent of all Americans, and 85 percent of Catholics). And similar majorities (82 and 81 percent) say the Catholic Church has been too lenient in dealing with those priests.

MIXED VIEWS ON THE MIDDLE EAST

On President George W. Bush’s handling of the crisis in the Middle East, 62 percent of Americans polled think Secretary of State Colin Powell’s trip to the region was worthwhile, even though he didn’t come back with a cease-fire agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Only 16 percent of respondents say the trip undermined Powell’s own credibility and that of the United States.

Still, slightly more than half (51 percent) of Americans believe that the Bush Administration does not have a well-thought-out plan for ending the violence and bringing peace to the Middle East. Only six percent see the Administration making a lot of progress toward peace; 30 percent see some progress, 34 percent see only a little. And nearly a quarter of those polled (24 percent) see no progress at all.

Almost half of Americans (48 percent) say the Bush Administration has treated both Israel and the Palestinians about right; 23 percent say it’s been too supportive of Israel and 7 percent say it’s been too supportive of the Palestinians.

Nearly half of Americans (47 percent) believe the Bush Administration has a well-thought-out plan for using military force against Iraq, while one-third of those polled believe it does not. Fifty-four percent say the lack of international support from allies, the Arab nations and other countries for an attack on Iraq is preventing the Administration from taking action now; 31 percent there is enough international support. Sixty-eight percent say they would support using military force against Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and his military in the fight against terrorism, down sharply from the 81 percent who supported military force against Saddam in an October 2001 NEWSWEEK Poll.

President Bush’s job approval rating also fell slightly to 71 percent, down from 74 percent in March.

For the NEWSWEEK Poll, Princeton Survey Research Associates interviewed by telephone 1,000 adults aged 18 and older on April 26 and April 27. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points. The poll is part of the May 6 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, April 29).