Before the Roman Catholic clergy sexual abuse scandal erupted in 2002, two-thirds of Americans had regularly approved of ministers’ morals, according to Gallup.
A third of Americans this year said the clergy’s morals are “average,” and 8 percent rated them “poor,” according to the survey.
Bringing up the bottom of the professional ethics list were lobbyists, car salesmen, and members of Congress.
Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Nov. 19-21, 2010, with a random sample of 1,037 adults, aged 18 and older. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.