Pope Francis’s global survey of parishes conducted last year revealed sex scandals and negative experiences involving members of the clergy damaged the Catholic Church’s image among its faithful.

“‘Sex scandals significantly weaken the Church’s moral credibility, above all in North America and northern Europe,’ the Vatican said in its Instrumentum Laboris, a text summing up the results of a worldwide survey among Catholic parishes …

“The survey confirmed that over a decade of sexual scandals have seriously hurt the Church’s image, affecting its own faithful. In April, Francis asked for forgiveness on behalf of priests who had sexually abused children and said more had to be done to rectify damage done and punish offenders.”

By Alessandra Migliaccio, Bloomberg News — Click here to read the rest of this story.