Confidence in the church is back up, survey finds

Public confidence in organized religion has inched back up after reaching a historic low in 2002, according to a new Gallup poll.

The percentage of Americans who said they had a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in “the church or organized religion” reached 53 percent in May, up from 50 percent last year.

Confidence sank to 45 percent in 2002 — the lowest point since Gallup began polling on the subject in 1973.

The drop-off “was probably driven largely by high-profile child sexual abuse scandals that shook the Catholic church,” said the Rev. Albert Winseman, Gallup’s religion and values editor. “It appears that the public is now regaining confidence in the church and organized religion, albeit slowly.”

Even though confidence is on the rise, the overall level is lower than the high of 68 percent Gallup measured in 1975. Confidence in religious organizations remained higher than confidence in any other organization until 1993. Since then, the military and the police have ranked higher.