Notre Dame study: 6 percent of seminarians report sexual misconduct; 90 percent report none

Presented by Office of Public Affairs and Communications

According to new research from the University of Notre Dame’s McGrath Institute for Church Life, 6 percent of Catholic seminarians across the country say they have experienced some form of sexual harassment, abuse or misconduct, while 90 percent report none. Another 4 percent said they might have experienced misconduct but were not sure, and 84 percent of seminarians believe their administration and faculty take reports of such misconduct very seriously.

“Sexual Harassment and Catholic Seminary Culture” is a laity-led, first-of-its-kind survey that was carried out in a collaboration between the McGrath Institute and the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA). The survey includes data from 149 seminaries or houses of formation and focuses on sexual harassment, abuse and misconduct — what seminarians have experienced, what they are thinking on the issue and how seriously they perceive it is being addressed by their superiors.