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In advance of a 2013 assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore, two politically liberal groups, Catholic Democrats and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, called on the assembly attendees to speak out more on issues of poverty. The Clergy Sexual Abuse Scandal and the Church's Perceived Credibility There were many aspects to the shock, dismay and anger lay Catholics experienced in 2002 during the large-scale national revelations of clergy sexual abuse within the church. [...]there is a statistically significant difference in whether or not they said it is at least "somewhat" of a problem (50 percent of bishops in religious states, compared to 81 percent in secular states). [...]it seems plausible that the media is indeed more hostile toward bishops in more secularized dioceses. Rev. Stephen J. Fichter is the pastor of St. Elizabeth Church in Wyckoff, N.J., a research associate for the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate and a professor at the Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J. Thomas P. Gaunt, S.J., is the executive director of CARA; he has also served at the Jesuit Conference and the Maryland and New York Jesuit Provinces, and as a pastor and director of planning in the Diocese of Charlotte, N.C. Catherine Hoegeman, of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, is an assistant professor of sociology at Missouri State University and researches nonprofit organizations and leadership, focusing on religious organizations.