Washington ( CNN ) -- Most Americans -- and most American Catholics -- think Pope Benedict XVI has done a bad job of dealing with the problem of sexual abuse by Catholics priests , according to a new national poll . CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey results released Friday also indicate that recent revelations about that matter have hurt the pope 's standing with the public . Fifty-nine percent of American Catholics questioned in the poll have a favorable view of the pope , down 19 points from February . Among all Americans , the slippage is even greater : from 59 percent in February to just 35 percent today . `` Only a quarter of U.S. Catholics have an unfavorable view of the pope , but they do n't seem satisfied with his track record on the growing and persistent scandal within the church , '' CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said . According to the survey , 56 percent of U.S. Catholics disapprove of how Pope Benedict XVI has dealt with the problem of sexual abuse committed by priests ; only about one in three Catholics has a positive view of how he has dealt with that subject . An even larger number -- 74 percent -- disapproves of how the church overall has handled that matter . Pope Benedict XVI called for `` penitence '' Thursday for the church 's `` sins '' amid the sex abuse scandal that has embroiled the Roman Catholic Church , according to Italy 's official news agency . Allegations against the church have piled up this year across Europe , including in Austria , Germany , Italy , the Netherlands , Spain and Switzerland . Pope Benedict XVI has found himself tied to the crisis after news broke last month that 30 years ago , when he was an archbishop , he approved accommodations in his diocese for a priest accused of child sex abuse so the priest could undergo therapy . The priest , who was not identified , was let go from church service in 2008 , according to church officials in Germany . The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll was conducted April 9-11 , with 1,008 adult Americans questioned by telephone . The survey 's overall sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points and plus or minus 6.5 percentage points for the 231 American Catholics questioned . CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report .
59 percent of American Catholics polled have favorable view of pope . But 56 percent disapprove of how he has dealt with abuse reports . Allegations against church have piled up across Europe recently .