Abuse victim support group One in Four has described the Catholic Church survey as "an important step forward" but said Bishops were already "spinning" the report.
The survey - entitled Time to Listen - was published by the Irish Catholic Church today. It shows more than nine out of every ten people believe the Church has been damaged by child sex abuse scandals.
The Archbishop Of Armagh, Most Rev Seán Brady, said the survey makes "painful" reading" for all involved in the Catholic Church. He apologised to all victims of abuse and described the actions of those responsible as "abhorrent".
"The Bishops are committed, with the help of all within the Church and in society, to bring healing and hope to those who feel betrayed and hurt," he added. "The work of the Child Protection Office of the Irish Bishops' Conference, the Bishops' Committee on Child Protection, and the Working Group on Child Protection, must continue with great determination and urgency."
In a statement, One in Four said the survey "finally states clearly the failure of the institutional church to respond effectively to victims of clerical sexual abuse, their families, the clergy, offenders themselves and wider society."
"The scandal of clerical sexual abuse in Ireland and internationally is in part a scandal of failure to listen and to implement best practice measures. We hope that the Catholic Church will indeed listen to and act upon many of the recommendations in this report."
But the group said it regretted the "missed opportunity" to deal with significant issues relating to clerical sexual abuse.
"There is no particular reference in the recommendations of the executive summary that seek to put an end to the legalistic and defensive approach adopted by the Church towards victims," the group said.
"It is deeply frustrating to witness some of the ways in which Bishops are already 'spinning' this report. The repetition of the statistic that 3.2 per cent of offences are committed by Clergy, and in particular the use of the phrase 'only 3.2 per cent' is a minimisation of the scale of the problem."