My mother voted for Obama. A cradle Catholic, she learned in the sixties, that old white male bishops had no authority over matters sexual, despite their claims. She learned this from Cardinals like Bernadin and his claim of church hypocrisy and rebellious theologian priests.. She became a cafeteria Catholic and now when called to order by the bishops she does not heed the call. Once disobedient, it becomes the norm. Thus Catholics become the culture.
And this didn't start with the priest abuse scandal. This has been going on for years in MA, beginning when the Bishops derided those folks in Boston who sent their kids to Catholic schools, instead of the public schools when they desegregated in the early 70s. Folks got angry that their Bishops were calling them racists, so that's when they started ignoring them, and their Parishes became no more than social clubs, rather than a place for renewing their Faith. Goes a long way toward explaining why there are so many Catholics who are Social Liberals, at least here in MA.