Poll shows most American Catholics happy with Pope Francis

Last updated on: March 21, 2013 at 6:02 am by CNA Daily News

Poll shows most American Catholics happy with Pope Francis 2013-03-21T06:02:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Washington D.C., Mar 21, 2013 / 12:02 am (CNA).- A new survey shows that U.S. Catholics are overwhelmingly content with the election of Pope Francis, with 73 percent of Catholics expressing happiness with the new pontiff.

The poll, conducted by the Pew Research Center less than a week after the Pope's March 13 election, also reports a subset of 31 percent of Catholics who say they are very happy with his election.

Though reported happiness was high, about 24 percent of Catholic respondents told the Pew Research Center they have not heard enough about the Pope to make a judgment.

However, only two percent said they were unhappy with the cardinals' choice.

Among weekly Mass attendees, almost 90 percent are happy with his selection, compared to only 62 percent of Catholics who are infrequent churchgoers.

Women and Catholics over 50 were more likely to report being happy at the Pope’s election.

Although Pope Francis is the first New World Pope and hails from a Spanish-speaking country, U.S. Hispanics were only slightly more likely than Whites to say they were very happy with the selection.

Non-Catholics were reluctant to comment on Pope Francis, with about 60 percent offering no opinion on him.

The survey also asked Catholics what they think Pope Francis should accomplish during his pontificate.

About 70 percent of U.S. Catholics said addressing the sex abuse scandal should be “a top priority” for Pope Francis. Almost 50 percent said he should prioritize standing up for morals and values, while about 40 percent said he should focus on spreading the Catholic faith. Another 36 percent said the Pope should address the priest shortage, while 35 percent said he should reform the Vatican.

Among Catholic respondents, 75 percent said they followed the election of the new Pope very closely or fairly closely. About 50 percent of all U.S. adults said the same.

Catholic respondents were about evenly split on whether Pope Francis’ selection is a “major change.” Those who attend church weekly were slightly more likely to see Pope Francis as a major change.

The Pew poll also asked Catholics about their support Catholic doctrine and practice.

About half of Catholic weekly churchgoers said they favored allowing priests to marry, and about equal numbers favored the ordination of women. About 62 percent of Catholic respondents who are weekly churchgoers said the Church should allow the use of birth control.

Non-weekly churchgoers were less likely to support Catholic teaching and practice. However, there was no significant difference in response based on generational or gender differences.

The Catholic Church sees the ordination of married men as a question of discipline and married men can be ordained in the Eastern Catholic tradition and in exceptional circumstances in the Western Catholic Church. However, ordained priests are barred from marrying even in the Eastern Catholic Churches.

Catholic teaching considers the ordination of women to the priesthood impossible, while the 1968 encyclical of Pope Paul VI recognized the use of artificial contraception as an intrinsic evil.

Pew’s March 13-17 survey on Pope Francis polled 1,501 U.S. adults, including 325 Catholics. The Catholic sample size has a margin of error of plus or minus 6.3 percentage points.

Previous Post

March 20, 2013

NY bishops meet with Cuomo, reaffirm stance against abortion

Next Post

March 21, 2013 Bishop denounces health network's compliance with mandate

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What was the name of the field bought with Judas' betrayal money?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Potter's Field Field of Blood Golgotha Aceldama