Ethics Newsline®

From the Gallup News Service:

“With the death of Pope John Paul II, most American Catholics believe that history will judge him favorably — either as a great pope, or even one of the greatest ever. Seven in 10 predict the Catholic Church will make him a saint. Most American Catholics also say the choice of the next pope will matter to them personally, and also to the world. But American Catholics seem not to care where the next pope comes from — they are equally willing to have him come from Africa, Asia, or Latin America.

“As for the future, many Catholics appear to disagree with church teachings in several areas — use of birth control, allowing priests to marry, making church doctrine less strict on stem cell research, and allowing women to become priests. The poll shows that a majority of Catholics support each of those policies, while Pope John Paul II was adamantly against all of them. About half of American Catholics also would allow Catholics to remarry after a divorce, without getting an annulment. And more than a third would like to make church doctrine less strict on abortion.

“…About 9 in 10 Catholics also believe that it will matter to the world either a great deal (55%) or a moderate amount (34%) whom the church chooses as its next pope. Even three-quarters of non-Catholics believe the choice will matter to the world.

“Americans are less likely to say the choice of the new pope will matter to them personally than to say it will matter to the world, though it will matter personally to a clear majority (65%) of Catholics. Not surprisingly, among non-Catholics, only 23% say the choice will matter to them, while 76% say it will not….

“About a third of all Catholics (including a third among weekly churchgoers) would also like the new pope to be more liberal than Pope John Paul II, while about 6 in 10 think the new pope should be about the same.

“Although only a third of Catholics say they want the new pope to be more liberal than Pope John Paul II, clear majorities say they want the new pope to adopt policies that were clearly unacceptable to Pope John Paul II. Among all Catholics, 78% support allowing Catholics to use birth control, 63% allowing priests to marry, 59% making church doctrine on stem cell research less strict, and 55% allowing women to become priests.

“In addition, Catholics are evenly divided on allowing members of their faith to remarry after a divorce without getting an annulment, and 37% support making church doctrine on abortion less strict….”