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| Washington Post-ABC News Poll: The Pope and the Catholic Church Wednesday, October 15, 2003 The latest Washington Post-ABC News poll is based on telephone interviews with 1,000 randomly selected adults nationwide, and was conducted Oct. 9-13, 2003. Questions about the Catholic church are based on interviews with 1,281 respondents, including an oversample of 281 Catholics. The 'Catholics only' results are thus based on a total of 504 interviews. Results representing the general public in this section were adjusted to reflect the country's actual religious distribution. The margin of sampling error for overall results is plus or minus 3 percentage points, and plus or minus 4 percentage points for results based on Catholics. Sampling error is only one of many potential sources of error in this or any other public opinion poll. Interviewing was conducted by TNS Intersearch of Horsham, Pa. *= less than 0.5 percent 1. For each item I name, please tell me if you personally find it morally acceptable or morally unacceptable. 10/13/03 - Summary table
Acceptable Unacceptable No opinion
a. Birth control using the birth
control pill or condoms All 94 5 1
Cath. 88 12 1
b. Abortion when the mother's life
is not in danger All 39 58 3
Cath. 30 66 4
c. Premarital sex between consenting
adults All 67 32 1
Cath. 67 31 2
d. Homosexual relations between
consenting adults All 45 52 3
Cath. 48 48 4
e. The death penalty All 68 28 4
Cath. 62 34 4
2. On another subject, overall would you say you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the Catholic Church?
Favorable Unfavorable No opinion
10/13/03 All 48 44 8
Cath. 80 17 3
12/15/02 All 40 52 8
Cath. 69 30 2
6/17/02 All 45 47 9
Cath. 69 28 3
6/9/02 All 47 45 7
Cath. 70 28 2
3/28/02 All 55 34 11
Cath. 73 24 3
2/20/02 All 63 27 11
Cath. 88 9 4
8/30/99* All 68 19 13
*Wash Post/Kaiser/Harvard, asked "very/somewhat" follow
3. (ASKED OF CATHOLICS) In general, do you think the Roman Catholic Church is in touch with the views of Catholics in America today, or is it out of touch?
In touch Out of touch No opinion
10/13/03 Cath. 34 62 3
10/1/95 All 25 58 17
Cath. 38 58 5
Non-Cath. 21 56 23
4. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Pope John Paul the Second has handled his job as pope? Do you approve/disapprove strongly or somewhat?
-----Approve----- ----Disapprove---- No
NET Str. Smwt. NET Smwt. Str. opin.
10/13/03 All 58 19 39 26 13 13 17
Cath. 79 40 39 16 9 7 4
Non-Cath. 52 13 38 28 14 14 20
Compare to: Do you approve or disapprove of the job Pope John Paul the Second is doing leading the Catholic church? Is that approve/disapprove strongly or approve/disapprove somewhat?
-----Approve----- ----Disapprove---- No
NET Str. Smwt. NET Smwt. Str. opin.
10/1/95 All 59 21 38 21 14 7 20
Cath. 82 44 38 15 12 3 3
Non-Cath. 53 14 39 21 14 7 26
5. How would you rate the job John Paul the Second has done (READ ITEM) - excellent, good, not so good or poor? 10/13/03 - Summary Table*
-----Exc/Good---- ---Not good/Poor--- No
NET Exc. Good NET Not so Poor opin.
a. Preserving the church's traditions All 65 17 47 21 14 7 14
Cath. 88 35 54 10 7 3 1
b. Making Catholicism appealing to
people today All 44 4 39 39 30 9 18
Cath. 62 13 48 32 26 6 6
c. Responding to the concerns of
women in the church All 34 4 29 46 32 15 20
Cath. 53 9 44 43 32 11 4
d. Responding to the concerns of
young Catholics All 41 8 33 39 27 12 20
Cath. 60 21 40 35 26 9 5
e. Making it attractive for people
to serve as priests All 38 5 33 45 30 15 17
Cath. 53 12 40 41 30 11 6
f. Improving the Catholic Church's
relations with other religions All 55 13 42 29 22 7 16
Cath. 75 21 54 19 17 2 6
g. Encouraging democracy around the
world All 67 19 48 22 18 4 11
Cath. 86 30 56 11 8 3 3
h. Encouraging human rights All 72 25 47 17 13 4 11
Cath. 89 34 55 9 9 1 2
i. Improving respect for the Roman
Catholic Church All 48 9 39 41 29 11 12
Cath. 66 17 49 31 25 5 3
j. Setting a personal moral example All 73 29 44 17 11 6 10
Cath. 90 41 48 8 7 1 3
*Half sample asked items a-e, other half asked f-j.
6. (ASKED OF CATHOLICS) Overall, who do you think represents your views better when it comes to religious and moral issues: (Pope John Paul the Second) or (your local church officials)?
Local Both Neither No
Pope officials (vol.) (vol.) opin.
10/13/03 27 60 5 6 2
Compare to: (ASKED OF CATHOLICS) Overall, who do you think represents your views better when it comes to religious and moral issues: Pope John Paul or your local church officials?
Local Both Neither No
Pope officials (vol.) (vol.) opin.
10/1/95 25 62 6 6 1
8/8/93 35 51 7 5 2
8/23/87 40 50 3 5 3
7. (ASKED OF CATHOLICS) Do you think the next pope should (maintain the traditional policies of the Church), or should he (change Church policies to reflect the attitudes and lifestyles of Catholics today)?
Maintain Change No
policies policies opinion
10/13/03 33 64 3
8. (ASKED OF CATHOLICS) Would you personally prefer to have the next pope come from (a country in the developed world, especially Europe, where almost all previous popes have come from) or from (a country in the developing world, especially South America or Africa, where the church is growing the fastest)?
Developed Developing No diff. (vol.) No opinion
10/13/03 43 23 28 6
9. Do you have a favorable or unfavorable impression of Pope John Paul the Second?
Favorable Unfavorable No opinion
10/13/03 All 65 24 11
Cath. 84 11 5
1/12/98 71 10 19
10/1/95 All 64 20 16
Cath. 83 10 7
Non-Cath. 58 23 19
8/8/93 68 12 20
8/23/87 All 51 8 41
Cath. 76 4 20
Non-Cath. 41 8 51
10. Has John Paul the Second had an influence on you personally in terms of (READ ITEM), or not? (IF YES) Has it been a strong influence, or not strong? 10/13/03 - Summary Table
-------------Yes------------- No
NET Strong Not strong No opin.
a. Your religious beliefs All 16 10 6 82 1
Cath. 42 30 12 58 *
b. Your moral views All 18 10 9 80 2
Cath. 39 27 13 60 1
c. Your political opinions All 10 4 6 88 2
Cath. 21 11 10 78 1
d. Your personal behavior All 13 8 5 85 2
Cath. 33 22 11 66 *
11. Do you think Pope John Paul the Second should (resign for health reasons) or do you think he should (remain in office until he dies)?
Resign Remain in office No opinion
10/13/03 All 53 36 11
Cath. 49 47 5
6/8/02* Cath. 40 55 5
5/29/02 Cath. 42 54 4
5/1/02 Cath. 36 59 5
*6/8/02 and previous: Gallup.
12. (ASKED OF CATHOLICS) Currently, Roman Catholic priests cannot get married. Do you favor or oppose that policy?
Favor Oppose No opinion
10/13/03 Cath. 30 67 2
10/1/95 Cath. 37 61 1
8/8/93 All 26 65 9
Cath. 39 58 4
Non-Cath. 22 67 11
8/23/87 All 28 56 16
Cath. 45 49 6
Non-Cath. 19 59 22
3/24/86 All 25 58 17
Cath. 46 50 5
13. (ASKED OF CATHOLICS) Currently, women cannot become priests in the Roman Catholic Church. Do you favor or oppose that policy?
Favor Oppose No opin.
10/13/03 Cath. 32 64 4
3/28/02 All 28 64 8
Cath. 35 61 4
10/1/95 Cath. 33 65 2
8/8/93 All 26 67 6
Cath. 34 63 2
8/23/87 All 30 60 10
Cath. 42 53 5
3/24/86 All 26 62 11
Cath. 43 53 4
14. Do you approve or disapprove of the way the Catholic Church is handling the issue of sexual abuse of children by priests? Do you approve/disapprove strongly or somewhat?
---------Approve--------- --------Disapprove------- No
NET Strongly Somewhat NET Strongly Somewhat op.
10/13/03 All 17 4 13 77 62 15 6
Cath. 27 8 19 70 53 17 3
12/15/02 All 20 7 12 76 58 18 4
Cath. 27 16 11 69 51 18 4
6/23/02 All 23 8 15 66 46 21 11
Cath. 32 12 20 61 44 17 7
6/9/02 All 22 8 15 73 53 20 5
Cath. 34 16 17 63 41 22 3
4/30/02 All 25 7 17 59 41 18 16
Cath. 35 13 22 59 42 17 7
15. Do you think the church can or cannot be trusted to handle this issue properly in the future?
Can be Cannot be No
trusted trusted opin.
10/13/03 All 35 59 6
Cath. 55 41 4
12/15/02 All 42 54 4
Cath. 56 39 6
6/17/02 All 50 43 6
Cath. 67 29 4
4/21/02 All 40 52 8
Cath. 59 36 5
16. Do you think the pope has done enough to address the problem of sexual abuse of children and teenagers by priests, or should he have done more?
Done enough Should have done more No opin.
10/13/03 All 11 82 7
Cath. 22 74 4
5/1/02* 16 70 14
*CBS/NYT.
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