“I dare say that the Church has never been so well as it is today.” — Pope Francis
A new poll by Religion News Service indicates that most American Catholics are crackheads.
Why do I say crackheads?
Well this. 68% of adult Catholics, 99% of whom have never heard a homily on issues such as homosexuality, abortion and contraception, think the Church has become too focused on issues such as homosexuality, abortion and contraception.
The poll also found large majority support for same-sex marriage among Catholics, even those who go to mass.
The survey, released The survey, released Friday (Oct. 4), by Quinnipiac University, shows that two in three (68 percent) adult Catholics questioned said they agreed with the pontiff’s observation that the church has become too focused on issues such as homosexuality, abortion and contraception.
Just 23 percent disagreed, and the breakdown was virtually the same across age groups and among both weekly Mass-goers and those who attend church less frequently.
The national poll — conducted the last week of September — also showed that American Catholics have a favorable (53 percent) or very favorable (36 percent) opinion of Francis, and just 4 percent view him negatively.
“American Catholics liked what they heard when Pope Francis said the church should stop talking so much about issues like gay marriage, abortion and contraception,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
The survey also found that Catholic support for same-sex marriage continues to be strong, as other surveys have found, with six-in-10 Catholics approving of gay marriage and 31 percent opposed. That’s slightly above the national 56 percent approval rating.
But the latest research also indicates that support for same-sex marriage only drops slightly among weekly churchgoers, to 53 percent, with 40 percent opposed. That finding could cause consternation among social conservatives who argue that the most devout Catholics tend to support the hierarchy’s position against gay marriage.
Exit question. Do you think the Pope’s comments will improve or exacerbate this problem?
October 4, 2013 at 4:26 pm
I think Catholics will realize the Church is no longer obsessed with these issues, and they'll all come to fully embrace the Church's teachings on these issues. And all the atheist will realize the Church isn't trying to convert them, so they'll also join the Church, and fully embrace Church teachings. The only ones put out be the pope's statements are those are embracing the Church's teachings and trying to share them, and evangelicals. The Church has never been in a better position.
October 4, 2013 at 4:36 pm
Exit answer: I think asking that question is useless and ultimately demoralizing. He's the pope. Whether you like him or not, he's our pope. He can't be promoted or voted off the island. We are the Church Militant, and it is immaterial whether or not something is helping us or making our job harder. We fight. We fight on and on, as hard as we can, and as hard as we need to. Our marching orders never change, even though our general might. We fight, accepting the battles Our Lord calls us to, accepting the allies and weapons he gives us, accepting the trials, annoyances and difficulties inherent to our battlefields. When the situation becomes more difficult, we cry out to the Lord for His grace and aid, tighten our bootstraps and fight harder. What ultimate purpose does your exit question serve?
October 4, 2013 at 4:49 pm
Ha! Love the headline on this post.
Nikki – What is demoralizing is the isolation and self-criticism that orthodox Catholics feel when the hierarchy is doing stupid and destructive things. I went through this once in my life before the internet and I remember how alone I felt and how tempted I was to give in to disobedience and indifference.
So, back off. I'm often critical of the Archbolds, but it's in the spirit of "You're important. We need you. Do a good job." Orthodox Catholics fighting the lonely fight (like you seem to be saying you are doing) need friends. They need to know they're not alone. Sometimes, they just need a sanity check. Right now, IMO, this blog is the best Catholic sanity check in the world. It's not perfect, but at least people here are attempting to deal with this situation in both honesty and faithfulness…whereas everyone else is choosing one or the other.
October 4, 2013 at 5:19 pm
Harry Seldon-
I completely agree that we orthodox Catholics need friends to support and encourage us, and I apologize if I came on too strong. I work at a Catholic bookstore, and every day seems to be a constant rollercoaster of "why is the pope doing this?" ("…to us" is frequently implied) followed by "but this is what he really meant". I see a lot of anxiety and a lot of criticism every day, and can't see how either is helpful to anyone, spiritually or practically. At some point, you just have to move on. That is the reason I find Mr. Archbold's exit question ultimately unhelpful. I actually love this blog and check it almost every day. I also loved the headline and the very insightful point it made. I should have mentioned that in my original post. Thank you for the sanity check! ^_^
October 4, 2013 at 6:04 pm
I've heard, as I can remember, only ONE homily against abortion and none on same sex marriage. Now, several years ago my state had a referendum of same-sex marriage and the Bishop had a video of himself teaching the Church's teaching played _after_ Mass. As I teen I never heard anyone speak the Church's teaching on masturbation and pre-marital sex either.
October 4, 2013 at 7:03 pm
Dollars to donuts this pope will not be talking much about the virtue of chastity, RobC. That's too old school for him, obsessive etc. We can expect him to be a typical Latin American Jesuit: a strong penchant for materialism, i.e., the materially poor are those who matter; the developed countries (USA) and capitalism are evil, etc. It's the same old 70s song.
October 4, 2013 at 7:16 pm
I can't think of a single homily that was about these subjects. We get almost exclusively homilies that are aligned with the Popes feels good be good interviews. And this was before he was pope. I'm not sure what this is about expect as we all know the media has an agenda and that all they will talk about. Catholics…. Not so much. I would love to hear preaching on these topics. Or anything that covered a difficult area. Wea rent alas instead, so I'm not sure why every homily assumes we never stray from the path.
October 4, 2013 at 7:27 pm
Do you think the Pope's comments will improve or exacerbate this problem?
My understanding is that the Pope doesn't seem to think these are problems. I'm not sure he wouldn't poll in the majority on all these questions.
October 4, 2013 at 7:56 pm
I'll say nothing about the Pope (it wouldn't be charitable), but I do want to point out that the poll itself that leads Patrick to conclude that Catholics are on crack should not be given any credence. If you go to the Quinnipiac site and read more about the poll itself, you learn that only 392 Catholics were part of the survey, and the margin of error for various breakdowns (age groups, attend Mass at least weekly/less than weekly, male/female) ranged from over 7% to over 9%. Representative of American Catholics? Perhaps so, but we have no evidence of that based on this poll. Much ado about nothing. This is propaganda, pure and simple, designed to further an agenda. Same old same old. Yawn.
October 4, 2013 at 11:11 pm
"But the latest research also indicates that support for same-sex marriage only drops slightly among weekly churchgoers, to 53 percent, with 40 percent opposed."
Granting the polling accuracy issue discussed above, that 53% of weekly churchgoing Catholics in this poll support same-sex marriage indicates that many Catholics have been more successfully evangelized by the secular culture than by the faith. I'll bet most of them haven't heard a homily related to the Church's teaching on this issue in the last year either, but they've been literally bombarded over that same time period with positive images of homosexuality in the culture and through the media.
That's where the obsession really is, with those who wish to radically transform our culture, and their obsession has yielded results.
October 5, 2013 at 8:05 am
In my old parish, I heard exactly two homilies on abortion (from a deacon) in nearly seven years. And, though we thanked him afterward, he got quite an earful from angry parishioners about it. Phone calls, letters, and so forth.
Not once in seven years did I hear a homily on the Church's teachings regarding marriage, divorce, sexuality (of any kind), etc. Not once.
Beyond the fact that there is a priest doing a consecration at some point in the mass, it differs in no way from the evangelicals a few miles away, who also preach endless feel good sermons and never mention the things that will put you in Hell.
The one thing that we did get a lot from the pulpit was that we need to attend mass every week and give 10 percent. Attending mass weekly was the one Church teaching that they concentrated on, and I'm perfectly sure it is not because they are looking out for the eternal souls of the parishioners.
I'm afraid that poll most likely fits exactly the sentiments of parishioners in my old parish. Interestingly, my old parish has also lost nearly half its families in the last twenty years. Many of them now attend that evangelical church a few miles away. Go figure.
October 5, 2013 at 1:29 pm
Where is this diocese where such obsession is occurring?
October 5, 2013 at 3:31 pm
I've heard homilies against abortion (I have a very pro-life parish), but I've never heard a homily against homosexual marriage/sexual relationships or birth control. I've also never heard a homily against adultery or fornication. Lots of love your neighbor stuff though.
October 5, 2013 at 7:51 pm
Our pope ought to "obsess" with the deposit of faith and basic Christian morality. Then he ought to teach the bishops and priest to do likewise. No more garbage about "social justice" please!
October 5, 2013 at 11:34 pm
"Where is this diocese where such obsession is occurring?"
Diocese? The obsession has originated in the secular culture and in much of the media, which has spent the last 20-30 years in no small measure devoted to the normalization of homosexuality, browbeating, and demonizing as haters or worse, anyone who dares disagree. As the 53% approval rate among weekly church goers shows, many Catholics have been more successfully evangelized by the secular culture than by the faith.
I'd be willing to bet that the typical Catholic who approves of homosexual marriage spends more time during one day consuming the culture than they read the Catechism in a year, if they own a Catechism at all.