Posted on 02/10/2014 7:26:29 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Not the least of which is on the part of the poll itself. Yesterday, the Washington Post’s religion reporters Michelle Boorstein and Peyton Craighill reported on a global survey conducted by Univision that showed a wide split among Catholics of different regions on adherence to church doctrine. Boorstein and Craighill argue that this demonstrates the uphill battle facing Pope Francis as he tries to unite the global Christian church, and his own:
Most Catholics worldwide disagree with church teachings on divorce, abortion and contraception and are split on whether women and married men should become priests, according to a large new poll released Sunday and commissioned by the U.S. Spanish-language network Univision. On the topic of gay marriage, two-thirds of Catholics polled agree with church leaders.
Overall, however, the poll of more than 12,000 Catholics in 12 countries reveals a church dramatically divided: Between the developing world in Africa and Asia, which hews closely to doctrine on these issues, and Western countries in Europe, North America and parts of Latin America, which strongly support practices that the church teaches are immoral.
The widespread disagreement with Catholic doctrine on abortion and contraception and the hemispheric chasm lay bare the challenge for Pope Francis’s year-old papacy and the unity it has engendered.
Among the findings:
●19 percent of Catholics in the European countries and 30 percent in the Latin American countries surveyed agree with church teaching that divorcees who remarry outside the church should not receive Communion, compared with 75 percent in the most Catholic African countries.
●30 percent of Catholics in the European countries and 36 percent in the United States agree with the church ban on female priests, compared with 80 percent in Africa and 76 percent in the Philippines, the country with the largest Catholic population in Asia.
●40 percent of Catholics in the United States oppose gay marriage, compared with 99 percent in Africa.
The poll, which was done by Bendixen & Amandi International for Univision, did not include Catholics everywhere. It focused on 12 countries across the continents with some of the world’s largest Catholic populations. The countries are home to more than six of 10 Catholics globally.
Some of this, though, depends on definitions. Let’s look at the question asked on abortion, for instance, to understand the limitations of the results:
Do you think that abortions should be allowed in all cases, allowed in some cases for example when the life of the mother is in danger, or should it not be allowed at all?
That framing of the question is deeply deceptive, especially in the US and Europe. Most abortions in both places have nothing to do with the physical health of the mother; they are almost entirely elective, chosen for convenience. Even according to the abortion-friendly Guttmacher Institute, 74% of those choosing abortions cite convenience as a reason (non-exclusively), 48% cite economic issues, and 25% say they just don’t want people to know they’re pregnant. Only 12% mention their own health at all, let alone claim their lives are at risk. The most common answers in combination never even mention it. That framing does not deal with the reality of the abortion debate nor of the Catholic issues regarding it.
Even so, the striking figure here is the low number of Catholics who think abortion should be unrestricted. If, as the question suggests, abortion was restricted to only issues of the mother’s health and rape and incest, there may be considerable support for having just those limited options available as compared to the abortion-on-demand environment which currently dominates the US. Only 10% of American Catholics, and 20% of those in Europe, favor abortion on demand. That’s a little more positive than the poll’s top-line results and analysis indicate.
On the rest of the questions save one, the results show the challenge for Francis not so much on unity as for catechesis. The issue in the West seems to be a lack of education on Catholic teaching on issues such as contraception, marriage and the role of sexual expression in God’s plan, and the nature of the priesthood. The only issue that doesn’t relate to doctrine is whether priests should be married, which is a practice rather than a doctrine, and one limited to the Latin Rite (which is by far the Catholic Church’s largest). Interestingly, it’s also the one where considerable loyalty remains to the Church teaching, even in the West, although still a minority position.
The poll shows that Western Catholics want the church to allow divorced-and-remarried members to receive Communion. Recent comments by Francis about finding ways to minister to those in broken families sounded to some as though the Vatican would rethink doctrine on remarriage and adultery, but those comments were in the context of children from those marriages. John Allen and Lisa Wangsness asked Cardinal Sean O’Malley about the prospects for rewriting doctrine on these points, and the Boston prelate puts them at nil:
But he cautions that those with high expectations that the shift in tone presages major changes in church teachings on contraception, abortion, homosexuality, and other flashpoint issues are likely to be disappointed.
“I don’t see the pope as changing doctrine,’’ O’Malley said in an interview with the Globe, though he said the pontiff’s focus on compassion and mercy over doctrinal purity has reverberated powerfully throughout the church.
The Roman Catholic archbishop of Boston and the closest American adviser to the popular new pontiff, O’Malley said says it would also be unrealistic to expect the church to consider allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive the sacraments, even though Francis himself once appeared to signal openness to the idea.
“The church needs to be faithful to the Gospel and to Christ’s teaching,” O’Malley said. “Sometimes that’s very difficult. We have to follow what Christ wants, and trust that what he asks of us is the best thing.”
The Vatican is gathering input on the issues highlighted by the poll, O’Malley tells Allen and Wangsness, but to find ways to improve education on doctrine, not to change doctrine to satisfy public sentiment:
O’Malley acknowledged that the church’s teachings on social issues are unpopular in contemporary Western societies. But he said the church cannot change its views to suit the times. Instead, he said, it must find new ways of explaining its teachings to a culture dominated by secular humanist values.
“The church has always tried to explain the faith,” he said.
Clearly, we need to explain it better, especially in the West.
When discussing theological issues regarding truths of the faith, polls are useless. Either one accepts the truths of the Christian gospel or one does not.
I do not, for the life of me, understand
how anyone can be in direct opposition to the
Pope and Priests on these issues,
and STILL call themselves Catholic
I am not Catholic, so perhaps I’m missing something here,
How can one disregard clear and consistent teaching
on what is considered to be Mortal Sin,
and still be receiving Communion?
Poll LATIN MASS Catholics...NO CONFUSION.
EVIL is EVIL.
They can’t. They are only CINOS.
This is already possible in a Josephite Marriage.
“They can’t. They are only CINOS”
Wow. That will cut the official catholic numbers in half. Or will they still be counted, even though they are CINOS?
Had to look that one up...
The fact is that no pope, no bishop, no theologian, no man on earth can change the teachings of Christ, even if he wanted to. Christ’s teaching on murder(abortion), divorce and remarriage, homosexuality, is quite clear.
People always point out that the Protestants have done it. Has it profited them? No, it has not.
Remarry without the Church’s permission: No Communion for you!
Promote abortion for forty years: Communion for you!
http://tinyurl.com/canon915
http://tinyurl.com/pont915
http://tinyurl.com/peters915
From the Internet: Josephite marriage: A spiritual marriage that comes from the idea of "love without sex." It is a practice in which a man and a woman live intimately without engaging in any sexual activities.
So if divorced people remarry and live in a Josephite Marriage, they can receive communion.
How do they live "intimately" without engaging in any sexual activities? They are living like brother and sister.
Mary and Joseph could do it, but Mary was conceived without sin, so she IS unique. Joseph, well, who knows.
I SERIOUSLY doubt whether we mere mortals could do that. But, then, what do I know?
Ain’t THAT the TRUTH!
In the Bible Elijah was sent to dwell with the widow....and he was a blessing to her. She had a room for him to stay in.
She gave him shelter.
I live in a Josephite marriage. It isn’t that uncommon.
2. People always point out that the Protestants have done it. Has it profited them? No, it has not.
____________________________________________________
1. True. I can't think of any pope, bishop or theologian of any Christian denomination who would WANT to change any of Christ's teachings.
2. Yes, Protestants have. Perhaps they got their cue from Martin Luther or King Henry VIII.
****Catholics CAN get an annulment, even after five children. I had a high school acquaintance who got an annulment. Her husband beat her mercilessly. She stayed because of their children and THOUGHT that divorce was out of the question.
Divorce WAS out of the question. She got an annulment because BEATINGS were/are/never will be part of ANY marriage contract, so a marriage DID not take place. Thus, she got an annulment, remarried a peach if a guy and lives happily ever after, holy communion and all.
The process took a while, but it was worth it for all concerned.
The proof of the lack of Christ teaching in Catholicism is the lack of God's Word in the formation of its doctrine and organization.
A return to the church ( and its teachings) must start with the observation of the sacraments, which impart the grace of God.
First, confession. A thorough examination of one’s conscience often is illuminating and necessary if one wishes to have a relationship with God.
If every catholic does not develop a personal relationship with Christ, they will have no meaningful relationship with His church.
Well, we can go back and forth with numbers and meanings of "uncommon."
Men and women were BUILT to be sexually attracted to each other. They were built to compliment each other in every way. The attraction of male/female has been extolled through time, culture and country, even thought to be YIN and YANG.
Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary (instead of opposing) forces interacting to form a dynamic system in which the whole is greater than the parts. Everything has both yin and yang aspects, (for instance shadow cannot exist without light). Either of the two major aspects may manifest more strongly in a particular object, depending on the criterion of the observation.
And then there IS procreation. No children in a Josephite marriage.
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