Posted on 04/04/2005 8:00:34 AM PDT by SmithL
WASHINGTON - Most Americans want the next pope to work for changes in Roman Catholic Church policies to allow priests to marry and women to join the priesthood. And they want more done to combat sexual abuse by priests, an AP-Ipsos poll found.
A solid majority of Americans, and Catholics in the country, are calling for the changes even while saying they widely admire Pope John Paul II, who supported traditional policies against priest marriage and against allowing women into the priesthood.
"He crossed so many boundaries, opened doors to many governments," said Joseph Riess, a Catholic businessman from Vienna, Va. "But I think it's time for changes."
Just over half of Americans, 51 percent, and almost three-fourths of Catholics say John Paul, who died Saturday, will be remembered as one of the greatest popes, according to the poll conducted for The Associated Press by Ipsos-Public Affairs.
The U.S. Catholic church is struggling with a variety of problems, including a dramatically shrinking U.S. priesthood, disagreement over the proper role for lay leaders, and a conservative-liberal divide over sexuality, women's ordination and clergy celibacy.
About two-thirds of those polled said priests should be allowed to marry and almost that many said they want women in the priesthood. A majority of Catholics supported both steps.
More than four in five Americans - and about the same number of Catholics - said they want to see the next pope do more to address the problem of priests sexually abusing children.
The church has been trying to deal with an abuse crisis that bubbled to the surface in January 2002 in the Archdiocese of Boston, then spread throughout the country. Since then, the church has adopted a toughened discipline policy, enacted child protection and victim outreach plans in dioceses, and removed hundreds of accused priests from church work.
Americans were divided when asked from where the next pope should come. Just over a third said he should be from Europe, while a similar number said he should be from a part of the world where Catholicism is growing fastest, like Africa or Latin America. The rest weren't sure.
"I don't think it matters where they're from," said Heather Schramko, a clinical researcher and a Catholic from Perrysburg, Ohio. "But they need to modernize the church."
The AP-Ipsos poll of 1,001 adults was taken Friday to Sunday and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Some of the interviews were conducted before news broke Saturday about the pope's death, but most people knew he was gravely ill.
As foretold in the book of Revelation, God is moving the lampstand of the Gospel from the immoral, anti-God nations to those whom He will save.
The MSM doesn't get it. Catholicism is a belief system; those that accept Catholic teaching are Catholics. Those that oppose it are not. The world is full of alternate belief systems. Everyone has freedom of choice.
LOL! Thanks for the correction! You're correct, they do pick and choose every day, and sometimes it's the "daily special".
another poster said the latin america candidates are very socialist in their ecconomics. Are there any good conservative candidates from Latin America?
Me too. I don't think I can take two weeks of this, although the tribute coverage has been generally very good.
Don't have time to debate the issue now but all the Eastern-Rite Catholics agree in the same Catholic Faith.
yes it has been, and i can tell they are TRYING to be sensitive to this stuff and when they tread into the pedophilia topic, they invariably say something like well to leave it on a better note...and go onto something positive that he accomplished. But i know they are going to work those wedge issues right up to the very end.
When the coverage goes "over the top" or into sheer wacked stupidity on the news nets, I switch over to EWTN.
Her name is Dr. Janet E. Smith, and she's great! I'm so happy she's teaching at a seminary!
"HOPEFULLY, the NEW Pope will come from Africa or Latin America!!!!"
JPII was chosen from Poland and now the Wall has fallen. Maybe the next Pope should be (a non-PRC-affiliated) Catholic Chinese?
Pope John Paul II was great...We don't want another one like him.
doesn't compute somewhere.
I just finished listening to her free CD, "Contraception, Why Not?" last week. I highly recommend it.
thank you! she was wonderful! especially likening it to being 5'3" and unlikely to be drafted by the Detroit Pistons! all of her points were valid, how at least 82% of the employees of the Catholic Church are women, that nuns are heads of universities, hospitals, chanceries of dioceses, etc. That there is no shortage of ways for women to serve the church, that they do not NEED to be priests. heck i feel that way about girl altar servers and am glad to live in one of only 2 dioceses in the country that still don't permit them.
Ah, it appears the High Church of the Associated Presstitutes has spoken...
I don't know why they bother calling themselves catholics
They obviously don't believe in the foundation of the catholic faith
ED Hill is exposed more and more as a leftist who is not morning worthy. If I want a ditzy leftist blond I will watch katie couric. IOW no morning TV.
They need to replace ED Hill. I find myself watching (shudder) C-Span.
Was it Janet Smith?
yep! she was great! i was cheering her!
Thank GOD there is at least one anchor of sanity in this insane world.
the Matthews family has priests and nuns in it and i am willing to bet they are all of like minds. NE liberal leftwing social justice types.
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