President Obama Finds Greatest Support Among Atheists and Jews

Gallup’s Daily Tracking for the month of September found that 65% of American atheists, agnostics and nonreligious approve of the job Barack Obama is doing as president. The president finds his greatest support from nonreligious and American Jews.

64% of U.S. Jews approve of the job the president is doing. Two-thirds of white Jews (66%) approve of the job Obama is doing, compared with 44% of whites nationwide, 45% of white Catholics, and 37% of white Protestants.

His approval rate among American Jews is in stark contrast to the opinion held by Israeli Jews. A recent poll of Jews in Israel, sponsored by the Jerusalem Post, found only 4% believing Obama’s policies are “pro-Israel.”

Overall, the president’s approval rates have declined, even among his biggest supporters. Nationwide, his approval rating was at 66% in January and has fallen to 52%. Among Jewish supporters, 83% supported him in January. That is now down to 64%.

Surprisingly, Gallup didn’t include the president’s approval ratings among American Muslims. Muslims are not included, Gallup said, because, at less than 0.5% of Gallup’s sample, there are too few cases to analyze in Gallup’s September polling.

Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne attends a German Synodal Way assembly on March 9, 2023.

Four German Bishops Resist Push to Install Permanent ‘Synodal Council’

Given the Vatican’s repeated interventions against the German process, the bishops said they would instead look to the Synod of Bishops in Rome. Meanwhile, on Monday, German diocesan bishops approved the statutes for a synodal committee; and there are reports that the synodal committee will meet again in June.

Palestinian Christians celebrate Easter Sunday Mass at Holy Family Church in Gaza City on March 31, amid the ongoing battles Israel and the Hamas militant group.

People Explain ‘Why I Go to Mass’

‘Why go to Mass on Sundays? It is not enough to answer that it is a precept of the Church. … We Christians need to participate in Sunday Mass because only with the grace of Jesus, with his living presence in us and among us, can we put into practice his commandment, and thus be his credible witnesses.’ —Pope Francis