HAMDEN, Conn. — A majority of Catholics who attend Mass weekly oppose same-sex “marriage,” according to a March 8 poll by Quinnipiac University, even though its release suggested that baptized Catholics largely support the practice.
Among Catholics who are registered to vote and who attend Mass weekly, 36% support “gay marriage,” while 55% oppose it, according to figures provided to Catholic News Agency by April Radocchio, Quinnipiac University Polling Institute's associate poll director.
The release announcing the poll, by contrast, said that, among all registered voters who identify as Catholic — 11% of whom never attend religious services — 54% support same-sex “marriage,” while only 47% of all registered voters are supportive of it.
Based on this finding, Peter Brown, the polling institute’s assistant director, said that “Catholic voters are leading American voters toward support for same-sex 'marriage.'”
Brown’s assertion drew criticism from some Catholic circles, with many suggesting that the poll was flawed in some way.
Pia de Solenni, an ethicist who holds a doctorate in sacred theology from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, emphasized that the poll, with a sample of fewer than 500 Catholics, was “hardly representative” of Catholics in America.
“When you ask someone if they’re Catholic, you have to further specify: Do they attend church regularly or not?” she noted.
Survey results are often vastly different between Catholics who do and do not regularly attend Mass.
The poll surveyed 497 Catholics from Feb. 27 to March 4 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4% for questions asked of Catholics.
In the release announcing the poll’s results, Quinnipiac provided figures for several questions pertinent to Catholics in America. Most of these were issues particular to Catholics, and the answers were broken down so that readers could compare the differences between those Catholics who attend religious Mass weekly and less than weekly.
However, the question asking about support or opposition to same-sex “marriage” did not have this distinction, merely showing Catholics as a whole.
Radocchio explained the discrepancy, saying that the question about same-sex “marriage” was asked in the “general issues section” of the poll, and the question was posed to all registered voters.
“We reported them with the breakdowns we generally used with registered voter releases,” she explained.
She said that the remaining questions were all “Catholic issues,” which were asked only of Catholic respondents, regardless of their voter registration.
Among Catholics who are registered to vote and who attend Mass weekly, 36% support “gay marriage,” while 55% oppose it, the poll found. Among those who attend Mass less than weekly, 63% support “gay marriage,” and 29% oppose it.
The margin of error for those figures is plus or minus 4.7%. Fewer than 497 Catholics were asked the question, because not all of the Catholic respondents were registered voters, though Radocchio said the number of Catholic respondents about “gay marriage” was “not much less” than 497.
Brown said that the breakdown of the same-sex “marriage” results was not in the initial poll release because “we only have so much space and can only do so many things up front.”
It was “certainly not malicious,” he said, and was a “completely benign decision.”
The poll also found that while 52% of respondents think the Church is “moving in the right direction,” 55% think the next pope “should move the Church in new directions.” Sixty-four percent said the next pope should “relax the Church ban on contraception,” and 62% responded that he should support allowing women to become priests.
The responses to these questions consistently showed a stark contrast in the opinions of those who attend Mass weekly and those who attend less than weekly. For example, of those who do not attend Mass weekly, 73% support the priestly ordination of women. Of those who do attend weekly, that figure is only 38%.
De Solenni said the poll “shows the importance of more effective teaching” in the Church.
She noted that “when you ask a question of those who attend Mass regularly, the ratios are almost inverse.”
“So if they really want to do a survey that has some integrity, let us know what the standard is for identifying someone as Catholic.”
De Solenni added that these issues are not of interest solely to Americans, but to Catholics worldwide.
“It's really important that we take a global perspective on this, and look at what people are saying around the world.”
She said that polls such as the one conducted by Quinnipiac can be useful in terms of “knowing the audience you're speaking to” and “how much teaching needs to be done.”
Such polls, however, are not helpful guides “in terms of telling us which policies we should pursue.”
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Catholics, at the grassroots level, tend to be a fairly progressive, easygoing lot, and I say this as someone who was raised in the Catholic faith myself. They certainly tend to have a more “live and let live” attitude than your average Southern Baptist. Most Catholics are content to go to church on Sunday, worship their God in their own humble way, but not engage in the Vatican’s “New Evangelization.” Most Catholics are content to observe the sacraments but not necessarily official Vatican pronouncements about birth control and homosexuality. Historically Catholics have been on the forefront of social justice movements, and that includes support for their Gay friends and family members.
Most people are Straight (i.e. heterosexual), and they will continue to date, get engaged, marry, and build lives and families together as they always have. None of that is going to change when law-abiding, taxpaying Gay couples are allowed to do the same.
Conversely, marriage equality for Gay couples with have no impact on the number of Straight couples who divorce, have children out of wedlock, give up their children for adoption, or decide not to have children at all.
In fact, the issues of parenting and procreation are irrelevant to the marriage equality movement, since (1) couples do not need to marry to make babies, (2) the ability or even desire to make babies is not a prerequisite for obtaining a marriage license, and (3) countless adopted children have been and are being raised to healthy, well-adjusted adulthood by Gay parents.
Those who oppose the teachings of The Catholic Church should be excommunicated because they are heretics. We need a strong, bull-dog pope.
It is somewhat suprising that 36% of those who attend Mass weekly would support gay marriage. Perhaps the local parishes have to do a better job of explaining church teaching!
how did the pollsters determine who was and who was not catholic when doing their groupings? was it a case of self-identification or did the pollsters have access to baptismal records? absent verification of the baptisms of those claiming to be catholics, it is reasonable to reject the poll results regarding the responses of catholics in their entirety.
the Lord Jesus made it quite clear that ALL human sexual activity that occurs outside of a permanent and exclusive commitment between one man and one woman is gravely sinful and seriously disordered. the Catholic Church cannot teach otherwise.
the less the civil laws of a society conform themselves to the Divine law and the natural law, the less stable, prosperous and successfult such a society will become. those who abandon or seek to thwart the teachings of Jesus (God in the flesh) will suffer the consequences of being subjected to the whimsy of tyrants.
This poll is not valid since it has interviewed Catholics who are not “Catholic”.
To be Catholic or have Catholic Identity means that one accepts and believes all the teaching of the Lord Jesus and His teaching Church.
Those who have expressed support and acceptance of gay marriage deny the teaching Of Christ and His Church and therefore, by there own response are no longer Catholic. I repeat, the poll is not a valid one.
The teaching of Christ the Lord, One with the Father,is——-
‘God from the very beginning made marriage to be the union of a man and a woman and their conjugal act of love is to bring forth new life.’
Need more be said?
In the article, it said that “Among Catholics who are registered to vote and who attend Mass weekly, 36% support “gay marriage,” while 55% oppose it, the poll found. Among those who attend Mass less than weekly, 63% support “gay marriage,” anA 29% oppose it.” A casual Catholic, that is one who says they are but doesn’t know or practice their faith very well, is more likely to support gay marriage. The Catholic faith (in the Cathechism) says that homosexual acts are a mortal sin, and that mortal sins, unconfessed, will lead you into hell. It is important to know that about your faith, if the object of it is to enter into heaven. I think we need more teaching if Catholics don’t know that about their faith.
If you look deeper at the poll results, however, you find out that the poll doesn’t really say what the pollsters say it says. Of the Catholics surveyed, only 31% attend Mass every week, while 39% never attend or attend only a few times a year. In the middle are another 12% who attend “almost” every week, and 18% who attend only “once or twice a month.”
Look, this is simple. If you (a) don’t attend Mass, and (b) don’t believe in the long-held and clearly-stated beliefs of the Church about sexual morality, including on marriage, contraception and abortion, you are not Catholic. You may falsely call yourself Catholic out of some sort of odd sense that you are supposed to, or some ill-considered conception that it’s an ethnicity of some sort, or out of habit, or because you think it’s somehow “cool” and “edgy” to be a fallen-away Catholic. But you are not Catholic.
So why do pollsters persist in polling as “Catholics” people who obviously aren’t? Laziness. Intellectual sloppiness. And, more likely, a desire to push a particular agenda—secular, liberal, pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage.
Dear Chuck,
Children who come from single parent homes, who go back and forth between different homes as a result of divorce…they struggle, they feel less secure, their worldview is skewed. We know this to be true. And yes, it’s true that they cope and they can overcome the hardships…but would you invite this for them? Probably not. Yet, in advocating for gay marriage you are proposing that children be brought into families where they automatically do not have the benefit of a male AND female role model. They automatically do not have the sense of grace and wholeness that is guided by the completeness of the Holy Family, our role model. Is that really what you wish for the next generation of children?
To redefine marriage, to make it simply a tax benefit for anyone who is attracted to anyone else, is to cheapen marriage. It is to destroy the family which is the building block of society. To be so “easygoing” in condemning the future for our children is sinful.
I’m all for social justice and compassion. We hear from the forceful political lobby of the gay rights movement that they need “marriage” in order to visit partners in the hospital. That is simply not true. Individual medical professionals in hospitals may act unfairly and unwisely, but no number of laws will stop that from happening.
Do you encourage your children to be active sinners, or do you tell them that they will be tempted, they have crosses to bear, but they can resist temptation, they can bear those crosses with God’s help? I hope the latter is true for you. That is how we support gays…they can resist sin…they are NOT defined by sexual impulses.
Just because someone is seduced by pornography, does not mean we should make sure they have constant access to it—right? It is not helping an alcoholic to de-criminalize drinking and driving. The person who deals with alcoholism may have a gene that means they have trouble resisting the urge to drink once they have begun, so in essence they can’t help themselves. Are they then defined by that gene? Is their whole identity to be “alcoholic” or does that person need help and support to resist alcohol and redefine his/her life?
Your reasoning to “live and let live” by re-creating laws that define marriage for the sake of children, will lead to increasing troubles for the next generations of children. And it supports sin. That is not being true to your faith.
Sorry Chuck, I don’t buy your claims that everything is honky dory in the world of same sex relations. In fact, I think there’s a multitude of ugly realities that you are sweeping under the carpet just so you can legitimize the feelings that you have. Suicide and substance abuse rates are high for homosexuals, especially when they live in communities that openly accept and embrace their life styles. Seems like indulging oneself in these desires might actually be detrimental. No surprise there, because the sex acts being engaged in harm the body and ultimately the mind. Sodomy is a painful, damaging act.
As far as exposing children to this, it’s tantamount to child abuse. Young children don’t need to exposed to complex sexual relations between adults. It’s quite selfish of people to inflict this on them. And, once again, I have to challenge the notion that these children end up “healthy and well adjusted”. More and more evidence is suggesting the opposite is true. Amazon.com has many books written by chidren raised in same sex households and, I’m sad to say, they would take issue with your claim that everything is just fine.
As far as what individual Catholics believe, that’s irrelevent. The church teachings are not going to change. Early Christians went to their deaths becuase they did not believe all these practices (same sex relations, abortion, infanticide, fornication, and general loose living) They thought these ideas had proven themselves bad and that they ultimately produce much misery and suffereing. The 2,000 year history of the RC Church shows us that at many different points in time, Catholics make the conscious decision to buck church teachings and go with their own beliefs. So, this phenomena is nothing new. Some people are easily persuaded by fancy, sophisticated arguments featuring all the bells and whistles - statistics and people who seem so genuinely interested in righting the error-filled teachings of the RC Church.
I suggest every Catholic who is on the fence about this subject seek out the arguments against same sex marriage. The first stop would be visiting the Catholic Education Resource Center (Google it). There you will find a plethora of information, which is conveniently suppressed/ignored by the main stream media.
I feel sorry for anyone who is stuck with a same sex attraction and they should never be bullied or discriminated against. But that doesn’t mean we joyfully accept same sex marriage.
As long as Catholics only hear a pro-contraceptive, pro-gay marriage media expound on these subjects, there will be a larger than expected percentage who go along with it. The church has done a terrible job of explaining why it teaches what it does, and until it does a better job the percentages favoring these immoral acts will keep going up because the media will not let up to manipulate opinion.
Once Catholics realize that gay marriage is not a civil rights issue but infringes on religious liberty, undermines traditional marriage and affects how our kids are taught in schools, they might give this issue more thought.
As for contraception, the media won’t tell you the harm it does to one’s health and that it is the root cause of abortion, divorce, STDs, disrespect for women, etc. The case for natural family planning is rarely, if ever, discussed from the pulpit because priests have not been educated enough about it to promote it with the enthusiasm it deserves. Couples who practice NFP have almost zero divorce rates, e.g. They learn unselfishness as opposed to selfishness.
The New Evangelization needs to begin with the faithful laity who offer credibility lacking in other quarters.
By the way, I recently heard on EWTN that couples who attend Mass weekly tend to welcome children as a gift from God while those who attend less frequently tend to welcome one or two children. Those who rarely or never attend, tend to be childless.
the movement to destroy the connection between marriage and children is a direct attack on the welfare of children. how less loving and righteous can a society become than to deliberately make the lives of children more difficult?
So Chuck -Luke warm are you? Brother i don’t know about you but you but i want the world to hear about ALL of the Catholic Churches Teachings with Zeal and Fire. There is TRUTH in them. I think you need to look long and hard at that Cross for a while and really get to the root of what it is HE asks of us. Jesus said it will pit brother against brother father against son. You marginalize the New Evangilization as if it is change in your sports programing on tv. But the NEw Evangilzation is specifically created for peoaple just lie you, because of Catholics and christians who have been baptized that have become lukewarm. Jesus wants more from you for you to be at the table in heaven. Catholics want what Jesus wants which is for the relationship that mirrors the trinity to be honored as unmatched! NAtural Law dictates that and our mystigos points to it. Our Society thinks we are so much more advanced than the Word of God which IS JEsus Christ. The issue is tough to comprehend. we cant go forth in this issue without love and understanding for homosexuals and their plight which is the manifestation of Sin in our society. But we CAN NOT deny the Words of Jesus Christ.
For those catholics that want to play dumb. because I believe, that they do know better then they say. why dont’t they open there bible, and go to Leviticus chapter 18, verse 22. there is and never will be in the eyes of GOD, same sex marriage period. Homosexuality, is sodmey, which is an unnatural sex act period. wheather it is two men, two women, and a man and a woman. What is there not to understand. Its an abomination before GOD period.
Jim said it was surprising that 36 percent of weekly Mass attendees would still support gay marriage and that parishes should do a better job of teaching. What makes you assume that support for gay marriage equals a lack of understanding about what the Church teaches? I attend Mass every week and my husband is a Catechist, and we both strongly support gay marriage. Trust me that we are well aware of what the Church’s official stance is on the issue. For the record, neither of us believes that the Church should have to recognize same-sex marriage. But I don’t believe that we should take away the rights of non-Catholics either. I think it’s sad that anyone (like Joe above) believes that we should be ex-communicated just because we’re not in lockstep with every one of the Church’s teachings, when we do agree with the vast majority. Are you really saying that if you don’t agree with everything 100 percent, you can’t have any of it? If there’s one issue that’s your sticking point with the Church like this is for me, how do you change your mind and realize the Church is right? I pray about it all the time, asking to understand the Church’s teachings on this, but my views just don’t change.
We have a gay teenager, which colors my viewpoint a lot. I’ve known he was gay since he was a preschooler. He also knows what the Church teaches, and he feels very rejected by the church. He knows that his choices as an adult are to either deny who he really is, defy the teachings of the Church or leave it. Can you imagine knowing that about yourself and knowing those are your choices? Not being gay myself, I can’t. I do know that if he opts to leave the church because it doesn’t accept him, I would much rather have him settle down in a committed relationship than to be promiscuous. If he had a partner someday I can’t imagine denying him the same legal rights that I take for granted, just because his orientation is different than mine. I can’t blindly say the Church is absolutely right on this issue when I see in my home the people who are affected by it. Why is it fair to say that not only can’t my son be married by the church he was raised in, but he can’t be married anywhere? I don’t know the answers to this, but what I do know puts me at odds with my Church and that is causing a long-term crisis of faith. I wonder how many of you people saying that Catholics who support gay marriage should be ex-communicated or just “better educated in the faith” actually have a gay child?
I believe that these numbers (of the poll) are only a mirrored reflection of the badly/clumsy/ill intended design and conjecture to a topic that “FULL PLEDGED/FULL HEARTED CATHOLICS CAN’T SEE ‘AS EVEN COMING CLOSE TO BEING FEASIBLE’ NO WAY, NO HOW, NO CAN DO + AND AS TO WHAT IT’S NUMBERS ENTAIL, THEY ARE BOTH LAUGHABLE & OFFENSIVE. BUT, IN REGARDS TO THE REALITY OF WHAT TRUE CATHOLICS BELIEVE - THE CHURCH IS HOUSE OF THE LORD HERE ON EARTH (Like it or not).
A PRAYER THAT THIS ENTITY SHAPE UP WITH ITS CHEESY POLLING AND ITS TWISTED AGENDA. JJ
JIM: Parishes do need to do a much better job in educating its full congregation*
Eddie: Your second comment is right on SOLID*
Amy: The Second Half of your statement is Right ON and It’s A Must*
And The Regular Guy: Your Last Statement is Defenitely IT’ - No Question’ +++ GOD BLESS YOU GUYS +++
JJ
Chuck Anziulewicz,
Picking and choosing what you will support and what you support and what you do not, is exactly what satan wants from Catholics.
“55% think the next pope “should move the Church in new directions.” Sixty-four percent said the next pope should “relax the Church ban on contraception,” and 62% responded that he should support allowing women to become priests.” these thought have satan’s name all over it.
First, whether someone regularly goes to mass or not is certainly none of anyone’s business.Second, I have now idea where or when this poll was taken,but according to an interview on CNN, the people she spoke with are in favor of gay(more politely same-sex or homosexual)marriage.Just as the Church evolved having the laity(especially women) do the reading and be extraordinary ministers,then we will start having same-sex marriage in our churches.Pre-cana will still be required as it does in hetrosexual marriages.We will become a true faith family when we welcome all who want to be married in our churches with the blessing of God and His Holy Church.
It is a sad commentary on the state of Catholicism that this is even a story. The headline could have been written: “Poll: most Catholics still support Catholic teaching.”
Fear not, fellow Catholics. Our Lord and Savior told us that the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against the Catholic Church. That said, satan will try mightily to reduce the Church to irrelevance by making us indistinguishable from the rest of our amoral society.
Not surprising since I have never heard a homily about sodomy or even about marriage between a man and woman - even when the Gospel reading was Jesus saying - in the beginning they were male and female…The problem is priests not addressing this issue in homilies because this is the only time most laid back Catholics will hear anything remotely spiritual. Catholics who embrace marriage between a man and a woman know that marriage is a sacrament not just a union based on feelings. Those Catholics read scripture, watch EWTN, and want to grow in their faith. The Church needs to do a better job because we are losing the culture on marriage between a man and a woman. It this continue, the time will come when those of us who say homosexuality is a sin will be charged with a hate crime.
Judith Costello, that is a great letter. I could not agree with you more. God Bless
The article says that the breakdown of results has no malicious intent, it may not but the poll, in and of itself, has malicious intent. The church does not ask members if they support something that the church does not support. The results aren’t even indicative of the overall feeling of the electorate which is greater than fifty percent. I am not going to argue, as some comments attempt, to say that Jesus says this and that. Jesus has much to say in the three synoptic gospels, Paul and others have more to say in their apologetics to the various ethnic factions; just as the post Christ world has to say in focusing on the Mother of God to garner support from the female sex. If we see a thriving beehive, fallen from a tree, writhing with life, should we kick it as hard as we can into a group of bystanders. The poll does exactly that, it is for mirror kissers.
JMJ I watched Raymond Arroyo and I immediately E-mailed Quinnipiac with one word on the poll; Baloney.
Duh!!!
I suspect the results of this poll. I do think Church leaders need to start preaching he Faith from the altar emphasizing mortal sin and the punishment that awaits anyone who dies with one on his soul. People prefer to ignore this risk and usually don’t want to speak about it. Keep in mind the Church has been given the power to bind and loosen in the next world by our Lord. A person is not a Catholic if he lives constantly in conflict with Church teachings. And anyone who encourags this will be dealt the same reward.
Chuck, I agree completely with your points. I think you should include “scare quotes” around “marriage” every time you mention SS"M” just to keep the thought of a union of 2 loving people “scary”.
Judith, I am a child of divorce. My life got much better after the divorce. No more fighting, arguing, hate in the home. Mom did better, Dad did better, both remarried great people. If a person wants to look at porn, or drink, do you really have the right to stop them? Drinking and driving is completely different (strawman perhaps?) since it involves risking other peoples lives.
For an athiest, it is always interesting to hear the “no true catholic” argument. If they don’t agree with everything from Rome, they should be excommunicated. Go for it! All Catholics that have used contraception, or suppport women priests, married priests, or Gay marriage, are gone.
Both of you left in the parish can then have a very intimate Mass with “Father” (not married, no children, but Father? Yes, scare quotes).
Rover.
@Eddie - the laws of our society are already in shambles. We’re a disgrace before our Lord. The truth is the welfare regulations in our country - supported and applauded by the USCCB and its lobby - have contributed more to the breakdown of the traditional family than anything the homosexual lobby could ever do. The poor in our country have not cared for many, many years about a legal marriage and that view has seeped into the middle class. And this diminished view of marriage is largely due to the Church’s attempt to legislate Christian charity instead of just doing charitable works.
S.Flory Yes, that is one of the problems with the church since Vatican II. You will never hear from the pulpit, mortal sin, evil, the devil, hell. I was watching a priest on EWTN and a caller asked him why we don’t hear about the above. He said that in the 60’s they were told to stop scaring people and start talking about love. That is why we don’t hear these things anymore.
I will never leave the Catholic church, but we need a pope like Charles Stanley. He tells it like it is. Non-Christians cannot get into heaven. That is what were were taught before Vatican II. Jesus tell us that, no one can get to the father except trough me.
I like when people say, what would Jesus do, like they know. Jesus (God) sends people to hell. So, we don’t know what He will do.
Eileen and Joe, I agree with you both! Many bishops have only recently joined the side of conservatives promoting traditional values including marriage before children and working hard to support their own family. We have been enfeebling the poor rather than encouraging them to reach higher and dig deeper (into their own resolve - not others’ pockets!) The poor you shall have with you always. We give to charity because we need to give - it is primarily a spiritual act. Once it is legislated and mandated, it becomes an entitlement that cripples people and takes away their pride and resourcefulness. They become babies and whiners - not mature Christians. Joe, I heard that homily too. He said now people spend $12 a ticket to be scared by zombies, werewolves and vampires. Maybe they should have just kept telling them about hell. After all, Jesus spoke of it 23 times and made many more passing references to it. God bless you both. Please keep evangelizing!
The pro-gay marriage debate seems to be following a similar arc as the debate about abortion in the 70’s. All the cool, pretty popular people (Hollywood) are for it, and the Catholics who are not well-informed about the debate. I think we will see more and more support for it, until >50% agree with it. And then…the problems will crop up, including things we never saw coming, but then it will be too late because it’s already legal. Then the pendulum will swing back. This has all happened before, this will all happen again.
“I like when people say, what would Jesus do, like they know. Jesus (God) sends people to hell. So, we don’t know what He will do.”
Jesus would never allow the limited life choices or the way in which the church talks about me: a homosexual.
“faith is a foundation not a negotiation” Those who are opposed to the teachings of the Catholic Church should quietly find their way out.The divine laws and mandate are meant to be fulfilled not abolished or negotiated upon.The distinguishing mark of every faith based religion is rooted in its body of creeds. That is why no religion can validly claim to be the same with another and it is a false assumption for people to think that all churches are the same. The mass media and the society can decide to pollute the air or themselves with their clamour for gay marriage liberalism, but the Catholic Church must remain a sign of hope for all true believers.
Joe Yungk, And your source? My source is the bible, which calls homosexuality an abomination. The church calls it a disorder.
Joe Yungk, Jesus told the woman in sin, apparently a prostitute, to go and sin no more. He limited that chose.
Carmenva, you can find the same in the New Testament in Corinthians.
Joe Yungk, early Christians went to their deaths for opposing pagan practices, which included homosexuality as well as abortion,infanticide,artificial contraception, and fornication. These people were trained by the apostles who walked the earth with Christ. I doubt modern homosexual activists know more about what Christ wanted than these early Christians.
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