U.S. Catholics loyal, choose moral terms - U.S. Catholicism: Trends in the '90s - NCR/Gallup Poll Supplement

National Catholic Reporter, Oct 8, 1993 by Thomas C. Fox

Gallup Poll indicates greater self-reliance in faith commitments

KANSAS CITY, Mo.--Growing numbers of lay Catholics -- from the mainstream, as well as the edges of the church -- are personally making up their own minds on matters of church practice and morality, according to a National Catholic Reporter/Gallup Poll.

Large numbers of U.S. lay Catholics continue to move away from reliance on official church teachings to greater self-reliance in evaluating morality, the poll found. These shifts are especially pronounced among women and younger Catholics.

Further, the poll showed that large numbers of lay Catholics want greater roles in church decision-making.

From the NCR/Gallup Poll, taken last May, a picture of the church emerges: The nation's Catholics are largely loyal to the faith as they perceive it, but increasingly at odds with institutional directives.

The poll was a follow-up to an NCR/Gallup Poll taken in May 1987. It allows, then, for an analysis of changes in lay attitudes during the past six years.

The following are a few examples of the major changes occurring between the 1987 and 1993 surveys (see tables 1-14, pages 22-25):

* A 17 percent increase in Catholics saying, "You can be a good Catholic without obeying the church's teaching regarding abortion";

* A 17 percent increase in Catholics saying, "The laity should have the right to participate in deciding how parish income should be spent";

* A 17 percent decrease among Catholics saying, "It would be unacceptable if because of the priest shortage there would be no resident priest in the parish but only a lay administrator and visiting priests."

[TABULAR DATA OMITTED]

The same trends held also for the most highly committed Catholics (see tables 15-18, pages 26, 27), those who go to Mass at least once a week (43 percent in 1993), who say the church is among the most important part of their lives (43 percent in 1993) and who say they would never leave the church (70 percent in 1993).

For example, among these most committed Catholics the increases among those who said you could be a good Catholic without obeying the church's teaching on abortion were 14 percent, 14 percent and 17 percent respectively between 1987 and 1993. This brings the totals on these three variables to 40 percent, 36 percent and 51 percent respectively.

"This is dramatic change," said William D'Antonio, a sociologist who currently has a research appointment at Catholic University and is a developer of the survey. "It indicates the church's efforts to make abortion a litmus test for orthodoxy lost ground even with its most committed laity."

Additionally, among the most committed Catholics between 72 and 76 percent said you could be a good Catholic without contributing to Peter's Pence, the pope's special annual collection. These figures represent a change away from papal support of 10 to 13 percent over the six years.

Further, majorities of the most committed said the laity should have the right to participate in such church affairs as selecting priests for the parish, with increases ranging between 14 and 16 percent over the six years; and majorities with increases ranging between 14 and 17 percent saying the laity should have the right to participate in deciding if women should be ordained.

Similar patterns were found on almost all issues, including those on divorce and remarriage without an annulment.

[TABULAR DATA OMITTED]

The pool showed that only a minority of lay Catholics now think that bishops only should determine the morality of key questions of Catholic practice. For example, only one out of four Catholics think the bishops only should have the authority to decide about remarriage without annulment.

[TABULAR DATA OMITTED]

"I see a continuing erosion of the laity's confidence in the leadership of the clergy," said sociologist Jim Davidson of Purdue University, one of the sociologists who helped develop the survey. "An increasingly large number of people are unwilling to give the final say to the authorities of the church. A large number are saying they want the final say to be a joint decision on the part of church leaders and laypeople."

An overwhelming majority of those surveyed in both 1987 and 1993 -- ranging above 80 percent -- said they "should have the right to participate in deciding how church income should be spent."

The NCR/Gallup Poll measured commitment to the church by gender. It found that more women go to church on a regular basis than do men (see table 19, page 28). Forty-nine percent of women interviewed and 32 percent of men interviewed say they attend Mass at least weekly.

Again, 49 percent of the women and 37 percent of the men said the church is "among the most important parts of their lives." While both men and women are change-oriented in 1993, the poll found, women are more so, with the abortion issue again a striking example.

                  Table 5
         ATTITUDES ABOUT MORE DEMOCRATIC
                 DECISION-MAKING

Question:  Some people think the Catholic church should have
more democratic decision-making in church affairs that do not
involve matters of faith than it has at the present time.  Do
you favor or oppose this idea ... (Numbers are percents.)

                                       Percent "Favor"
                                       1987       1993
a.  at the local parish level?          60         61
b.  at the diocesan level?              55         60
c.  at the level of the Vatican?        51         58