Fewer than a third of American Catholics support the recent push by conservative bishops to deny communion to politicians in support of abortion rights, according to a new poll.
Other results from the poll also highlight the difference between Church leadership and many lay Catholics. For instance, 63 per cent of Catholics say that abortion should be legal in most or all cases, and 68 per cent believe that Roe v Wade, the controversial 1973 Supreme Court decision which protected a women’s right to have an abortion, should be left as is.
However, the Church has made its position on abortion quite clear and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops recently invited Catholics to pray for the overturning of the decision.
The poll, conducted in mid-May just after Politico published a leaked draft from the Supreme Court which would overturn Roe v Wade, was conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Additionally, 70 per cent of Catholics surveyed said that divorced Catholics who remarry without getting an annulment should be able to receive communion, along with 77 per cent who agree that Catholics who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender should be able to. 76 per cent of Catholics believe that politicians who disagree with the Church’s position on the death penalty should be able to receive communion.
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said last month that he would deny communion to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi over her support for abortion rights. The Vatican had previously warned against denying politicians communion. Additionally, at least one diocese has stated that pastors should deny communion to transgender, gay, and non-binary Catholics.
Beyond the debate over communion, the poll has also touched on other issues facing the Church in the United States, including attending mass. Nearly seven in ten, 68 per cent, reported attending religious services once a month or less, and 37 per cent said they were attending less often than they were five years ago. More than 25 per cent of respondents said their opinion of the Church had worsened over that time period, while just 17 per cent said it had improved.
More than two thirds of respondents disagreed with the Church on the issue of female priesthood, and 65 per cent said that openly gay men should be ordained.
AP surveyed 1,172 respondents, 358 of whom were Catholic. Catholic respondents were well aligned with the overall population in regards to their opinions on Roe and maintaining abortion’s legality
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