Large Majorities Of Catholics Across The Americas Want The Church To Allow Birth Control
NEW YORK — A new survey of Catholics in the United States and across six Latin American countries found that majorities want the church to allow for the use of birth control and the ordination of female priests.
The Pew Research Center study released on Thursday also found that public opinion was more divided on whether the church should allow priests to marry and the recognition of same-sex marriages.
While Catholics in the U.S. tend to tilt more liberal in their social views, the results were surprising considering that Pew also surveyed those living in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.
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Many who identified as Catholic in the United States and Latin America said the church should allow the use of birth control (ranging from 63% in Brazil to 86% in Argentina), while also allowing women to become priests (ranging from 47% in Mexico to 83% in Brazil).
Views about the church allowing Catholics to use birth control have held steady over the last decade. The largest swings recorded in either direction in this latest survey were among Catholics in Peru (a 12 percentage point increase in wanting the church to take this step) and in Brazil (a 12-point decrease).
Here are several key findings from the report:
— Pope Francis, the first Latin American pope, remains broadly popular among Catholics across the region, although his favorability ratings are lower now than they were a decade ago.
— Opinion is divided on whether the church should allow priests to marry and recognize the marriages of same-sex couples. Catholic majorities in Argentina, Chile and the U.S. hold these views, while a majority in Peru disagree.
— Most Catholics in Mexico do not want the church to allow priests to marry and a majority of those in Colombia do not think the church should recognize gay marriages.
All seven nations in the study have large Catholic populations, including Brazil (the largest in the world with 106.3 million), Mexico (second-largest at 91.2 million) and the U.S. (fourth-largest with 67 million).
In addition, the six Latin American countries surveyed account for roughly three-quarters of the region’s Catholics.
Throughout Christian tradition, birth control had long been associated with promiscuity and adultery.
However, after the Anglican Church passed a resolution in favor of birth control at its 1930 Lambeth Conference, other Protestant denominations followed suit.
Nevertheless, the Catholic Church has held fast to its opposition. In 1968, Pope Paul VI signed “Humanae vitae,” a papal encyclical that restated the church’s opposition to artificial contraception.
In addition, Catholicism — unlike some other Christian denominations — does not allow women to be clergy or for priests to marry.
Last December, Pope Francis approved allowing Catholic clergy to bless individuals in same-sex marriages — issuing a document on Monday detailing the change in the Vatican’s policy — as long as it doesn’t resemble a marriage ceremony.
The document unleashed controversy across the Catholic world and even pushback from prelates, mostly in the United States and Africa.
Mixed views on Pope Francis
In addition to doctrine and potential changes, the survey also went into Francis’ popularity.
In every country surveyed, approximately two-thirds or more of Catholics had a favorable view of this pope — including 88% in Colombia and 84% in Brazil.
Nonetheless, Pope Francis’ favorability ratings are lower now than they were more than a decade ago after he was made pope in March 2013.
In the U.S., where a February 2014 survey found that 85% of Catholics viewed the pope favorably, currently 75% take that view of the pontiff.
The decrease in favorability has been sharpest among Catholics in the pope’s homeland of Argentina. Ten years ago, nearly all Catholics surveyed there (98%) expressed a favorable opinion of Francis, compared with just 74% today.
While this pontiff has been a divisive figure in the church — especially among traditional Catholics in the United States and Western Europe — Francis’ popularity in his homeland has clearly waned. It’s a departure from the fervor of a decade ago when Jorge Bergoglio, then-cardinal of Buenos Aires, was elected pope. Much of the country celebrated. These days, he generates divided opinions.
Francis, son of Italian immigrants to Argentina, hasn’t made it a point to visit homeland while pope — although he could make a trip later this year.
Even without setting foot in Argentina, Francis has found himself at the center of political fights in the past. The pope became a lightening rod during recent elections. Eventual winner Javier Milei blasted Pope Francis as a “communist” and a “leftist son of a b----.” Milei met with the pope at the Vatican earlier this year and made amends.
This comes as a majority of Catholics surveyed by Pew said this pope — the first in history from South America — “represents a change in the Catholic church’s direction, with more of them calling it a major change than a minor one.”
Among Chilean Catholics, who tend to be less favorable toward Francis than Catholics in other surveyed countries, “nearly half say that he has not changed the church’s direction.”
Pew’s findings were based on responses from 5,676 Catholics, conducted in English, Spanish and Portuguese from January through April of this year across the seven countries.
Clemente Lisi is the executive editor of Religion Unplugged. He previously served as deputy head of news at the New York Daily News and a longtime reporter at The New York Post. Follow him on X @ClementeLisi.