{"id":16108,"date":"2013-03-07T00:07:06","date_gmt":"2013-03-07T05:07:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/u-s-catholics-divided-on-direction-of-church-under-new-pope\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:31:50","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:31:50","slug":"u-s-catholics-divided-on-direction-of-church-under-new-pope","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2013\/03\/07\/u-s-catholics-divided-on-direction-of-church-under-new-pope\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Catholics Divided on Direction of Church under New Pope"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the process gets underway for selection of a new pope, many American Catholics express a desire for change. For example, most U.S. Catholics say it would be good if the next pope allows priests to marry. And fully six-in-ten Catholics say it would be good if the next pope hails from a developing region, such as South America, Asia or Africa.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n

At the same time, many Catholics also express appreciation for the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. While about half of U.S. Catholics (46%) say the next pope should \u201cmove the church in new directions,\u201d the other half (51%) say the new pope should \u201cmaintain the traditional positions of the church.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Among Catholics who say they attend Mass at least once a week, nearly two-thirds (63%) say the new pope should maintain the traditional positions of the church, while about one-third (35%) say the new pope should move the church in new directions. By contrast, among those who attend Mass less often, 54% say the next pope should move in new directions while 42% prefer to maintain the church\u2019s traditional positions.<\/p>\n\n

Six-in-ten Catholics who are college graduates say the next pope should move the church in new directions, compared with 38% who say the pope should maintain the church\u2019s traditional positions. This balance of opinion is reversed among Catholics with some college or less education, among whom 56% want the church to maintain its traditional positions and 41% would like it to move in new directions. Read more<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just over half of U.S. Catholics say the next pope should maintain the traditional teachings of the church; nearly as many favor new directions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[180,436,170],"bylines":[859],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-16108","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-catholicism","category-pope-francis","category-religious-leaders-institutions","bylines-bruce-drake","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states"],"label":"Short Read","post_parent":0,"word_count":245,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2013\/03\/07\/u-s-catholics-divided-on-direction-of-church-under-new-pope\/","art_direction":false,"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"U.S. Catholics Divided on Direction of Church under New Pope","description":"Just over half of U.S. Catholics say the next pope should maintain the traditional teachings of the church; 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