Papal Visit Anniversary

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Clive D. Field

Seven-tenths of the British public can still recall Pope Benedict XVI’s state and pastoral visit to Scotland and England, which took place from 16 to 19 September 2010, but fewer than one-third consider that his presence here was good for the country.

This is according to a poll by Opinion Research Business (ORB) for the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales which was published on 18 September. 2,049 Britons aged 18 and over were interviewed online on 9-11 September 2011. With ORB’s kind permission, the data tables are available on BRIN:

ORB papal visit 9-11 Sep 2011

Recollection of the visit was relatively high, at 71% (ranging from 60% to 89% by demographic sub-groups), 91% of whom were even able to remember a specific event or aspect of it, albeit sometimes a negative one.

But approval of the visit ran at only 31% (with the notable exception of Catholics, on 62%), with 36% saying it had been a bad thing (46% in Eastern England, 44% in Scotland, 42% of the AB social group, and 41% of men), and 32% uncertain what to think.

Moreover, the overall favourability rating of the Pope was only 24% (just 2% more than a year ago), against 42% holding a negative opinion of him (rising to 52% in Scotland and 48% among men). 58% (peaking at 69% in Scotland) were dissatisfied with his apology for the child sex abuse scandals in the Catholic Church, compared with 24% who were satisfied.

However, there was more support for some of the messages which the Pope had communicated during his visit, including his statements touching on religion (there were also some more ‘motherhood and apple pie’ homilies about society in general, such as recognizing the worth of all people, including the old and disabled, which few would contradict).

For example, 67% agreed with the Pope that religious people should not be forced to keep their beliefs to themselves in the name of political correctness; 62% that the UK should guard against aggressive forms of secularism; 59% that there is a place for God, religion and virtue in public life; and 51% that schools should teach religion and morals. On the other hand, just 35% agreed with the Pope that true happiness is to be found in God (45% disagreeing).

The rating of the Catholic Church was even lower than the Pope’s. 21% entertained a favourable and 59% an unfavourable view of it. 70% (79% in Scotland) described it as out of touch with contemporary society, and 43% denied that – on balance – it was a force for good (13% more than made the same allegation about religion in general). Opinions were doubtless coloured by the sex abuse scandals, with 45% doubting whether the right steps were being taken by the Church to avoid their repetition.

At the same time, there was some backing for the Catholic Church taking a moral lead in British society, especially in encouraging mutual respect between individuals (48%), promoting self-respect and self-discipline (45%), tackling poverty and social exclusion (43%), developing and sharing strategies to combat child abuse (42%), and defending the family unit and family values (41%). In a separate question promotion of family values and family life was ranked as the most important function the Church could perform.

The Catholic Communications Network’s official press release on the survey majored on this finding (‘Catholic Church should take a lead in promoting the family unit, says poll’). It can be read at:

http://catholic-ew.org.uk/Catholic-Church/Media-Centre/Press-Releases/Press-Releases-2011/Catholic-Church-should-take-a-lead-in-promoting-the-family-unit-says-poll

The press release also highlighted an apparent increase over the past year in the proportion of Britons describing themselves as spiritual or religious, with an implication that this could legitimately be attributed to the papal visit. This was picked up in a brief Sunday Telegraph report (‘Spiritual surge from Pope visit’), which spoke of ‘a lasting rise in religious feeling’.

Yet if the figures are examined carefully, it will be apparent that there was some overlap between the spiritual and religious categories, since all possible responses to this question sum to 105%. Also, when those recalling the papal visit were asked whether it had put them more or less in touch with their own personal spiritual values, 91% said it had made no difference, with the more and less answers cancelling out at 4% each.

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Papal Visit – Final Reckoning

Posted on March 6, 2011 by Clive D. Field

A significant amount of controversy surrounded the run-up to the state and pastoral visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Scotland and England on 16-19 September 2010, although, in retrospect, the visit was deemed by many to have been a success. Police estimates suggest that 500,000 people saw the pontiff during these four days, either at the events or along the popemobile routes.

One of the factors exercising voters and secularist organizations at the time was the likely cost of the visit, especially to the public purse. A large majority of the adult population in ComRes and Populus polls were opposed to taxpayer funding of the Pope’s tour, even though it was partly categorized as an official state visit. See our reports on these surveys at http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/?p=524 and http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/?p=562

The arguments about the cost of the visit were compounded by rumour and speculation, by the apparent lack of firm estimates, and by less than full transparency on the part of the Government and the Roman Catholic Church.

Only now, almost six months after the Pope flew back to Rome, are we beginning to get some financial clarity, greatly assisted by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)’s recent release of some key documents.

These comprise the ‘contractual’ agreement between FCO, acting as budget holder for the visit, and the Church and a final statement of FCO non-policing expenditure on the visit (significantly, the draft budget was not divulged).

These papers can be viewed, under the reference DEP2011-0309.ZIP, in the deposited papers database section of the House of Commons Library website at:

http://deposits.parliament.uk./

The costs of the visit, as presented by FCO, essentially divide into three main components: a) costs incurred by FCO on behalf of Government; b) costs initially incurred by FCO but rechargeable to the Church, and to be refunded by the Church before 1 March 2011; and c) costs incurred directly by the Church.

Category a) costs are now known to have come to £6,981,000, split between seven Government Departments (including the Department for International Development, a fact which sparked some furore when it belatedly came to light on 3 February). This total was actually lower than anticipated, so each Department will get back £600,000 of the £1,850,000 which it had to pre-pay FCO.

The most expensive single Government item was £3,031,000 for the provision of media centre facilities at all the venues (some 3,000 media representatives were accredited). Other big-ticket (six-figure) items were:

  • £1,674,000 towards the beatification mass for John Henry Newman at Cofton Park, Birmingham and the follow-on meeting at Oscott College (19 September)
  • £484,000 for the event at St Mary’s University College, Twickenham (17 September)
  • £328,000 for the prayer vigil in Hyde Park, London (18 September)
  • £312,000 for live news feeds
  • £284,000 for the events in Westminster Hall and Westminster Abbey (17 September)
  • £264,000 for the mass at Bellahouston Park, Glasgow (16 September)
  • £147,000 for public liability insurance
  • £103,000 for pre-visit venue location and research costs

Category b) costs came to £6,347,000, of which £4,431,000 was incurred in connection with the beatification mass at Cofton Park and £1,180,000 for the Hyde Park vigil. The Church also paid £385,000 towards the St Mary’s event and picked up the webstreaming costs of £115,000, besides contributing to five other budget-lines.

Category c) costs were estimated by FCO at £3,800,000, and this figure has not been contradicted by the Church.

Category b) and c) costs combined therefore amount to about £10,100,000, well above the Church’s original estimate of its own expenditure of £7,000,000, but reasonably close to its final pre-visit forecast of between £9,000,000 and £10,000,000.

A statement recently issued by Papal Visit Ltd., the company set up by the Roman Catholic bishops’ conferences of England and Wales and Scotland, said that it had already raised £7,500,000 towards this £10,100,000.

The outstanding £2,600,000 will be taken up and underwritten by the dioceses, which will need to find the money by October 2012.

Unfortunately, some costs were not recorded centrally by FCO and are thus omitted from the foregoing analysis. According to the written statement by Henry Bellingham, Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, to the House of Commons on 16 February, these exclusions appear to be:

  • policing costs
  • security services costs
  • local authorities costs
  • Whitehall Government Department staffing costs
  • Scottish Government costs

These exclusions prompted the National Secular Society (NSS), which has been an implacable critic of the visit throughout, to issue a press release on 25 February, accusing FCO of publishing figures which ‘just don’t add up’, and providing some of the missing data itself. This statement can be read at:

http://www.secularism.org.uk/pope-visit-figures-just-dont-add.html

Policing and local authority costs were said by FCO to have been ‘met within existing budgets’, but some more exact figures have emerged, for example £293,000 actually spent by Edinburgh City Council and £82,000 by Birmingham City Council.

Expenditure on policing has been especially disputed. Shortly before the papal visit, the Chief Constable of South Yorkshire, who was co-ordinating policing arrangements, put forward an estimate of between £1,000,000 and £1,500,000 for police costs. This was dismissed by NSS at the time as ‘total nonsense’.

Certainly, the initial (May 2010) estimate for the Metropolitan Police, for the two days which the Pope spent in London, was £1,800,000, including opportunity costs. Actual costs for three police forces are known: Lothian and Borders Police £543,000, Strathclyde Police £649,000, and West Midlands Police £280,000.

The cost of the papal visit to the security services is never likely to be revealed.

The Scottish Government has disclosed that it spent £800,000 on the visit.

Factoring in everything, and making guestimates for the continuingly unknown elements, the 2010 papal visit must have cost a minimum of £25,000,000, of which the state paid three-fifths (nationally and locally) and the Church two-fifths.

This is obviously a substantial sum, albeit only one-quarter of the ‘true cost’ of £100,000,000 which NSS was claiming in July 2010. Nor is it known how this compares with the cost of other (more secular) state visits.

BRIN would naturally be pleased to hear from any of its readers who have concrete and verifiable information which could refine this picture of the cost of the papal visit.

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Reflecting on the Papal Visit

Posted on January 7, 2011 by Clive D. Field

More than three months afterwards, the state and pastoral visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Scotland and England last September continues to engender mixed views. That is the core finding of two recent online surveys released by ComRes on 1 January and conducted on behalf of Premier Media.

One poll was undertaken among a representative sample of 2,017 adults aged 18 and over throughout Great Britain on 15 and 16 December 2010. The detailed computer tabulations are located at:

http://www.comres.co.uk/page165705613.aspx

31% of this sample of Britons thought that the papal visit had been successful, 29% disagreed and 39% could not make up their minds on the matter. The over-65s (37%) and Scots (48%) were most likely to rate the visit a success, with men (35%) more disposed to disagree than women (24%).

A smaller proportion (21%) considered that the Pope had correctly addressed serious problems facing society during the course of his visit, the highest figures again being recorded among the over-65s (30%) and Scots (31%). 39% disagreed with the statement (with a range of 30-45% across the various demographic sub-groups) and 40% expressed no opinion.

Notwithstanding their answers to the previous question, a majority (53%) agreed with the Pope’s assessment that religion in general, and Christianity in particular, is being marginalized in Britain. The proportion taking this position was especially high among the over-55s and the AB social group, which might have been anticipated. More surprisingly, it was also greater among men (59%) than women (48%). Just 17% of the whole sample took issue with the Pope’s verdict, with 30% uncertain.

A final question to the general public sought reactions to the Government’s plans to exclude religious education (RE) from the list of core GCSE humanities subjects for the new English Baccalaureate. 30% of respondents wanted RE to be a core subject, but 56% were opposed, the remaining 14% not knowing what to think.

The greatest support for RE (36%) was among the youngest cohort, aged 18-24. This is in line with another recent poll of young adults (http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/?p=790) and perhaps reflects the growing popularity of RE as a GCSE subject in recent years. The figure also stood at 36% for the over-65s. The strongest opposition to RE came from the 25-44s, skilled manual workers, and Scots.

The second ComRes/Premier Media survey was carried out among 600 UK churchgoing Christians between 17 November and 10 December 2010 via the ComRes CPanel. The unweighted sample included only 37 practising Roman Catholics, so too much should not be made of variations by denomination or churchmanship. Tables are available at:  

http://www.comres.co.uk/page165715812.aspx

As might have been expected, this religiously committed sample took a more positive view than the general public of the success of the papal visit (63%) and of the Pope’s handling of serious problems facing society (64%), with dissentients numbering 9% and 18% respectively.

But there was a little less consensus on two other issues. 57% deemed the visit relevant to them personally (with 38% saying it had been irrelevant). 53% disputed that the Pope had represented all Christians, not just Catholics, when he came to Britain, with 39% agreeing.

Churchgoing Christians overwhelmingly (93%) endorsed the Pope’s comments about the marginalization of religion in contemporary Britain. This was 40% more than among adult Britons as a whole. Moreover, 81% believed that such marginalization of Christians was increasing in the media, 77% in public (meaning not defined), 66% in the workplace, and 59% in Government. 

A final question to churchgoing Christians enquired into the use of new media by their local church in order to communicate its message. The most pervasive technology was a website (82%), followed by worship song projection (64%), videos during services (36%), podcasts/online sermons (33%), email newsletters (26%), and social media such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs (20%). One in ten churches were said to make no use of any of these media.

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After the Papal Visit

Posted on October 7, 2010 by Clive D. Field

One-quarter of British adults claim to have followed the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Scotland and England, according to a newly-released poll from Angus Reid Public Opinion (ARPO), far fewer than are preoccupied with the sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church.

Fieldwork for the survey was conducted on 22-24 September, among 2,005 members (including 173 Roman Catholics) of ARPO’s Springboard UK online panel, although the results were not released until the afternoon of 6 October. Full data tables (with breaks by gender, age, region, social grade and Catholic/non-Catholic) and commentary are available at:

http://www.visioncritical.com/blog/britons-and-catholics-want-church-to-do-more-to-assist-sexual-abuse-victims/

4% of the entire sample of adults aged 18 and over and 19% of Catholics said that they had followed the visit very closely and 21% and 31% moderately closely. 31% of both groups stated that they had not followed it too closely, while 44% of Britons and 19% of Catholics had not followed it closely at all. So, one-half of British Catholics had no great interest in the papal visit. Catholics apart, Scots (43%) followed the visit most closely.

Asked about the arrest during the visit of six men in an alleged terror plot against the Pope, only 22% of Britons and 28% of Catholics were convinced the threat was real. 34% of adults said the threat was not real and 44% were unsure.

The remaining questions focused on sexual abuse by Catholic priests. 31% of all Britons and even 19% of professing Catholics thought that more than one-quarter of all priests had been involved in sexual abuse over the past five decades. 26% and 41% respectively put the proportion at less than one in ten, and 25% and 26% between one in ten and one in four. 17% of all respondents and 14% of Catholics were unsure.

At the same time, 37% of Britons and 56% of Catholics said that the sexual abuse scandal was limited to a few priests in a few locations. 27% and 19% considered that the scandal was considerable and permeated about half of the Catholic Church. 21% and 15% believed that it was widespread and affected practically the whole of the Church. 16% of all adults and 10% of Catholics were uncertain.

80% of Britons (rising to 90% of over-55s) and 68% of Catholics were convinced that the Church had done too little to assist the victims of sexual abuse, most of the remainder having no clear view.

87% of all adults wanted the Church’s hierarchy to acknowledge that it had failed to act, 85% called on the Church to pass to the relevant authorities the names of all accused priests, and 82% expected the Church to provide material support to victims. Almost identical numbers of Catholics agreed with these three propositions. The strongest proponents were the over-55s and Scots.

58% of all respondents (peaking at 66% of over-55s and 67% of Scots) considered Pope Benedict had handled the scandal badly against 20% who thought he had done well. Catholics were somewhat more impressed with his performance, 39% saying well and 42% badly.

Similarly, 43% of Britons but 69% of Catholics deemed the Pope to have been sincere in his expression of sorrow during his visit about sexual abuse by priests. 29% and 15% respectively regarded him as insincere.

All in all, therefore, not much sign of the fabled ‘Benedict bounce’ here.

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The Sun Shines Some Light

Posted on September 22, 2010 by Clive D. Field

BRIN readers might not naturally think of The Sun, perhaps Britain’s most famous weekday tabloid newspaper, as a source of religious intelligence. However, as part of its polling contract with YouGov, it did add a couple of questions on topical issues to a survey conducted online on 20 September among a representative sample of 772 British adults aged 18 and over.

The first sought to quantify what is already being described as the ‘Benedict bounce’, following the recent papal visit to Britain. Respondents were asked whether, on the basis of what they had seen and heard, their opinion of the Pope had changed as a result of the visit. 15% said that their opinion had become more positive and 9% more negative. For 61% the visit had made no difference to their views, while 16% could not say. The positive impact of the visit on perceptions of the Pope was most evidenced among Conservative voters, the under-25s, and residents of London, the Midlands/Wales and Scotland (the three regions where the main events of the visit had been staged). The data tables can be found at:

http://today.yougov.co.uk/sites/today.yougov.co.uk/files/YG-Archives-Life-PopesVisitReaction-results-200910.pdf

The second topic covered was that of halal meat, on the back of tabloid newspaper reports that restaurants and caterers are increasingly using halal products surreptitiously, without overtly telling their customers. 73% of Britons in The Sun poll thought that food providers should be required to label halal meat as such and 20% that they should not. The most notable demographic variation was by age, the under-25s (57%) being least insistent on labelling and the over-60s (81%) the most. This follows the general trend of questions relating to Muslim issues whereby younger people are more sympathetic than their elders. For the data tables, see:  

http://today.yougov.co.uk/sites/today.yougov.co.uk/files/YG-Archives-Life-Halal_Food-results-200910.pdf

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Sex Abuse and the Papacy

Posted on September 18, 2010 by Clive D. Field

The latest opinion poll connected with the papal visit was published by CNN (for whom it was conducted by ComRes) on 17 September, Pope Benedict’s first day in England. A representative sample of 2,028 adult Britons aged 18 and over was interviewed online between 14 and 16 September. This included 194 Roman Catholics.

The first of the four questions concerned the appropriateness of the Queen inviting the Pope to come on a state visit. Opinion was split, 36% deeming it appropriate, 37% inappropriate and 26% unsure. Catholics (68%) were most in favour of the visit, while the over-55s (47%) and those without any religion (47%) were most opposed.

The other three questions focused on the child sex abuse scandals in the Catholic Church. Asked whether the Church had shown sufficient public remorse for the scandals, only 10% thought that it had, against 74% who said it had not. There was relatively little variation by demographics, apart from Catholics, for whom the figures were 37% and 47% respectively.

The next question pressed whether the Pope had done enough to punish priests found guilty of child sex abuse. A meagre 4% believed that he had, compared with 77% who said that he ought to have done more. Catholics were not that much more impressed by Pope Benedict’s efforts, 13% thinking he had done enough and 66% not.

The final question tested views on whether the Pope should resign over the scandals. 24% were convinced that he should, ranging from 14% of Catholics to 30% among non-Christians and those of no religion. 47% (including 60% of Protestants and 74% of Catholics) wanted him to stay on.

CNN’s press release on the survey can be found at:

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/09/16/uk.pope.poll/index.html

The full data tabulations are available at:

http://www.comres.co.uk/page165585353.aspx

FOOTNOTE: Two further papal visit polls, one pre- and one post-visit, were conducted by Opinion Research Business, which has kindly agreed to publication of the data tables on BRIN:

ORB papal visit 14-16 Sep 2010

ORB papal visit 22-24 Sep 2010

 

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Daybreak Surveys Religion

Posted on September 17, 2010 by Clive D. Field

Daybreak is the new breakfast television programme for the ITV network, anchored by Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley and launched on 6 September.

It has made an early entry into surveying public opinion by commissioning YouGov to run a poll on various aspects of religion.

Fieldwork was conducted online on 12-13 September among a representative sample of 2,108 adults aged 18 and over. Full data tabulations are available at:

http://today.yougov.co.uk/sites/today.yougov.co.uk/files/YG-Archives-Life-YouGov-DaybreakReligion-130910.pdf

Asked ‘Do you regard yourself as belonging to any particular religion?’, only 49% replied in the affirmative, which must be one of the lowest levels of religious affiliation ever recorded in British polling history. 45% said they did not belong to any religion.

The 49% certainly is in stark contrast to the figure of 82% obtained in the recently-published Citizenship Survey for 2008-09 in response to the question: ‘What is your religion even if you are not currently practising?’

Even allowing for variations in methodology and question-wording, a discrepancy of 33% between two surveys is huge, underlying the challenges in measuring this most basic dimension of religiosity. BRIN will return to this topic at a future date.

Women were more likely to profess a religion than men, older people rather than the young, the ABC1s more than the C2DEs, and Londoners more than the rest of the country.

The age effect was very marked. Whereas 60% of the over-60s were attached to a religion, the figure was only 36% for the 18-29s. Indeed, 20% more of the 18-29s did not belong to a religion than did, while for the over-60s 27% more belonged than not.

Among those who regarded themselves as belonging to a religion, a majority (55%) claimed to be Anglican, 18% Roman Catholic, 13% Free Church (including Presbyterian), 7% to belong to the major non-Christian faiths and 7% to other groups.

Most (78%) agreed that it was not necessary to attend religious services to be religious, although opinion was more balanced (38% agreeing, 34% disagreeing) when respondents were asked whether regular attenders were more religious than non-attenders.

Quizzed about marriage, just 3% opposed inter-faith marriage, most having no strong opinion on the subject. Of married persons, 55% had held the ceremony in a church, including 40% of those without a religion (albeit some unwillingly), and a further 13% would have liked to marry in church but had not.

Overall, in selecting a school for their children, few (9%) attached importance to the religion of the school, Catholics (36%) and Londoners (17%) being the main exceptions.   

68% agreed with the proposition that Christianity has been pushed to the sidelines in modern Britain. The figure was naturally highest for Christians (80%), but even 63% of those without a religion agreed.

Senior religious leaders (not specified in the question) were not respected by 56% of all adults, 20% more than held them in respect. For those with a religion, 53% held religious leaders in respect and 40% not, for those without a religion 20% and 73%.

27% considered that religious leaders spoke out too much about important issues affecting society, 19% the right amount and 35% too little. Those with a faith (43%) and the over-60s (40%) most wanted religious leaders to be more vociferous.

Asked about the papal visit, 17% supported it, 29% opposed it and 49% were neutral. Support was greatest among Catholics (54%) and opposition among those with no religion (37%).

79% (including 82% of Catholics, 83% of the over-40s and 85% of Scots) wanted the Pope to apologize for the sexual abuse of children perpetrated by Catholic priests.

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Populus on the Papal Visit

Posted on September 14, 2010 by Clive D. Field

The opinion pollsters continue to pick up business from the now imminent papal visit to Scotland and England. Following the ComRes/BBC and YouGov/ITV surveys carried out among Catholics, reported by BRIN on Sunday and Monday, today brings a study of all British adults conducted by Populus for The Times.

Fieldwork was on 10-12 September, by telephone among a sample of 761 Britons aged 18 and over. The results are summarized in an article (with accompanying graphic) by Sam Coates and Ruth Gledhill in today’s print edition of The Times. The online version can only be accessed by subscribers. Detailed computer tabulations are not yet available on the Populus website.*

Respondents were asked to choose one of four statements which best expressed their attitude to the papal visit, with the following outcome:

  1. The Pope is the respected leader of one of the world’s most important religious faiths. I am positively in favour of his visit and we should not quibble about the inevitable costs – 14% (highest among professionals)
  2. I don’t feel strongly either way about the Pope’s visit to Britain or the fact that it will inevitably incur some costs – 16%
  3. I don’t feel strongly either way about the Pope’s visit to Britain, but we should not be spending a penny of taxpayers’ money on it – 57% (two-thirds among women)
  4. Leaving aside all issue of the cost of his visit, I am opposed to the Pope coming to Britain because of his track record and the views he espouses – 11% (15% of men)

Majorities of the British public wanted the Pope to drop his opposition to contraception (79%), abortion (73%), women priests (72%), practising homosexuality (70%) and gay adoptions (59%). 72% found the Catholic Church intolerant and judgemental.

Opinion was divided on whether the Catholic Church was a force for good (47%) or ill (33%, and highest among Labour voters). But, at 83%, it was emphatic in condemning the Church for being dishonest in dealing with the child abuse scandals.

Two key themes emerge from this Populus survey: a) limited public interest in the papal visit coupled with concerns about its cost; and b) widespread criticism of several of the Church’s traditional teachings and of its handling of sexual abuse by priests.

These find echoes in other recent papal visit-related polls, for which see:

http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/?p=558

http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/?p=554

http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/?p=526

http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/?p=524

http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/?p=517

*POSTSCRIPT [17 September] Detailed computer tabulations for the Populus poll are now available at:

http://populuslimited.com/uploads/download_pdf-120910-The-Times-The-times-Poll—September-2010.pdf

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Roman Catholic Opinion

Posted on September 12, 2010 by Clive D. Field

The recent spate of surveys triggered by the forthcoming papal visit continues with the publication this morning of a ComRes poll of a random sample of 500 UK Catholics conducted for the BBC between 6 and 9 September. Interviews were by telephone.

The full results from this poll have not yet been released.* The following headline findings are based on the discussion in today’s Sunday programme on BBC Radio 4 (which can be heard for the next seven days via the BBC iPlayer service) and on a BBC News press release at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11274308

69% of Catholics expect the forthcoming papal visit to Scotland and England to be helpful to the Catholic Church in Britain. 14% fear it will be unhelpful and 17% are uncertain.

57% do not consider that their Catholic faith is generally valued by British society, almost twice the proportion who think that it is (30%), with 13% don’t knows.

62% of Catholics believe that women should have more authority and status in the Catholic Church. Identical numbers of men and women say this, but younger Catholics rather more than older ones. 30% disagree and 8% don’t know. This question was somewhat vague, but it will doubtless have been interpreted by some respondents as being code for their views on women priests.

49% of Catholics seek a relaxation in the Church’s rules on clerical celibacy, with a high of 63% for the 35-54 age cohort. 35% oppose any change and 17% don’t know what to think.

52% of Catholics claim that their faith in the leadership of the Catholic Church has been shaken by the priestly sexual abuse scandals and their subsequent handling. This is perhaps a lower figure than might have been expected, although it is ambiguous whether leadership refers to that of the Church in Britain or more globally. 43% state that their faith has not been shaken.

Commenting on the results, the ComRes chairman Andrew Hawkins writes: ‘Overall there is a sense of strong support for the Pope’s visit but disquiet both about some aspects of Papal teaching and the perception of the Catholic Church in wider society having been harmed.’

* POSTSCRIPT: The full data tabulations (with breaks by age, gender, region and social class) were later posted at:

http://www.comres.co.uk/page165564311.aspx

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