Roman Catholics’ Attitudes Towards Homosexuality

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Ben Clements

There has been some media coverage of the deliberations of the Roman Catholic Church at its Extraordinary Synod on the Family held in Rome earlier this month, including in a recent BRIN post. The issue of the Catholic Church’s position on homosexuality and its treatment of gays and lesbians, and the related divisions between liberal and conservative elements, were prominent features of the Synod. Given this wider context and the Catholic Church’s opposition to recent reforms in the area of same-sex equality in Britain, this post reviews some of the historical and more recent survey-based evidence on attitudes towards homosexuality amongst Catholics in Britain. Data are analysed from surveys specifically conducted to elicit the views of Catholics in Britain (or England and Wales), and the social and religious profiles of attitudes on this topic are examined.

Before turning to the denominationally-specific surveys, opinion polls and social surveys shed light on the attitudes of Catholics on towards homosexuality. For example, an opinion poll undertaken by Gallup in 1963-64 (based on a sample of adults aged 16 and over in several regions of England) asked a question about what society should do with homosexuals. It found that 30.0% of Catholics though that homosexuals should be punished by law, 28.0% thought they should be condemned but not punished, 31.0% said they should be tolerated, and 12.0 % did not know. Those Catholics who attended services regularly were slightly less likely to say that homosexuals should be tolerated (25.0%).

General social surveys also enable us to track attitudes over time on this issue. Table 1 presents data from the long-running British Social Attitudes (BSA) surveys, based on a question asking to what extent sexual relations between two adults of the same sex are wrong. Data are presented from first and most recent BSA surveys, which cover a period of three decades. In 1983, it can be seen that only a small minority of Catholics think that sexual relations between gays and lesbians are rarely or not at all wrong (at 17.0%), and the a clear majority think they are always wrong or mostly wrong (68.0%). Over three decades there is a significant shift in attitudes. In 2013, around two-thirds of Catholics think sexual relations between same-sex individuals are rarely wrong or not at all wrong (65.0%), and just a tenth combined think that such relations are always wrong, mostly wrong or sometimes wrong.

Table 1: Attitudes towards sexual relations between gays and lesbians, Catholics in Britain (1983 and 2013)

1983 (%)

2013 (%)
Always wrong or mostly wrong

68.0

2.0
Sometimes wrong

6.0

8.0
Rarely wrong or not wrong at all

17.0

65.0
Depends /varies or don’t know

9.0

7.0
Unweighted base

168

102

Source: BSA surveys. Weighted data.

Of course, as a minority religious group in the British population, Catholics have comprised around a tenth of the samples in the BSA series and other social surveys and opinion polls – as detailed in recent research – so it is also valuable to analyse evidence from surveys specifically targeting Catholics. Such surveys have not been frequent, however, and the first one used here is the 1978 Roman Catholic Opinion Survey, which sampled adult Catholics (aged 16 and over) in England and Wales. The survey asked the following question about homosexuality:

The Church can never, in practice, approve the homosexual act.

The full distribution of responses is shown in Table 2 for the following characteristics: sex, age group, age completed education, social grade, attendance at religious services and belief in God. There are marked differences across age groups: older age groups have more socially-conservative views; levels of agreement are highest amongst those aged 55-64 or 65 and older. Differences in view are less pronounced on the basis of socio-economic background (social grade or age finished education) or sex. Regularity of attendance at services clearly differentiates Catholics’ attitudes on this issue, with those attending church most often expressing higher levels of agreement with the question. Those never attending church services were about twice as likely to disagree as those attending on a weekly basis. Belief in God is associated with more socially-conservative views; those who do not believe in God or who had no clear opinion were more likely to disagree (amounting to a majority of former group).

Table 2: Attitudes towards homosexuality

  Agree

(%)

 Neither (%) Disagree (%) Don’t know (%)
Sex      
Male 57.8 14.0 17.7 10.6
Female 53.9 16.9 16.4 12.8
Age group        
15-24 47.8 14.6 22.2 16.4
25-34 49.1 17.7 21.7 11.6
35-44 58.7 16.0 17.6 7.7
45-54 52.2 17.5 15.7 14.6
55-64 64.6 12.4 10.2 12.7
65+ 74.0 12.7 5.1 8.1
Age completed education        
14 or under 62.8 13.7 10.1 13.4
15 years 58.1 15.3 16.9 9.7
16 years 48.5 17.0 22.8 11.7
17-19 years 53.3 18.9 16.9 10.9
20 or over 48.6 21.1 22.0 8.2
Social grade
AB 58.5 13.4 19.5 8.6
C1 53.0 14.7 20.1 12.2
C2 60.2 15.3 12.9 11.7
DE 54.9 16.9 15.6 12.6
Attendance        
Once a week / every Sunday 66.7 9.9 11.8 11.6
Most Sundays / once a month 51.2 21.1 15.5 12.2
At least once a year / special occasions 52.1 18.1 19.9 9.9
Rarely or never 45.3 18.4 22.9 13.4
Belief in God        
Certainly or probably true 57.5 16.0 15.3 11.3
Certainly or probably false 21.6 8.5 52.2 17.7
Don’t know 36.8 14.1 26.1 23.0

Source: Roman Catholic Opinion Survey, February-March 1978

(England and Wales). Weighted data.

 

For a more recent portrait of the attitudes of Catholics towards homosexuality, we can use a survey conducted by YouGov in the run-up to the papal visit to Britain by the (then) Pope, Benedict XVI, in September 2010. The survey was conducted online and the sample comprised 1,636 adult Catholics in Britain aged 18 and over. The survey asked the following question:

Which of these comes closest to your views about consenting adults having homosexual relations?

The full set response options was as follows:

Good for them: we should celebrate loving relationships, whether gay or straight.

I’m in favour of equal rights, but in general I think straight relationships are better than gay relationships.

I don’t like homosexuality, but accept that what consenting adults do in private is their business, not mine.

Homosexual acts are morally wrong.

Don’t know.

The distribution of responses is given in Table 3 (with the response options abridged for the column headings), for the following factors: sex, age group, age completed education, social grade and attendance (no measures of religious belief are available). Generally, only small proportions in each group think that homosexual acts are morally wrong (highest amongst men, those aged 65-74 and 75 and older, those who completed education aged 15 or under, and those who attend religious services once a week or more). Women, those in the younger age groups, and those who left education aged 17 and upwards and those who attend religious services less than weekly (or not at all) are more likely to offer a positive endorsement of same-sex couples. The table does not report the proportions who responded don’t know, but these were very small across the groups.

Table 3: Attitudes towards homosexuality, Catholics in Britain (2010)

Celebrate

loving

relationships

(%)

Straight

relationships

better

than

gay

relationships (%)

Don’t

like

homosexuality

 (%)

Morally

wrong

(%)
Sex
Men

30.4

17.6

35.2

16.0
Women

48.5

19.7

22.1

7.8
Age group
18-24

45.7

18.1

26.6

9.6
25-34

59.2

17.1

19.1

3.5
35-44

51.6

16.7

24.8

6.3
45-54

43.2

18.2

28.8

7.6
55-64

29.8

25.9

31.0

12.0
65-74

17.1

17.1

37.6

24.4
75+

6.4

14.9

34.0

44.7
Age completed education
15 or under

18.5

26.5

29.1

22.5
16

28.2

20.9

39.9

9.5
17-18

41.7

14.1

32.2

10.4
19

45.3

18.8

25.0

10.9
20

49.5

19.6

20.2

9.2
Still in education

45.7

15.5

26.7

11.2
Social grade
AB

43.3

18.7

24.8

11.8
C1

44.4

15.2

27.7

11.4
C2

31.5

25.3

34.0

7.2
DE

43.0

16.0

25.6

14.2
Attendance
Once a  week or more

27.6

16.6

32.7

21.3
Once a month or more

46.9

21.9

21.9

8.2
Less often

46.7

21.6

24.0

6.3
Never or practically never

46.9

17.1

28.2

6.4

Source: YouGov survey of adults Catholic in Britain, August-September 2010. Weighted data.

Note: Don’t know responses not shown.

Finally, to investigate variation in Catholics’ attitudes towards the recent debate over same-sex marriage, evidence is used derived from a survey of adult Catholics (n=1,062) in Britain undertaken in June 2013. The survey was commissioned by Professor Linda Woodhead (Lancaster University) in connection with the Westminster Faith Debates. It was conducted online by YouGov. Broader analyses of findings from this survey can be found here and here. The survey asked the following question:

And do you think same-sex marriage is right or wrong?

The full distribution of responses to this question is shown in Table 4, which again provides a breakdown in opinion by sex, age group, education (measured as highest qualification obtained), social grade, attendance and belief in God (or a higher power). Some of the broad lives of division evident in Catholics’ general views on homosexuality are also apparent on the more specific issues over the legalisation of marriage between same-sex individuals. Men are more likely than women to think it is wrong. The age gap in disapproval is also considerable here. Pluralities or majorities of the 18-24, 25-34 and 35-44 age groups think same-sex marriage is right. Those aged 45-54 are more likely to be opposed while increasingly large majorities are against in the higher age groups.

In terms of socio-economic background, variation in attitudes is more pronounced on the basis of educational attainment that it is based on social grade.  Those in the DE group are less likely to approve of same-sex marriage (indeed, a majority thinks it is wrong) compared to those in the AB, C1 and C2 categories. In terms of qualifications, approval is highest amongst those with degree-level qualifications (and those with A-levels), and lowest amongst those with no formal qualifications, and those whose highest qualifications are GCSEs or others.

There are also clear differences in views based on the indicators of religious behaving and believing. Those who attend services most frequently (once a week or more) show little support for same-sex marriage, with a clear majority against. Amongst those who attend once a month or more, a plurality is against same-sex marriage. For those attending less often or not at all, pluralities are in favour of same-sex marriage.

Table 4: Attitudes towards same-sex marriage, Catholics in Britain (2013)

 

Right (%)

Wrong (%)

Don’t know (%)
Sex
Men

31.5

52.6

16.9
Women

36.8

42.3

21.0
Age group
18-24

46.0

33.3

20.6
25-34

56.0

23.1

20.8
35-44

42.2

34.7

23.1
45-54

35.3

44.9

19.8
55-64

24.3

58.9

16.8
65-74

11.4

74.3

14.3
75+

8.3

86.1

5.6
Education
No qualifications

21.2

60.6

18.2
GCSE

28.4

48.9

22.7
A-Level

38.1

44.6

17.3
Degree

43.2

34.5

22.4
Other

27.7

58.0

14.3
Social grade
AB

34.3

47.4

18.3
C1

37.1

41.2

21.6
C2

37.8

45.5

16.7
DE

29.1

52.0

18.8
Attendance

 

 

 
Once a week or more

15.2

67.5

17.3
Once a month or more

35.8

45.9

18.3
Less often

42.6

37.7

19.8
Never

46.8

33.6

19.7
Belief in God
Definitely or probably a God or higher power

30.4

52.8

16.8
Probably or definitely not a God or higher power

51.0

29.4

19.6
Don’t know

44.1

24.6

31.4

Source: YouGov survey of adult Catholics in Britain, June 2013. Weighted data.

Summary

While social surveys provide important data about over time change in the attitudes of Catholics in Britain towards homosexuality and other social-moral issues, important evidence is also available from occasional denomination-specific surveys, some of which have been utilised here. Although they have asked different questions on the issue at different points in time, there are some broad commonalities in terms of which groups within the Catholic community have tended to have more socially-conservative views on homosexuality and gay rights. Socially, men, older people and those with lower levels of education have been those groups in the Catholic community more likely to disapprove of same-sex relations. In terms of faith, those who are more orthodox in their behaving and believing are more likely to hold socially-conservative views of homosexuality. The same patterns can be found in the most recent survey data pertaining to Catholics’ views on the same-sex marriage debate. Recent research conducted by the Pew Research Centre on the attitudes of Catholics in the United States has also demonstrated clear differences in view – towards homosexuality in general and on the issue of same-sex marriage – on the basis of age and church attendance.

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Pope Benedict Departs and Other News

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Clive D. Field

Benedict XVI leaves the papal office today following his resignation earlier in the month, and it is fitting that he should be the lead story in our latest BRIN post. This mostly derives from YouGov’s February 2013 Eurotrack survey, but space has been found for a couple of miscellaneous items, too.

Pope Benedict departs

YouGov has taken the opportunity of Benedict XVI’s departure to ask the publics of six Western European countries (Great Britain, France, Germany, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden) how they rate his pontificate. Questions were included in the regular online Eurotrack undertaken between 21 and 27 February 2013, with 1,704 Britons aged 18 and over being interviewed (among them 117 professed Roman Catholics). Results have been disaggregated by religious affiliation within country (but not by other demographics) at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/auqvjc212x/Eurotrack-February-2013.pdf

A press release about the survey has also been issued and can be found at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/onzs1ox195/Pope_press_release.pdf

Asked whether Benedict had been right or wrong to resign as pope, 68% of Britons said right, similar to Denmark (67%), but lower than in Finland (71%), Sweden (72%), France (75%), and Germany (82%). In Britain 77% of the religious contended that he had made the right decision, including 79% of Catholics, compared with 64% of the religiously unaffiliated (29% of whom did not know what to think). Only 8% of Britons said that Benedict had been wrong to resign.

When it came to assessing how well or badly Benedict had done during his eight years as pope, a plurality of Britons (41%) expressed no view, with 36% thinking he had done well, and 23% badly. The positive figure was better than Sweden (18%), Denmark (24%), and France (33%), but nowhere near as good as in Germany (52%, the country from which he hails). Benedict’s performance was rated as good by 72% of British Catholics, 50% of all those professing a religion, 28% of non-Christians, and 26% of people without faith.

On specific aspects of his pontificate, Benedict was often judged to have been too conservative and to have changed things too little. In Britain 43% said that this had been true of theological issues such as women priests; 47% of moral issues such as birth control, abortion, and homosexuality; and 33% of social issues such as wealth and poverty. Catholics were as inclined to reach this verdict as the rest of the population. Otherwise, a principal difference by religious affiliation was the large number of ‘don’t knows’ to be found among non-Christians and those without religion.

In terms of Benedict’s political clout, only 9% of Britons considered that leading politicians in Britain had paid a great deal or a fair amount of notice to the views of Benedict and the British Catholic hierarchy, less than in Germany (33%) or France (18%), but fractionally more than in the Scandinavian countries. The overwhelming majority of Britons (71%), and even 78% of British Catholics, accepted that politicians had paid little or no notice to the pope and his bishops. Moreover, three-fifths of all Britons and 72% of the irreligious thought that politicians had been right not to have taken such notice, albeit 57% of Catholics disagreed.

More generally, respondents were asked whether four groups of religious leaders play a positive or negative role in the life of each country. In Britain (as can be seen from the table, below) a majority in three cases and a plurality in the other selected neither of these options, replying instead that they did not know or that the leaders made a limited impact on national life or that their role was equally positive and negative. 

 

Positive

Negative

Other
Protestant bishops and archbishops

21

22

57
Roman Catholic bishops and archbishops

16

33

51
Leading Jewish rabbis

19

17

64
Leading Muslim clerics

10

44

46

Among those expressing a clear opinion, Roman Catholic and Muslim leaders were especially seen in a critical light. Not unexpectedly, people who espoused a religion tended to be disproportionately more positive about religious leaders and the irreligious disproportionately more negative; however, when it came to Muslim leaders, both religious and irreligious were similarly negative. Catholics were most positive about their own bishops and archbishops.

On the characteristics of the next pope, many Britons could not get hugely exercised. They became most animated (in the sense of 44% saying they would be delighted) at the prospect of a pope who wanted to permit Catholic couples to use contraception. The proportion expressing delight at other scenarios was: a pope who advocated much stronger action to redistribute money within countries from rich to poor (24%); a pope who advocated that rich countries should spend far more on overseas aid (17%); a pope from Africa (11%); and a pope from South America (9%).

Religion and the current politico-economic situation

The YouGov Eurotrack study also included questions about current political and economic issues in Europe, the answers to which will be of interest to BRIN readers because they have been broken down by religious affiliation. Here we report on some of those for Britain alone, albeit the same level of detail is also available for the other five countries included in the survey.

Although most Britons (60%) disapprove of the Coalition Government’s record to date, the proportion is notably higher among those without a religion (65%) than those who profess some faith (56%), apart from Roman Catholics (68%, whose politics tend to be left-of-centre – see the next item, on the religious right). There is a corresponding gap in approval ratings of the Government: 32% by the religious (rising to 35% of non-Catholic Christians) and 20% of the faithless, with a national mean of 24%.

These judgments on the Government do not appear to correlate with perceived changes to the financial situation of respondents’ households during the previous twelve months. Whereas the religious are relatively more positive about the Government than the irreligious, it is the former whose households have suffered most: 60% reported that their finances had worsened a lot or a little against 51% of the religiously unaffiliated, with the number observing an improvement standing at 9% and 12% respectively.

On Britain’s membership of the European Union, people without religion (41%) were more likely than those with (33%) to say that they would vote in favour of continuing membership, in the event of a referendum being held, the national average being 36%. Nationally, 42% stated that they would vote to leave the European Union, comprising 49% of the religious and 38% of the irreligious. Among the religious, Catholics were most in favour of leaving (55%) and non-Christians the least (34%, with 43% wishing to stay in membership).

Naturally, it cannot be assumed that this spread of opinions is solely the function of the religion/irreligion factor, which is the only variable to be included in the YouGov tables. We know from other surveys that both religion and politics are independently impacted by secular demographics, and they will doubtless explain some of the variance noted above.

Religious right

In a new report from the Theos think-tank, Andy Walton (with Andrea Hatcher and Nick Spencer) asks Is There a ‘Religious Right’ Emerging in Britain? The question is answered in the negative, in the sense of there not being an American-style religious right at present, and the judgment being that there is little chance of one developing in the immediate future. Part of the evidence base for this conclusion is a ‘brief foray’ (pp. 34-45) into relevant social surveys, particularly the British Social Attitudes Surveys and the British Election Studies, although some use is also made of BRIN.

The findings which the authors particularly highlight are: a) the number of committed Christians in Britain is a relatively small proportion of the electorate, particularly in terms of evangelicals and Catholics, who form the backbone of the US religious right; b) only 9% of Britons with a religious affiliation say religion is very important in making political decisions, with less fixation with some of the specific issues which dominate the US political scene; and c) practising believers, albeit socially conservative, disproportionately espouse economic views which are left-of-centre, especially among Catholics. Is There a ‘Religious Right’ Emerging in Britain? can be found at:

http://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/files/files/Reports/IS%20THERE%20A%20RELIGIOUS%20RIGHT%20(NEW).pdf

Religion and education

The December 2012 issue (Vol. 33, No. 3) of Journal of Beliefs & Values is a special number, guest-edited by Elisabeth Arweck and Robert Jackson, devoted to religion and education. Specifically, it comprises a dozen articles reporting research projects which have been funded by the AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society Programme. Although the majority of contributions are of a qualitative nature, several authors deploy quantitative methods to varying degrees. From this standpoint, BRIN readers will probably be most interested in the two articles on young people’s attitudes to religious diversity by Leslie Francis and members of his research group (pp. 279-92, 293-307), which apply techniques from the psychology of religion and empirical theology. The papers include details of the theoretical underpinning, design and scope, and preliminary results of a study of approximately 10,000 years 9 and 10 pupils (aged 13-15) in state-maintained secondary schools in London, England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. They report, respectively, on interim datasets of 3,020 and 5,993 cases.

An interesting revelation from the first paper is that ‘a negative view of Muslims is more prevalent among secular young people than among young people who are practising members of Christian churches. In this sense, Christianity is seen to promote acceptance, not rejection, of adherents of Islam.’ The second article illustrates how empathic capacity (in terms of attitudes to other religious groups) is more strongly related to God images than to religious affiliation or religious attendance. Secular factors (such as gender, neuroticism, and psychoticism) also make a difference in predicting the empathy of individuals. For titles, abstracts, and access options for all the articles in this special issue, go to:      

http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cjbv20/33/3

 

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Catholic Directory, 2012

Posted on January 28, 2012 by Clive D. Field

Pope Benedict XVI’s state and pastoral visit to Britain from 16 to 19 September 2010 seems to have done little to improve the religious practice of English and Welsh Roman Catholics, to judge by average weekly mass attendance over four weekends in October 2010 which was 1.5% lower than in October 2009. At 885,169 mass attenders represented 1.6% of the national population and 21.9% of the estimated Catholic population.

The number of attenders fell in 14 of the 22 dioceses (and by as much as 10.0% in Northampton, 9.3% in Middlesbrough, and 7.5% in Leeds). Five dioceses (Birmingham, Clifton, Liverpool, Plymouth, and Southwark) returned identical figures for both years, and three (East Anglia, Salford, and Wrexham) reported modest growth (ranging from 0.4% to 1.9%).

This assessment derives from a comparison of the ‘recapitulation of statistics’ section of the recently released 2012 edition of the Catholic Directory for England and Wales with the 2011 volume. They print, respectively, pastoral data for 2010 and 2009. The Catholic Directory is published by Gabriel Communications on behalf of the Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and is thus quasi-official.

Among the other statistics included in the Catholic Directory are estimates of the Catholic population, practising or lapsed, as known to and returned by parish priests. In 2010 the number was 4,034,069, 1.2% down on 2009 and equivalent to 7.3% of the population of England and Wales.

A note which has appeared in the Catholic Directory for several years claims that the aggregate of priests’ figures for Catholic population is a generally agreed underestimate and suggests 12% as the correct proportion. This seems to equate to the number of self-identifying Catholics in some, but by no means all, opinion polls. In the 2010 British Social Attitudes (BSA) Survey it was 9% (as it has mostly been in the BSA for the past two decades).

Decline between 2009 and 2010 was also manifest on some other indicators, with diocesan priests down by 6.9%, parish and other churches open to the public by 3.8%, and baptisms to seven years by 0.1%.

But receptions into full communion rose by 10.7% (perhaps this was the fabled ‘Benedict bounce’?) and marriages by 3.3% (the latter mirroring the Church of England’s recent experience).

We should, perhaps, end this post on a note of caution. Although the contemporary data in the Catholic Directory may be the best we currently have, they have not been compiled by professional statisticians, and they can present deficiencies and anomalies.

From this perspective, BRIN readers are encouraged to look at Tony Spencer’s criticisms in his Facts and Figures for the Twenty-First Century: An Assessment of the Statistics of the Catholic Community of England and Wales at the Start of the Century (£10.00 from Pastoral Research Centre, Stone House, Hele, Taunton, Somerset, TA4 1AJ).

 

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Benedict Bounce

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Clive D. Field

The so-called ‘Benedict bounce’, the reinvigoration of Catholic life in Britain consequent upon the state and pastoral visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Scotland and England in September 2010, is a reality according to a press release from the Diocese of Westminster on 29 November 2011, and available at: 

http://www.rcdow.org.uk/diocese/default.asp?library_ref=4&content_ref=3588
Continue reading →

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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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