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More than four-in-ten Catholics do not know that their church teaches that the bread and wine used in Communion do not merely symbolize, but actually become, the body and blood of Christ.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
More than four-in-ten Catholics do not know that their church teaches that the bread and wine used in Communion do not merely symbolize, but actually become, the body and blood of Christ.
Seven-in-ten Americans say Pope Benedict has done a poor (44%) or only fair (24%) job in addressing the child sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church.
As Americans begin a new year, nearly six-in-ten say this decade will be better than the last 10 years.
Only one-in-five Americans (19%) say they think of themselves as belonging to a minority because of their religious beliefs.
A slim majority of Americans (53%) know the Muslim name for God is Allah, and a similar number (52%) can correctly name the Koran as the Islamic sacred text.
Nearly half of Americans (45%) personally know a Muslim, slightly more than in November 2001, when 38% said they personally knew a Muslim.
The number of Americans who report that they are members of Protestant denominations now stands at 51%.
Many of the Catholics who will be visiting their churches today, Ash Wednesday, to have their foreheads marked with ashen crosses, will be over age 65, a reflection of the fact that older Catholics are considerably more likely than their younger co-religionists to say they attend worship services regularly.
A majority of Americans say it is important to conduct stem-cell research.
Three-in-ten Americans say belief is the key factor in achieving eternal life; about the same proportion view actions as the primary factor (29%).
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