Many Catholics say the church should change its stance on key issues. In particular, they would like to see it expand eligibility for the priesthood, relax restrictions on the reception of Holy Communion and drop its ban on artificial birth control for family-planning purposes. There is less consensus on whether these changes will happen within […]
Roughly nine-in-ten U.S. Catholics say they believe in the concept of sin – that there are actions or deeds that can be offensive to God. But there is less unanimity among Catholics about which specific actions or behaviors constitute a sin. For example, while most Catholics say abortion is sinful, they are divided as to […]
Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to the United States will include his participation in the triennial World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. This year’s meeting is expected to generate discussion on how the Catholic Church responds to new trends in marriage and family arrangements. Previous polling and analysis on the composition and structure of families has […]
There has been a modest drop in overall rates of belief in God and participation in religious practices. But religiously affiliated Americans are as observant as before.
Survey Report The public has mixed reactions to the U.S. response to the influx of hundreds of thousands of migrants arriving in Europe in recent weeks. By a narrow 51%-45% margin, more approve than disapprove of the U.S. decision to increase the number of refugees it accepts to help deal with this situation. When asked […]
This appendix aims to put the findings from the Religious Landscape Study into a broader context through a comparison of its results with long-term trends from the General Social Survey (GSS), Gallup Organization surveys and results from ongoing polls conducted monthly by Pew Research Center. Generally, these sources indicate that there is a fair amount […]
GOP contender Donald Trump is not widely viewed as religious, even among Republicans. And the share of Americans who say Hillary Clinton is not a religious person has risen sharply since she first ran for president eight years ago.
This appendix provides an overview of the data sources used in the report. It then describes statistical methods used to summarize differences between men and women, including regression analysis methods. Next, it discusses the meaning of the term “gender” in the context of this report. Finally, it concludes with discussion of the thresholds of religious […]