American Catholics' Views on Pope John Paul II's Legacy and the Next Pope

American Catholics expressed deep affection and respect for Pope John Paul II, with seven in ten predicting he will be recognized as a saint. The poll also found that many Catholics would like the next pope to significantly change the church's policy on certain controversial issues, such as allowing priests to marry and making church doctrine on stem cell research less strict.

Key Takeaways:

• 7 in 10 American Catholics predict Pope John Paul II will be recognized as a saint.
• 51% of Catholics found inspiration in John Paul's struggle with health problems.
• 33% of Catholics would like the next pope to be more liberal than John Paul, while only 4% want the next pope to be more conservative.
• 7-4 ratio of Catholics support allowing priests to marry.
• 4-1 ratio of Catholics support allowing Catholics to use birth control.
• 55%-44% of Catholics say the new pope should allow women to become priests.
• Most Americans Catholics support the church's position on abortion, with 59% saying church doctrine restricting abortion should not be made less strict.
• 8 in 10 Catholics believe it's acceptable for the next pope to come from Latin America, Africa, or Asia.
• Both Catholics and non-Catholics agree that the choice of the next pope will have an impact on the world.

Statistics:

• 1,040 adults participated in the USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll.
• 254 Catholics were among those surveyed.
• Margin of error for the overall poll: +/–3 percentage points.
• Margin of error for the Catholic subgroup: +/–7 percentage points.
• Margin of error for non-Catholics: +/–4 points.

Sources:

• USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll.