The Catholics’ expectations of the new pope
"We are interested in what type of leader Catholics would like to see elected the next Pope. As you may know, when a pope dies, the Cardinals meet in Rome to elect a new pope. The last time a Pope was elected was in 1978 when Pope John Paul II was elected."
| The percentage shows how many of the people questioned are in favour of a change | Spain | Ireland | USA | Italy | Poland |
Philip- pines |
Germany |
|
Interest in the life of
laypeople "Should the pope be interested in the life of laypeople or rather in religious issues?" |
87% |
75% |
69% |
77% |
51% |
47% |
79% |
|
Married priests Should the next pope permit priests to marry? |
79% |
82% |
69% |
67% |
50% |
21% |
83% |
|
Election of bishops through
the people Currently
Catholic bishops are appointed by the Vatican. In the past bishops were
elected by the priests and laypeople of their own dioceses. Would you
prefer the next pope to have bishops elected by those people? |
58% |
63% |
65% |
67% |
55% |
51% |
75% |
|
Lay advisers Would you favour elected laypeople having more say in the Catholic Church, for example as advisers to the pope? |
77% |
82% |
65% |
62% |
49% |
68% |
81% |
|
Autonomy of bishops Would you like to see the next pope give more decision-making powers to the bishops in their countries? |
74% |
63% |
58% |
48% |
53% |
37% |
75% |
|
For women priests Would you favor the next pope allowing the ordination of women? |
71% |
67% |
65% |
58% |
24% |
18% |
71% |
|
Further changes Would
you like the next pope to be more open to changes in the church? |
74% |
79% |
65% |
51% |
56% |
48% |
76% |
|
Average / Potential of reform |
74% |
73% |
65% |
61% |
48% |
41% |
78% |
THE LAITY AND REFORM IN THE CHURCH: A SIX NATION STUDY by Prof. Andrew Greely and Prof. Michal Hout, 1996
Figures for Germany by Zentrum für Umfragen, Methoden und Analysen Mannheim/Germany