Barack Obama lost the Catholic vote in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary by more than a two-to-one margin despite his campaign’s extensive Catholic outreach efforts. Among Pennsylvania Democrats, exit polls also showed significant differences in candidate preference between those who attend worship services at least once a week and those who never attend at all. Senior […]
As Pope Benedict XVI prepares to introduce himself to the U.S., a new Pew Forum survey shows that many Americans know very little about him. Pew Forum Director Luis Lugo and Associate Director Mark O’Keefe discuss the survey results in the context of previous findings and compare the favorability ratings of Pope Benedict XVI with […]
The presidential candidates have recently intensified their efforts to woo Catholic voters, underscoring the election-year significance of this key swing constituency. Pew Forum Senior Fellow John Green discusses Catholic voting trends in past elections, the challenges facing the campaigns as they reach out to Catholics and how the church’s growing Hispanic population may impact future […]
Summary of Findings Two weeks before his first visit to the United States as spiritual leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI continues to be viewed favorably by a majority (52%) of Americans, which is virtually unchanged from August 2007 (50%). However, the pope remains unfamiliar to a relatively large number of Americans: Three-in-ten […]
Washington, D.C. Pope Benedict XVI’s first visit to the U.S. as pontiff comes amid a turbulent election year. He has planned stops at the White House, the U.N. and the Sept. 11 “Ground Zero” site. How should we assess the first three years of Pope Benedict’s papacy? How has the global role and influence of […]
When Pope Benedict XVI arrives in the United States on April 15, he will find a Catholic Church that is undergoing rapid ethnic and demographic changes, and whose flock is quite diverse both in their religious practices and levels of commitment, as well as in their social and political views. And, as this portrait of […]
The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life has collected a variety of resources on Pope Benedict XVI’s views on public policy issues. The resources include links to his homilies and other writings on such issues as social justice, the participation of Catholics in political life, proposals to give legal recognition to same-sex unions, and […]
September 25, 2007 Section 1: Opinions about Muslims and Islam Section 2: Views of Mormons and Mormonism Section 3: Opinions about Pope Benedict XVI About the Survey The Muslim and Mormon religions have gained increasing national visibility in recent years. Yet most Americans say they know little or nothing about either religion’s practices, and large […]
June 6, 2007 by Luis Lugo, Director, and Allison Pond, Research Assistant Next week hundreds of evangelical Latino pastors and church leaders will descend on Washington, D.C., for the annual National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast. Over the years, the event has steadily grown from a simple banquet to a three-day affair, running Wednesday through Friday. It […]