Pulse check

By Tony Staley
Compass Editor

The United States should begin a program to give undocumented immigrants an opportunity to earn permanent residency.

That's not just the opinion of U.S. Catholic bishops. That's the opinion of a majority of 1,522 Catholics in a March 14-16 nationwide telephone poll.

LeMoyne College in Syracuse, N.Y., and the Zogby International polling firm conduct the Contemporary Catholic Trends poll every six months. Results from the most recent poll were reported on April 4.

Other findings from the poll, as reported by Catholic News Service, are:

• More than 80% of those interviewed believe world economic problems, religious intolerance, world political instability and the history of conflict in the Middle East led to terrorism.

• 70% either somewhat agree or strongly agree that the U.S. bishops are doing a good job leading the church (that number was 71% in a poll taken last fall, but the difference is statistically insignificant).

Interestingly, how well Catholics think the bishops are doing their job seems to affect their responses to other questions. For example, 55% overall favor giving permanent residency to undocumented immigrants, but that number was higher among those who approve of the job bishops are doing. The same held true in another question about whether the U.S. government should reduce income differences between rich and poor. Overall, 50% of Catholics said yes, but among those who think the bishops are doing a good job, 52% said the government should reduce income differences, whereas it was 42% among those who said the bishops were not doing a good job.

• Approval ratings for local pastors and Pope Benedict XVI were both 86%, but 68% strongly agreed that their pastor was doing a good job, compared to 47% who strongly agreed that the pope was doing a good job.

• 41% said the church is weaker, 31% said there had been no change, and 23% said it is stronger since news of the clergy sex abuse scandals broke five years ago. Among those who follow news of the U.S. bishops 40% think the church has grown stronger.

• 48% of those aware of a sex abuse allegation in their diocese feel the church is weaker since the scandals.

• Support for the U.S. bishops' leadership is stronger among those unaware of clergy sex abuse allegations in their diocese.

• 59% said religion does not have enough influence in public life, while 15% said it had too much sway and 23% said religion had the right amount of influence.

In the first Contemporary Catholic Trends poll in fall 2001 the bishops had an 83% approval rating. That dropped to 58% in spring 2004 and was at 71% last fall.