Americans Have an Overwhelmingly Favorable View of Pope Benedict

Just three weeks before his visit to the U.S., the Knights of Columbus have released the results of a survey conducted by the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion showing that Americans have an overwhelmingly positive view of Pope Benedict XVI. The complete survey results can be found at: www.kofc.org/un/cmf/resources/maristpoll.pdf. The Knights, like everyone else, have also unveiled their own papal visit website at: www.papaltrip.org.

Among the survey's findings:

- By a ratio of four and a half to one (58% to 13%), respondents said that they had a favorable or very favorable view of Pope Benedict.

- 65% of respondents had a favorable view of the Catholic Church.

- 42% of Americans said they would like to attend one of the Pope's public appearances while he is in the U.S.

- 66% of Catholics said that they would like to attend one of his appearances.

Unfortunately, the nature of the events is such that opportunities for the public to see the Pope will be few.

From the press release on the study:

Seventy percent or more want to hear Pope Benedict talk about: allowing God to be a part of their daily lives (73%), finding spiritual fulfillment by sharing their time and talent (71%) and how they can make a positive difference in the world, their state, and communities (70%). Nearly two-thirds (64%) expressed an interest in hearing Pope Benedict talk about how they can have a society where spiritual values play an important role.

"The bottom line," Anderson said, "is that, despite years of very negative stories about the Catholic Church scandals, and dissenting view of the Pope as some sort of 'panzercardinal' determined to pursue the unorthodox to the ends of the earth, the American people have a very sensible and balanced view of Benedict and the Church. And they are very open to hearing his views on matters of how they might live their faith and put it into action in their daily lives."