On my way to work on Wednesday morning I heard a story on the radio that almost made me drive off the road. Apparently the majority of American Catholics want a younger, hipper, more liberal Pope. As you can imagine this was news to me. According to the story…
54 percent – would like the next pope to espouse more liberal teachings going forward. Only 19 percent hoped for a continuation of Benedict’s teachings, and 18 percent cited a desire for someone with more conservative ideas.
This caused me to do something I very rarely do, I called into the radio show. When it was my turn to be on air I asked the show’s host “what were the demographics of the survey?” The show host admitted that he did not know the answer to that question. In response I told him that as a young Catholic in the Diocese of Austin, neither I nor any of my Catholic friends wanted to see Pope Benedict go. I also told him that we would happily have someone sit in the Chair of Peter who was of the same mind as he was. After that I was kindly dismissed and they went along with their show.
After I was able to find the survey for myself, which is linked above. I was able to dig into the participants data.
Would You Like the Next Pope to…?
(Among Catholic Americans)
| 1/week+ | Less often | ||
| Change to more liberal teachings | 54% | 40% | 67% |
| Continue Pope Benedict’s teachings | 19 | 31 | 9% |
| Change to more conservative teachings | 18 | 32 | 14 |
Not exactly great numbers but all throughout the survey you see that Catholics who go to Mass “less often then 1/week” were more inclined to want more radical changes.
So what does all this have to do with Austin Catholic New Media and our mission? Everything! We have taken it upon ourselves to be a public voice in the Diocese of Austin. When Catholics are looking for the truth and need to cut through the clutter of the mainstream media we are here to provide that service. We need to be the ones who call into the radio shows and write blog articles challenging those in the media who want to tell our story their way. As faithful Catholics, it’s our story to tell, it’s our faith to share. So we continue to ask for your prayers and support as we move forward in our mission.
It’s so easy to change the radio station, when they are speaking against the church or giving false information. This shows how important it is to suit up and listen to the media, to be ready and speak, especially when we are called to do so. Good for you Jason for speaking up, you probably taught the show host that day. We need to follow your lead, myself included.
1) That’s a dumb poll with a dumb question, and obviously done to generate “news” when there is no real news. The media machine is always on.
2) Why do you say these are “not exactly great numbers”? Would they be better if more people wanted a more conservative move or a retention of status quo? If people are asked this question, even in a dumb poll, they should tell the truth, and there is no indication they did not tell the truth or that the poll results are good or bad. They just are the way they are.
3) I don’t think this has much to do with the mission of Austin CNM. Public opinion about the pope is not the kind of thing you would cover or should cover. The pope is not public figure who we as citizens can elect, as you pointed out on your podcast, so this kind of poll is a curio. It’s not wrong; it’s just irrelevant.
I don’t want to sound like I’m telling you your mission, but there was nothing negative or discouraging about that poll, and you don’t need to respond to it.
Thanks Jenni for your comments but Cristobal is right it’s our mission to help educate Catholics about the Truth and good that’s happening in the Church. It’s also our mission to engage the media by producing quality new media that tells the story correctly. Without outlets like ACNM the Catholics of the Diocese of Austin would not have a local lay voice that covers these types of issues.
I don’t think Jason was writing about trying to be a good PR team for the Holy Father, but rather help to educate Catholics about the Truth and good that is happening in the Church. Main steam media will probably never cover the works of the Holy Spirit because it doesn’t attract much of audience. The poll reinforces the fact that average Catholics are not really paying much attention either.
Some good points though.
Thanks Jenni for your comments but Cristobal is right it’s our mission to help educate Catholics about the Truth and good that’s happening in the Church. It’s also our mission to engage the media by producing quality new media that tells the story correctly. Without outlets like ACNM the Catholics of the Diocese of Austin would not have a local lay voice that covers these types of issues.
I should have just let Penn Jillette make my point for me. He hit it right on the head. http://marknelza.blogspot.com/2013/03/atheist-tells-catholic-how-it-really-is_8.html
Fundamentalists like Penn Jillette drive me crazy. (Penn Jillette is a fundamentalist atheist and he apparently thinks everybody should adopt an all-or-nothing philosophy/religion/life plan.)
Some Catholics might be fundamentalists, but we usually don’t think of Catholics as fundamentalist. Calvinists are more often fundies.
Piers Morgan sounds like a pragmatist, like most Catholics around the world. Penn Jillette doesn’t get to tell him or me that we’re not Catholic enough.
The poll that indicated most Americans prefer a liberalization – (that’s a dumb poll but lets go with it) – that is no cause for alarm and not a bad thing. I resent the suggestion of some bloggers that people who stated they want a liberalization are insufficiently catechized. They have no basis to call millions of people they don’t know insufficiently catchized. People are allowed to have opinions and a preference for a change is perfectly valid, despite what Penn Jillette and other fundies think. Don’t say these people should leave the Church. It’s our Church, too.
So one thing that wasn’t touched on in this survey and I think is a lynchpin in these kinds of discussions is people’s willingness to be obedience in the face of disagreement. God and the Church want us to question, we are not ment to be mindless automatons. I know lots of people who disagree with the Church on certain matters but are willing to be obedience to the teachings of the church even in the face of disagreement.
So just because someone is obedient doesn’t mean they are fundamentalist.
I was involved in a discussion in a LinkedIn group after that terrible Washington Post article “The Church Young Catholics Want.” I pointed out that I have specific examples from my own life as a young Catholic and from my professional work with young Catholics that directly contradicts what the author claimed.
I think you were right to express your opinion, Jason. An actual Catholic’s experience is more reliable than any poll. There are many people who don’t think the way you (and, let’s be honest, I) do, but as the poll showed, most of them don’t go to Mass very often, which is kind of a practical bare minimum of Catholicism.