I’ll summarize some of the key findings.
79% of Catholics believe that many religions lead to eternal life.
And 77% of Catholics believe there is more than one way to interpret the teachings of their religion. Both numbers are a bit higher than the national average.
97% of Catholics believe in God, but only 60% believe in a personal God (someone with whom you can have a relationship). 29% believe God is an impersonal force and 8% don’t know. These numbers are about the same as the national average.
When asked if they were absolutely certain about God’s existence, 72% of Catholics answered yes, which is about the national average.
56% of Catholics say religion is very important to their lives. This is also the national average.
42% of Catholics say they attend services at least once per week. This is slightly higher than the average.
58% of Catholics pray daily, which is slightly above the national average. 79% of Catholics pray at least once weekly and 36% meditate at least once weekly. Both numbers are roughly the national average.
62% of Catholics believe the Bible is the word of God. This is about the same as the national average.
82% of Catholics believe in Heaven, which is a bit above the national average. But only 60% of Catholics believe in Hell, which is the national average.
34% of Catholics see conflict between modernity and religion, which is below the national average. 43% of Catholics say values are threatened by Hollywood, which is about the national average.
45% of Catholics say abortion should be illegal in all cases, which is about the national average. Both numbers correlate with frequency of church service attendance: those who attend weekly or more often are also more likely to be opposed to all abortion.
30% of Catholics say homosexuality is a way of life that should be discouraged by society. This is below the national average. Again, both numbers rise with the frequency of church attendance.
