"This is neo-Catholic hubris at its height: the Church of today is so much more enlightened than the medieval kingdom of forty years ago."
The neo-Catholics now have their icon and this mood will develop unabated unless the next pope swiftly squashes this hysterical movement. He may of course be a reformer and push the Vatican II revolution further, in which case the neo-Catholics will become the new traditionalists in the image of JPII!
Based on a recent poll, U.S. Catholics would seem to favor a less conservative successor to Pope John Paul II.
Would you find it acceptable or unacceptable if the College of Cardinals chose the next pope from one of the following areas?
Latin America 85% Acceptable 12% Unacceptable
Africa 80% Acceptable 17% Unacceptable
Asia 78% Acceptable 19% Unacceptable
Do you think the next pope should or should not . . .
Allow Catholics to use birth control 78% Should 21% Should not
Allow priests to marry 63% Should 36% Should not
Make church doctrine on stem cell research less strict 59% Should 36% Should not
Allow women to become priests 55% should 44% should not
Allow Catholics to divorce, remarry without an annulment 49% should 48% should not
Make church doctrine on annulment less strict 37% should 59% should not
CNN/USA Today/Gallup telephone survey of 254 U.S. Catholic adults conducted April 1-2; margin of error 7 percentage points. No-opinion responses not listed.
So much for the majority opinion.