72 percent of Catholics say Communion sanctions improper

Published: 2004-08-25

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Nearly three-quarters of Catholics oppose the idea of church leaders denying Communion to politicians whose public positions on abortion and other topics contradict church teachings, according to a new Pew poll. The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press and Pew's Forum on Religion and Public Life found in a poll conducted in early August that 72 percent of U.S. Catholics believe it is improper for church leaders to deny Communion to Catholic politicians whose views on abortion and other life issues go against church teachings. Twenty-three percent said such actions were proper. The poll released Aug. 24 found that 64 percent of the general public thought it improper for church leaders to deny Communion. In no demographic segment defined by the pollsters did more than 39 percent of the respondents think such action by church leaders was proper. The largest segment to agree that such action was proper was 39 percent of self-identified conservative Republicans. Forty-seven percent of this group said it was improper and 14 percent said they didn't know.

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