Majority of Catholics feel government should guarantee
Social Security for the elderly, but less than 40% would
replace it with personal savings accounts

Majority support Israel’s plan for security barrier,
but feel Palestinian Muslims and Christians
should be allowed access to holy places

SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security policy was an important issue in the 2004 presidential campaign. With President Bush calling for a major overhaul of Social Security, a majority of United States Catholics (83%) agree the government should guarantee income security for the elderly, with more than 47% calling for increased spending and 37% favoring current spending.

In light of the president’s recent recommendations for partial privatization of Social Security – where young workers would open and maintain their own personal accounts – nearly 60% of respondents “somewhat” or “strongly” disagreed with such plans for Social Security and Medicaid; while 36% felt government-controlled programs should be replaced with personal accounts.

“The fact that 83% of American Catholics polled believe that the government should guarantee income security for older citizens suggests that there will be considerable opposition to proposals to privatize Social Security,” says Dr. Frank Ridzi, assistant professor of sociology at Le Moyne College. “For nearly all categories of age, gender, ethnicity, income level, and employment status, the majority of Catholics were opposed to replacing government programs such as Social Security and Medicare with individually managed accounts.”

THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT

A majority of American Catholics (67%) showed support for Israel’s plan to build a security barrier to protect itself against suicide bombers. Just over 42% supported the current barrier route dividing Palestinian lands. An overwhelming majority insist that, despite Israeli security concerns, Palestinian Muslims (88% agree) and Christians (90% agree) should have access to their holy places.

Among American Catholics, belief that maintenance of a strong Israel should be a fundamental goal for U.S. foreign policy (69%) is balanced by equally strong belief that the establishment of a viable Palestinian state should be a fundamental policy goal (71%). At the same time, 61% of respondents would be willing to endorse a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in which both Israelis and Palestinians would have equal citizenship and voting rights; and 63% believe that Palestinians have a right to return to the lands they occupied prior to the establishment of the state of Israel.

“American Catholics overwhelmingly think of Jerusalem as a holy city, and their vision of its holiness is an inclusive vision,” says Dr. Jennifer Glancy, professor of religious studies at Le Moyne College. “Catholics lend their political support to policies that would promote not only security but also justice for all who live in the region, Jew, Muslim, and Christian alike.”

THE 2004 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

U.S. Catholic bishops have stated four issues that should influence Catholic voting decisions – overcoming poverty, economic justice, abortion, and same-sex marriage. When asked to rank the four issues in order of personal importance in making voting decisions, over 62% of American Catholics chose overcoming poverty as being either first or second in importance. Almost 59% ranked economic justice first or second. Abortion was chosen first or second in importance by just 39% of respondents, and same-sex marriage was ranked first or second by slightly over 25%. The following table illustrates how each of these groups voted:

“These findings seem to reinforce the assertion that neither major party successfully represents Catholic beliefs about both the family and social responsibility,” says Dr. Frank Ridzi, an assistant professor of sociology at Le Moyne College. “Catholics are forced to prioritize fundamental teachings of the Church in order to select a candidate. The majority of those who place primary importance on economic justice or overcoming poverty voted for Kerry while those who ranked abortion or same-sex marriage as one of their top two priorities overwhelmingly voted for Bush.”

Over 93% of American Catholics surveyed voted in the 2004 presidential election. However, there were interesting differences in turnout rates for race and age group, as illustrated in the following table:

Overall, American Catholics voted for Bush over Kerry by a margin of 48% to 43%, but, like turnout, there were difference for race and age group.

U.S. BISHOPS’ APPROVAL RATING

Since October 2001, CCT has tracked American Catholics’ agreement or disagreement with how well the U.S. bishops are leading the American church. In the latest survey, the bishops’ approval rating has declined slightly from the spring 2004 rating, hitting its lowest level since the sex abuse scandal broke in early 2002.

In addition, 60% of American Catholics believe that the Church should become more democratic in its decision-making. This rate remains essentially unchanged from the 61% who agreed with this statement in Spring 2004.

The latest Contemporary Catholic Trends survey was conducted between December 11 and 15, 2004. The margin of error is +/-3.2%; the MOE can be greater among subgroups of the sample of 1,000 respondents.