Given the pre-publicity it has received, you would be surprised if anyone in Britain actually wanted to pay for the Papal visit this month. Few do.
A new study commissioned by Theos and conducted by ComRes found that 76% of people agree that as the Pope is a “religious figure”, “the taxpayer should not be contributing to the costs of his visit.” By contrast, only 11% feel that the taxpayer should cough up because it is a “state visit”.
To be fair, public opinion is not quite as hostile as these data suggest. Only a quarter of people say they do not approve of the visit (as against 49% who do) and only a third think that the visit is not “good for
This might be considered a victory for the Catholic publicity machine given what it has had to combat over recent years. But there is a more interesting story here, one that Catholic spin doctors would do well to dwell on.
The British public does not agree with the Pope. They say so, loud and clear. Only 18% agree that “the Pope generally responds wisely to problems in the world today.” By comparison, 40% say that they “generally disagree with the Pope’s views on current affairs.”
Or, at least, they think they don’t agree with Pope. Present them with things he has actually written and the story is rather different. The survey tested twelve statements taken directly – but anonymously – from Benedict’s most recent encyclical letter, Caritas in Veritate, to see if the public agreed with them. They did, strongly.
On the environment, 82% of people agreed that “technologically advanced societies can and must lower their domestic energy consumption,” (CiV, #49) and 79% agreed that “the natural environment is more than raw material to be manipulated at our pleasure.” (CiV, #48) On economics, 63% agreed that “investment always has moral, as well as economic significance,” (CiV, #40) and 69% agreed that “the consumer has a specific social responsibility.” (CiV, #66) On human rights, 90% agreed that “food and access to water are universal rights of all human beings,” (CiV, #27) and 59% agreed that “an overemphasis on rights leads to a disregard for duties.” (CiV, #43) Most remarkably, a majority of people agree with Catholic teaching about sexual behaviour, with 63% agreeing with Benedict that “it is irresponsible to view sexuality merely as a source of pleasure.” (CiV, #44) The only statement with which people disagreed, again strongly (81%), was that “poverty is often produced by a rejection of God’s love.” (CiV, #53)
The immediate objection will be that the statements are motherhood-and-apple-pie; of course people are going to agree with them. Hit them with the real Catholic teaching and we would see rather different results.
This is a weak defence. Statements are only ever motherhood-and-apple-pie when people agree with them. Had the papal teaching been less popular (as it would be in some countries), people would have criticised it for its unpopularity rather than its banality. And as for the ‘real Catholic teaching’ point, it is transparent nonsense. The statements chosen were broad and representative of the range and focus of Caritas in Veritate, and you don’t get much more Catholic than a papal encyclical.
It would be a brave and ill-founded move to argue from this that the Catholic problem is essentially one of image and PR. Get the publicity right, and public opinion will change. Whatever else may be said of the problems that have beset the Catholic Church over recent years, it is not that they are cosmetic. They are profound, structural, perhaps even theological.
What can be said with some confidence is that even in comparatively anti-Catholic
