Study: Majority of Catholics say church should emphasize social justice, the poor

Fish and Bread

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Study: Majority of Catholics say church should emphasize social justice, the poor | National Catholic Reporter

Excerpt:

By a two-to-one margin, 60 percent to 31 percent, Catholics would prefer bishops to focus on social justice issues even if it means less emphasis on abortion. While that view is held strongly by Catholics who attend church only occasionally, "the most striking finding, and one that may surprise many leaders in the church, is that Catholics who attend church once a week or more also express a strong preference for an emphasis on social justice over abortion," the report states.


In that latter group, 51 percent said the church should focus more on social justice in its pronouncements, while 36 percent said it should focus on abortion and the right to life.
 

catholicbybirth

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Well, it is one thing to care about the unborn but we should also care about those who are born, from the moment of conception to death.

Nothing wrong with that. However, if the Church did emphasize social justice, some folks would complain that the social issues or the teachings of the social issues are not what they want to hear, either.

Janice
 
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Rhamiel

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first off, i think it is silly to phrase the question like a "this or that" type thing
we can have both
we NEED to have both, we can not really be for justice of anykind if we do not support all justice

whatever happened to the "the Church is the people of God" type talk
and yes it is true, but people seem to pick up that title and drop it when they want
if people want the Church to do more for social justice, then they need to do more
as members of the laity, justice, law and order and that type of stuff is in our sphere of influence.
allso "social justice" is such a vegue term, and yet it is used like a label, I allready hear on the radio people talk about "social justice catholics"
 
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LoAmmi

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first off, i think it is silly to phrase the question like a "this or that" type thing
we can have both
we NEED to have both, we can not really be for justice of anykind if we do not support all justice

As an outsider, my experience here has been that a great majority care more about abortion than any other issue and would be willing to sacrifice all those other issues in the name of abortion. Perhaps I'm reading it wrong, but that's what I see. Like if a guy promised to end abortion completely, but was all for locking people up without cause and executing dissenters, I really feel like a lot of people here would jump on board. Like I said, I could be wrong.
 
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Cosmic Charlie

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As an outsider, my experience here has been that a great majority care more about abortion than any other issue and would be willing to sacrifice all those other issues in the name of abortion. Perhaps I'm reading it wrong, but that's what I see. Like if a guy promised to end abortion completely, but was all for locking people up without cause and executing dissenters, I really feel like a lot of people here would jump on board. Like I said, I could be wrong.

You're not wrong.
 
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Fantine

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Perceptions aren't formed in a vacuum.

If 2/3's of Catholics see American Catholic leadership not paying enough attention to social justice issues, they are doing so with good reasons.

Thank goodness for those "Nuns on the Bus!" If not for them, the number of Catholics sharing those feelings might have been 80%, 85%, even 90%.

Thanks, nuns on the bus, for giving Catholics hope and presenting an image to the world of a Church that cares about the living. (Or at least nuns who care about the living--and get a lot of grief from the Vatican for their work.)

But it is what it is.

The image the Church presents to America as a whole, and to voters, is this: The living are second-class citizens, whose needs, no matter how desperate, should be subordinated to those of the unborn.

And this poll is a wake-up call to the bishops, should they choose to accept it.

I hope they thank the nuns on the bus for adding a little balance to the image of American Catholicism.

Nuns on a bus, bishops on steamrollers...
 
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MikeK

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Yup!

first off, i think it is silly to phrase the question like a "this or that" type thing
we can have both
we NEED to have both, we can not really be for justice of anykind if we do not support all justice

whatever happened to the "the Church is the people of God" type talk
and yes it is true, but people seem to pick up that title and drop it when they want
if people want the Church to do more for social justice, then they need to do more
as members of the laity, justice, law and order and that type of stuff is in our sphere of influence.
allso "social justice" is such a vegue term, and yet it is used like a label, I allready hear on the radio people talk about "social justice catholics"

The bishops DO make announcements on Social Justice issues frequently. The problem is that either the media doesn't pay attention, or that the USCCB doesn't do a good job publicizing.
 
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Needing_Grace

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As an outsider, my experience here has been that a great majority care more about abortion than any other issue and would be willing to sacrifice all those other issues in the name of abortion. Perhaps I'm reading it wrong, but that's what I see. Like if a guy promised to end abortion completely, but was all for locking people up without cause and executing dissenters, I really feel like a lot of people here would jump on board. Like I said, I could be wrong.

No, you're absolutely correct.
 
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Fantine

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Originally Posted by LoAmmi
As an outsider, my experience here has been that a great majority care more about abortion than any other issue and would be willing to sacrifice all those other issues in the name of abortion. Perhaps I'm reading it wrong, but that's what I see. Like if a guy promised to end abortion completely, but was all for locking people up without cause and executing dissenters, I really feel like a lot of people here would jump on board. Like I said, I could be wrong.

Needing Grace: No, you're absolutely correct.

But it's so tempting for politicians (and others) to try to score some "compassion" points by expressing compassion for a group who have absolutely no physical, financial, or temporal needs--except to their mother (whom they may show very little compassion for....unless, perhaps, they were victims of "legitimate" rapes.)
 
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Wolseley

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Well, since we're talking about the National Catholic Reporter, I think we can safely presume that the 3000 Catholics they polled probably all live in places like Berkeley, CA---not exactly what you'd term bastions of conservative thought. ^_^

Am I saying that the NCR would deliberately skew their study in order to present a more liberal viewpoint with the hopes of influencing how others might think on certain topics? You betcha, Skippy. ;)

Who cares what the faithful think ?

Certainly not bishops

Who cares what the bishops think? Certainly not liberal Catholics.
 
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Cosmic Charlie

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Well, since we're talking about the National Catholic Reporter, I think we can safely presume that the 3000 Catholics they polled probably all live in places like Berkeley, CA---not exactly what you'd term bastions of conservative thought. ^_^

Am I saying that the NCR would deliberately skew their study in order to present a more liberal viewpoint with the hopes of influencing how others might think on certain topics? You betcha, Skippy. ;)



Who cares what the bishops think? Certainly not liberal Catholics.

I've seen more complaining lately from "traditionalist" about the bishops then from just about anyone else.

I'm down with "traditionalists" being labeled liberal Catholics.
 
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Erose

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first off, i think it is silly to phrase the question like a "this or that" type thing
we can have both
we NEED to have both, we can not really be for justice of anykind if we do not support all justice

whatever happened to the "the Church is the people of God" type talk
and yes it is true, but people seem to pick up that title and drop it when they want
if people want the Church to do more for social justice, then they need to do more
as members of the laity, justice, law and order and that type of stuff is in our sphere of influence.
allso "social justice" is such a vegue term, and yet it is used like a label, I allready hear on the radio people talk about "social justice catholics"
:amen:
 
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Erose

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As an outsider, my experience here has been that a great majority care more about abortion than any other issue and would be willing to sacrifice all those other issues in the name of abortion. Perhaps I'm reading it wrong, but that's what I see. Like if a guy promised to end abortion completely, but was all for locking people up without cause and executing dissenters, I really feel like a lot of people here would jump on board. Like I said, I could be wrong.
This would be a wrong observation. The Catholic Church does not sacrifice its principles. What is sin is sin and one sin is not going to be made acceptable to stop another sin. For all sins lead to one's destruction and the Church is in the business of saving souls.

Abortion is an evil that needs to be fought period. And given that there are over what 23 million Catholics in the USA that shouldn't be a problem while keeping up with the other social goods our Church and her daughter charities do.

What I have discovered as I have been gaining more of a leadership role in my parish is that there are alot of people who can tell you what is wrong with the Catholic Church and what the Catholic Church should be doing, but there are not that many that are willing to do something about it.

From my observations the Catholic Church is still feeding the poor, clothing the naked, tending to the widows and the orphans, visiting the sick and the prisoners more than any other group or charity. That hasn't changed even with a focus upon ending the evil plague of abortion. Both are evils that need to be fought and the Church is doing it, as her traditional allies against these evils are slowly giving up the fight.
 
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LoAmmi

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This would be a wrong observation. The Catholic Church does not sacrifice its principles. What is sin is sin and one sin is not going to be made acceptable to stop another sin. For all sins lead to one's destruction and the Church is in the business of saving souls.

I'm not talking about the entity, I'm talking about the people I encounter.
 
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Erose

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I'm not talking about the entity, I'm talking about the people I encounter.
Well I am involved in the pro-life movement and I have not met a person yet that permit another sinful act to stop this act. Not saying that there are not people like that out there, but considering that are not a whole lot of pro-life terrorists out there, I would have to assume that the far majority are like that.

One of the things that we are doing at our parish for the 40 Days For Life campaign that is currently happening is what we are calling the 40 Day Baby Shower, where we are collecting baby goods for at risk moms in our city.
 
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Cosmic Charlie

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Well I am involved in the pro-life movement and I have not met a person yet that permit another sinful act to stop this act. Not saying that there are not people like that out there, but considering that are not a whole lot of pro-life terrorists out there, I would have to assume that the far majority are like that.

One of the things that we are doing at our parish for the 40 Days For Life campaign that is currently happening is what we are calling the 40 Day Baby Shower, where we are collecting baby goods for at risk moms in our city.


I sorry but I can't disagree with you more. On everything you've written in your past two posts.

They're ARE pro-life terrorists and they're everywhere.

Most self described pro-lifers I know would willing vote for a candidate that would impoverish a handicapped post born human if they promised to end abortion.

Heck, most of them have.

No less a poster then Davidnc will tell you about the "Abortion is first" philosophy of the Church. Yes, yes, we know, society, justice, unions, etc.
They all have to waiting until abortion is illegal before the take THEM on.

I sorry, but it's very easy to concluded that the Church is simply in bed with the conservative wing of the republican party and that all they care about is what goes on in and with the human pelvis.

I've been doing it for years.

No less a poster then Davidnc has agreed with this assessment.

(Sorry Davy, didn't really mean to pull you into this)
 
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LoAmmi

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Well I am involved in the pro-life movement and I have not met a person yet that permit another sinful act to stop this act. Not saying that there are not people like that out there, but considering that are not a whole lot of pro-life terrorists out there, I would have to assume that the far majority are like that.

All I know is that I post a lot about thing like healthcare and programs to ensure that people have food and such, and I seem to get a lot of people who immediately turn to abortion. If I post about Universal Healthcare, it becomes "Will the unborn get healthcare?" instead of thinking it would be a great thing for people to be able to receive the care they need.

Abortion isn't my horse in the race. It may sound wrong, but I just don't care about it as much as other issues. I care about those born more than those unborn. I don't begrudge those that fight for the unborn, it just isn't my bag.
 
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MikeK

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I've seen more complaining lately from "traditionalist" about the bishops then from just about anyone else.

I'm down with "traditionalists" being labeled liberal Catholics.

Please use "conservative" instead of "traditionalist". I tend to use "traditionalist" to refer to the Latin Mass crowd. They are, for the most part, quite pious and quite on board with all of the teachings of the Church, including the social justice teaching on limiting nuclear weapons, on gun control, on the death penalty, etc. They are certainly not political Democrats, but they abhore the Reupublican Party just as much or more.
 
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