Seven out of 10 British Catholics believe that a woman should have the right to choose whether to have an abortion, according to a remarkable new poll that shows how far out of step the Vatican is with its congregation as Pope Benedict XVI completes his first visit to the UK. The poll conducted by YouGov, which also revealed that nine out of 10 Catholic worshippers support the wide availability of contraception, quizzed a sample of more than 1,600 practising Catholics about their views on the vexed issues of abortion and contraception.
The research, the biggest survey of its kind, which also sampled a control group of non-Catholics, reveals that just one in 10 of the church's followers oppose an abortion when a woman has been raped. Just one in 14 opposes abortion if the health of a woman is in danger.
The findings are likely to send a strong signal to the pontiff that the vast majority of Catholics in the UK do not share his views in the area of abortion and fertility control. In 2008, Pope Benedict renewed the position of the Catholic church against the use of birth control and contraception.
The results of the poll, carried out earlier this month, are released as the Pope made his strongest comments yet on the issue of abuse by Catholic clergy when he spoke of his sorrow at the victims' suffering.
SIC: BT/UK