Priests Should Marry as Confidence in Pope Falls
TIMES ONLINE: A majority of Italians believe priests should be allowed to marry and under half have confidence in Pope Benedict XVI, according to an opinion poll today.
The survey, carried out by the polling organisation Demos and published in La Repubblica, came as Catholic bishops in Austria called on the Vatican to open up the issue of priestly celibacy for discussion.
On Sunday 200,000 Italians with banners and balloons filled St. Peter’s Square in a major show of support for Pope Benedict over the clerical sex abuse scandal.
At the rally, organised by Italian bishops and Catholic lay organisations, Pope Benedict said he was comforted by this “beautiful and spontaneous show of faith and solidarity”. “The true enemy to fear and to fight against is sin, the spiritual evil that unfortunately sometimes infects even members of the church,” he said to prolonged applause and shouts of encouragement.
However, today’s survey showed that in Italy as a whole confidence in the Pope had dropped from 53.7 per cent in 2007 to 46.6 per cent today, compared to 77.2 per cent for Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict’s predecessor, in 2003. >>> Richard Owen Rome | Montag, May 17, 2010
