Israelis view the Catholic Church’s attitudes toward the Jewish people and Israel more favorably after Pope John Paul II’s March visit to their country than they did before, according to researchers at Bar Ilan University outside Tel Aviv. A survey of 500 people showed a slight but real change in the views of Israelis, researchers said. For example, some 33 percent of those surveyed said they viewed the Catholic Church’s attitude toward the Jewish people as positive, up from 31 percent before the pope’s visit; 47 percent said they viewed the church’s attitude toward Israel as positive, compared with 39 percent in an earlier survey. Sixty-two percent of those surveyed said the church’s attitude toward the Jewish people had changed favorably; 55 percent felt that way before the pope’s visit
About two-thirds of Americans view Catholicism favorably, while about one-fourth of Americans view it negatively, according to a Gallup poll of 1,024 adults in mid-March. "Having an unfavorable attitude toward the Catholic religion may be more a part of a negative attitude toward any religion, rather than a specific or targeted negative attitude toward the Catholic faith," the Gallup News Service concluded. For example, among those who say religion is not important in their lives, 44 percent said their opinion of Catholicism was unfavorable. Contrary to the opinion that anti-Catholic bias exists disproportionately among evangelical or born-again Protestants, the survey found that only 29 percent of that group-compared to 30 percent of Protestants generally-viewed Catholicism unfavorably
Sixty-eight percent of Americans support a ban on partial-birth abortions, according to a March 31-April 2 poll of 1,000 people conducted by MarketFacts for the U.S. bishops ‘ Secretariat for ProLife Activities and the Knights of Columbus. Less than 20 percent of respondents opposed such a ban; 13 4 percent said they didn’t know or declined to answer. "There is no mistaking how strongly Americans reject partial-birth abortion," said Helen Alvare, planning and information director for the pro-life secretariat "Year in and year out, polls have shown enormous support (in the upper 60s percentiles) for a bill banning this procedure "
The number of the world’s Catholic bishops increased almost 20 percent over a 20-year period, according to the new edition of the Vatican’s annual Statistical Yearbook of the Church. Between 1978 and 1998, the number of bishops rose to 4,400 from 3,700. The largest numerical increase of bishops was in the Americas - from more than 1,400 to more than 1,670. Africa registered the biggest percentage jump: 33 percent.
The National Catholic Communications Campaign will be observed in parishes the weekend of May 21. Through videos, public service campaigns, radio and television programming the CCC provides tools that can help reach out from the pulpit, and into the parishes to guide Catholics to lead better lives and build stronger communities. Fifty percent of the contributions to the campaign are kept in the diocese for local communication projects. For more information contact the Diocese of New Ulm Office of Communications (507) 359-2966.