• US Catholics like Pope Benedict but many ready for new direction, married priests

    Vincenzo Pinto / AFP - Getty Images

    Pope Benedict XVI gets favorable marks from three-fourths of his U.S. flock, even though many of them want to see the next pope move in new directions.

    By Tracy Connor, Staff Writer, NBC News

    Roughly one in two American Catholics believes the next pope should take the church in a new direction and supports the idea of married priests, a new survey has found.

    But the push toward modernization hasn't made the current, very traditional pontiff unpopular.

    Three-fourths of U.S. Catholics have a favorable view of outgoing Pope Benedict XVI in the survey from the Pew Research Center released Thursday.


    Still, Pope Benedict, who will resign next week, has seen his favorability ratings dip from a high of 83% in April 2008, just after he visited the United States, and his numbers have always been lower than those of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II.

    The sexual-abuse scandal that has roiled the church hasn't helped. The survey found only a third think he has done a good or excellent job of handling the crisis, down from almost half in 2008.

    With the College of Cardinals poised to select a new pope, Pew found Americans deeply divided about whether he should hew to the traditional positions (51 percent) or "move in new directions" (46 percent). Those who went to Mass once a week were more likely to skew traditional, while college graduates were more likely to support change.

    Married priests, women in the priesthood, and acceptance of contraception and same sex-marriage were named more often as desirable new directions than relaxing church strictures against divorce or abortion.

    A majority of Catholics are also ready for a pope from outside of Europe, saying it would be welcome if he hailed from a developing region of the world such as South America, Asia or Africa. 

    The results were based on two national surveys conducted between Feb. 13 and Feb. 18 that included a total of 2,507 people.

     

  • Support soars for tougher gun laws, surveys show

    By Matthew DeLuca and Vignesh Ramachandran, NBC News

    More Americans support tougher restrictions on gun ownership, two national surveys released Monday show.

    A new Gallup survey finds Americans’ support for tougher gun laws has spiked in the past year to 38 percent, the highest level since 2001.

    That's up from 25 percent just one year ago -- before the mass shootings at a Batman screening in Aurora, Colo., and an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.

    Despite the increase, a larger percentage of Americans, 43 percent in the Gallup poll, remain content with the current regulations on guns, and 5 percent of respondents said they would like to see gun laws loosened.

    Released a month after the Connecticut school shooting that left 26 dead, the surveys have tested American sentiment as debate rages about whether or not there should be more regulations on the purchase and possession of firearms.

    A national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found similar trends: 85 percent of those polled support background checks for private gun sales and on sales at gun shows. A large majority of respondents – 80 percent – also support preventing mentally ill people from buying guns.

    Prominent politicians, including Conn. Gov. Dan Malloy and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, have urged legislators in their states to pass new or tougher bans on assault weapons.

    A day earlier than planned, Vice President Biden is expected to deliver proposals from the White House’s gun control task force to President Obama on Monday.

    Gun-rights groups: Our 'backs are against the wall'

    Male respondents and Democrats were among the groups that showed the most change in their views in the latest Gallup poll: 35 percent of men nationally now say they are dissatisfied with current gun laws, up from 18 percent a year ago.

    Women showed a 10 point increase over the last year in the Gallup poll, with 41 percent now saying they are unhappy with current gun laws and want to see them strengthened.

    Support for stricter gun laws spiked among nonwhites, as well, jumping from 32 percent to 49 percent, according to Gallup data.

    Gov. Cuomo proposes nation's 'toughest' ban on assault weapons

    The surveys showed a widening partisan rift over guns. Democrats are now far more likely than Republicans to favor new gun laws: 64 percent of Democrats surveyed in the Gallup poll said they were dissatisfied with current gun policy, compared to 18 percent of Republicans. Though overall two-thirds of Americans in the Pew survey support a federal database to track gun sales, support is divided between blue and red lines: 84 percent of Democrats support a database, while only 49 percent of Republicans said the same.


    The Pew survey also found gun-rights supporters are more politically active than their counterparts: Twenty-three percent of those who prioritize gun rights have given money to an organization that takes a position on gun policy, versus only 5 percent of those who prioritize gun control have done the same. The poll also found gun-rights advocates are about twice as likely to have contacted a public official about gun policy, than gun-control supporters.

    When asked about school-safety proposals, the Pew poll found 64 percent favor armed security guards and police in more schools, but only 40 percent support arming more teachers and school officials.

    The survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press was conducted between January 9 and 13. The poll sampled 1,502 adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 points.

    In Gallup’s study, the questions on guns were asked in their "Mood of the Nation" survey conducted between January 7 and 10. This survey sampled 1,011 adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus four points.