What Catholic Women Think About Faith, Conscience, And Contraception&#

[Birgitta Noel]

Go here for report, it's too big to upload: http://whatcatholicwomenthink.com/What_Catholic_Women_Think_Contraception-Aug_2012.pdf


What Catholic Women Think
about Faith, Conscience, and Contraception
A Story of Faith, Nuance, and Contradiction

MYTH: Catholic women universally reject the Church's teachings on contraception.

REALITY: Church-going Catholic women fall into three groups: "the faithful", "the dissenters", and the "soft middle".

Newly-released survey results (August 2012) offer surprising new data about the views of church-going Catholic women on the topics of faith, conscience, and contraception.

Our preliminary report, What Catholic Women Think About Faith, Conscience, and Contraception, probes the views of church-going Catholic women and analyzes their knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes about the Catholic Church and her teachings on family planning. This Preliminary Report is part of a larger research effort, the Women, Faith, and Culture Project, that explores the perspectives of church-going Catholic women on a wide array of issues related to faith, sexuality, and reproduction.

The Church's authoritative teachings on sexuality and reproduction are unambiguous, plainly stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and key Papal documents, such as Humanae Vitae, Familiaris Consortio, and Evangelium Vitae.

But it's no secret that the Catholic Church's teachings — especially the teachings on contraception — have met stiff resistance over the years, even from within the Church. Untold numbers of Catholics, including Catholic women of child-rearing age, reject the Church's teachings.

Why?

That's the question we set out to explore.

To our knowledge, no prior studies have undertaken to explore in depth what church-going Catholic women think — about faith, sexuality, and reproduction — and why they hold the beliefs they do.

Do church-going Catholic women have an accurate understanding of what the Church teaches about sexuality? Contraception? Reproduction? When the Church's teaching is presented accurately, do they accept it or reject it? If they reject it, then why? What are their reasons? Are they open to changing their minds? If so, what information might stir their interest in learning more about the Church's teaching?

The Women, Faith, and Culture Project explores these questions and more, by talking with women directly. Through surveys, focus groups, and in-depth interviews, our aim is to hear what church-going women have to say about what they believe and why.

Our hope is to gain insight into the information, approaches, and messages that may help Catholic women align their beliefs and actions more closely with the teaching of the Church.

While the full report on our findings will not be released until 2013, we have released a preliminary report discussing initial survey results related to faith, conscience, and contraception.

The preliminary report, What Catholic Women Think About Faith, Conscience, and Contraception, is available here on this website and on the Ethics and Public Policy Center website, from the Fellow page of co-author Mary Rice Hasson.
Catholic Women and Faith

90% say faith is important to daily life
72% rely on homilies to learn the faith
28% have gone to Confession within the year

Catholic Women and Contraception

33% think the Church says “yes” to contraception
13% say “yes” to Church teaching
37% say “no” to Church teaching
44% say “no, but maybe …” to Church teaching

[emmaberry]

[quote name='The Little Way' timestamp='1346907020' post='2479294']
72% rely on homilies to learn the faith
33% think the Church says “yes” to contraception
[/quote]
LISTEN UP PRIESTS!

[tinytherese]

There's a book coming out soon on this subject called [size="3"][font="Times New Roman"][color=#222222]Breaking Through: Catholic Women Speak for Themselves by Helen M. Alvare.[/color][b][color=blue][/color][/b][/font][/size]