UNITED STATES
The New York Times
[U.S. Catholics Welcome a Papal Change – video from The New York Times]
By DALIA SUSSMAN
Published: March 5, 2013
Just ahead of the conclave that will choose his successor, a quarter of American Catholics said Benedict’s leadership had helped the Church, just over 10 percent said it hurt the Church, while most, 52 percent, said it had been mixed.
Those results are similar to a 2010 poll, but are less positive than views of Pope John Paul II’s leadership in polls taken during his papacy by The New York Times and CBS News. In polls conducted in 2002 and 2004, more than 4 in 10 Catholics said his leadership helped the Church. Following his death in 2005, more than 6 in 10 said so.
“He just seemed kind of bland,” Dorothy Lascuola, 66, a frequent churchgoer from Butler, Pa., said of Pope Benedict XVI in a follow-up interview. “I guess I try to draw a parallel with John Paul II and I really admired him and his stance on a lot of different issues. I didn’t see Pope Benedict as a leader per se. I hope we have a stronger leader coming forth this time. And a younger one. I think he carried a lot of baggage.”
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