ILLINOIS
State Journal-Register
By Steven Spearie
Correspondent
Posted Sep. 20, 2014
Over three-quarters of men and women who identify themselves as inactive in or lapsed or drifting from the Roman Catholic Church say a church belief or practice has to do with their current status.
According to a survey commissioned by the Springfield diocese — the results of which were released last week — half of those respondents cited church stances on homosexuality, birth control, fertility treatments, divorce and remarriage, women as clergy and the marital status of male clergy as reasons they have outright left or drifted from the church.
A separate polling of active Catholics mentioned birth control as the doctrinal issue that most troubled them, though an overwhelming majority felt satisfied with their parishes, including a sense of community that they experienced there.
The survey “Joy and Grievance in an American Diocese: Results from Online Surveys of Active and Inactive Catholics in Central Illinois,” which can be read online at ben.edu/catholicsurvey, was coordinated by social scientists from Benedictine University in Lisle. The four-year Catholic university also has a campus in Springfield.
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