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The Persecution of Christians Around the World3rd Annual National Catholic SurveyMarch 2020www.churchinneed.org
The survey aims to measure US Catholic perceptions of thepersecution of Christians around the world The extent to which American Catholics are aware of the persecution of Christians around theworld; The countries where they think Christians are most severely persecuted; Specific measures and policies they want the US and other Western governments to pursue; The extent to which US Catholics feel that the Pope, their bishops and their parishes are makingthe issue of the persecution of Christians a priority; Actions they believe they can and should take themselves.www.churchinneed.org2
MethodologyThis nationwide poll of 1,000 Catholic adults was conducted fromFebruary 6th through February 13th, 2020.All interviews were conducted online; survey invitations weredistributed randomly within predetermined geographic units.This nationwide poll of 1,000 Catholic adults has an accuracy of /3.1% at a 95% confidence interval.www.churchinneed.org3
Respondents Profile Male 46% and Female 54% Age: 18-29 (16%), 30-40 (17%), 41-55 (21%), 56-65 (21%), Over 65 (25%) Education: 42% has a college degree or higher level of education Political affiliation: 30% Republican; 46% Democrat; 24% Independent/Other Racial background: White/Caucasian (57%), Hispanic (35%), AfricanAmerican/Black (4%), Asian/Asian-American (3%), Other 1%.www.churchinneed.org4
The religious profile of US Catholics 42% of US Catholics identify themselves as very devout; 43% think ofthemselves as somewhat devout, while 15% describe themselves asnot devout. 33% of US Catholics say they attend Mass at least weekly; 18% attendMass on a monthly basis; 14% attend Mass only on Christmas andEaster, while 35% rarely or never go to Mass. In terms of their religious beliefs, 29% identify themselves as liberal,32% as moderate and 39% as conservative.www.churchinneed.org5
How devout a Catholic are you?2019202059%43%42%36%15%5%Not Devoutwww.churchinneed.orgSomewhat DevoutVery Devout6
Mass Attendance2019202035%32%33%32%18%18%18%14%AT LEAST WEEKLYwww.churchinneed.orgMONTHLYChristmas & Easter onlyRARELY/NEVER7
US Catholics’ perceptions of the persecution of Christians around the world 41% of Catholics believe that the persecution of Christians around the world is “severe,”while 50% consider it to be “somewhat severe;” 42% of Catholics say that half or more ofreligiously-based attacks around the world are directed at Christians. When ranking the severity of the persecution of Christians around the world, USCatholics rank Iran as the country where Christians are most severely persecuted. However, when asked to rank their concerns about global issues, US Catholics rank thepersecution of Christians as less important than four other global issues. Thepercentage of US Catholics very concerned about global issues is: human trafficking79%, poverty 70%, climate change 57%, refugee crisis 55%, and the persecution ofChristians 52%.www.churchinneed.org8
Countries where US Catholics believe the persecution of Christians ismost ritreaIndia9
Perception of the severity of the persecution of Christiansaround the world2019202050%46%46%41%9%8%Not Severewww.churchinneed.orgSomewhat SevereVery Severe10
Ranking of concern about global issues - secution of Christians13%Climate Change15%Poverty5%Human Trafficking5%Refugee Crisis10%Somewhat Concerned35%28%26%17%35%Very Concerned52%57%70%78%55%Not Concernedwww.churchinneed.org11
Ranking concern about global issues compared to prior ion of Christianswww.churchinneed.orgClimate ChangePovertyHuman TraffickingRefugee Crisis12
Ranking the main causes of conflict around the nomy6%Politics4%Ethnic tension4%Somewhat Significant33%41%25%33%Very Significant58%52%71%63%Not Significantwww.churchinneed.org13
The US Catholic Church and the persecution of Christians Forty-seven percent of US Catholics say that Pope Francis is “very engaged” onthe issue of the persecution of Christians, while just 27% think their local bishopis “very engaged” and only 22% believe their parish is very involved with theissue. By contrast, 8% of US Catholics say Pope Francis is “not engaged” on the issue ofpersecution of Christians, while 12% indicate their local bishop is not engagedand 20% of US Catholics feel that their parishes are not involved. A significant number of US Catholics is unsure about the engagement level of theCatholic Church on the issue of the persecution of Christians; 16% do not knowthe engagement level of the Pope, 24% are unsure about the engagement level oftheir bishop, while 22% do not know the engagement level of their parish.www.churchinneed.org14
Engagement of the institutional Church with the issue of thepersecution of Christians - 202047%36%36%29%27%24%22%22%20%16%12%8%Pope FrancisUnsure16%Not Engaged8%Somewhat Engaged29%Very Engaged47%U.S. eed.org15
Perception of the highest engagement level of the institutionalChurch on the issue of the persecution of Christians – 2020 vs 201951%47%27%24%22%19%2019 Very Engaged2020 Very Engagedwww.churchinneed.orgPope Francis51%47%U.S. Bishops24%27%Parish19%22%16
Policies and actions to deter the persecution of Christians The majority of American Catholics say that it is important for the U.S. and otherWestern countries to pursue certain policies to deter the persecution ofChristians around the world. 61% rank economic sanctions as very important; diplomatic pressure on countriesis seen as “very important” by 55% of American Catholics; 52% favor emergencyasylum; and 48% choose financial aid to persecuted Christian communities asvery important. Important, but less so than other policies, are ranked military intervention to saveand protect persecuted Christians (46%), and military training and arming ofChristian communities facing persecution (40%).www.churchinneed.org17
Diplomatic PressureEconomic SanctionsOffer Emergency AsylumProvide Financial AidMilitary InterventionNot Important6%7%7%11%8%Arming ChristianCommunities13%Somewhat Important39%40%41%44%45%46%Very ortance of policies to save and protect persecuted Christians18
Personal initiatives to help persecuted Christians around the world The majority of American Catholics agree that it is important to be engaged as acommunity with various initiatives that help persecuted Christians around theworld 69% of US Catholics ranked prayer as “very important” to help persecutedChristians, followed by raising awareness at the parish level (59%), donating toagencies that help persecuted Christians (53%), and contacting Members ofCongress (52%).www.churchinneed.org19
Not ImportantSomewhat ImportantVery Importantwww.churchinneed.orgContacting Members ofCongress9%39%52%Praying7%24%69%Raising Awareness at TheParish tance of personal initiatives to help persecuted ChristiansDonating to Agencies thatHelp Persecuted Christians9%38%53%20
Supporting organizations that help persecuted Christians Almost half of US Catholics say that they have donated in the prior year toan organization that helps persecuted Christians. However, 51% have notmade any such donation. Giving increases among regular Mass-goers. The majority of those who donot regularly attend Mass do not give to any organization.www.churchinneed.org21
Media engagement of US Catholics 27% of US Catholics trust their parish bulletin the most as a source ofCatholic news, while 32% don’t trust any Catholic news organization; and15% don’t trust any major secular news organization. The top four sources of Catholic news are: the parish bulletin (27%),US Catholic (19%), diocesan newspaper or website (14%), and CatholicNews Agency and Catholic News Service, at 13% each. The top four sources of secular news are: Fox News (28%), ABC News(25%), CNN (24%), and CBS News (18%).www.churchinneed.org22
Which of the following Catholic news organizations do you trust most?None32%My parish bulletin27%US Catholic19%My diocesan newspaper/website14%Catholic News Agency/EWTN News13%Catholic News Service13%National Catholic Register10%Catholic Online9%Our Sunday Visitor8%National Catholic Reporter7%St. Anthony's Messenger6%America MagazineCrux3%2%Commonweal2%Aleteia2%Other (please specify)2%www.churchinneed.org23
Which of the following secular news organizations do you trust most?Fox News28.44%ABC News25.25%CNN23.65%NBC News20.36%CBS News17.66%The New York Times17.17%None15.17%USA Today14.47%MSNBC11.28%The Wall Street Journal10.98%The Washington Post10.08%The Huffington PostChicago Tribune5.59%2.69%Other (please specify)2.20%Daily Beast2.10%Dallas Morning Newswww.churchinneed.org1.90%24
“While 52 percent of American Catholics show strong concern about thepersecution of Christians, it is nevertheless disheartening to see the sharp drop intheir number compared to two years ago. It’s telling that US Catholics considerhuman trafficking, poverty, climate change, and the refugee crisis—as important asthese issues are—to be more important than the persecution of Christians.“In light of the survey results, education at both the parish and diocesan levelremains of crucial importance. It is clear that US Catholics believe that the Churchin America can do much more when it comes to calling attention to the gravity ofChristian persecution.“In a world where up to 300 million Christians are confronted with various formsof harassment and outright persecution because of their faith, the US Churchsimply must do more to inform and galvanize the faithful.”George J. MarlinChairman of Aid to the Church in Need-USAwww.churchinneed.org25
www.churchinneed.org The survey aims to measure US Catholic perceptions of the persecution of Christians around the world The extent to which American Catholics are aware of the persecution of Christians around the world; The countries where they think Christians are most severely persecuted; Specific measures and policies they want the US and other Western governments to pursue;
