Theos has published new research examining public attitudes towards the forthcoming papal visit on 16 September and papal teaching.

The ComRes poll of over 2,000 GB adults reveals that 76% object to the fact that the taxpayer is contributing towards the cost of the visit. In terms of attitudes towards the visit itself, apathy rather than hostility is the order of the day. A  quarter of people (24%) agree that they ‘don’t approve of the Pope’s visit’, compared with nearly half (49%) who disagree.

The poll found that 40% of people say that they ‘generally disagree with the Pope’s views on current affairs.’ However, what’s really striking is that their answers to other questions show that they don’t. In fact, the public rather likes the Pope’s social teaching.

Catholic Social Teaching is a hugely impressive body of doctrine developed by the Catholic Church on matters of poverty and wealth, economics, social affairs and the role of the state. It is derived from, among other things, papal encyclicals, circular letters sent to all churches. In the Theos poll, people were asked to comment on whether they agreed or disagreed with a series of statements contained in the Pope’s third encyclical letter, Caritas in Veritate.

Twelve representative statements, taken directly from the letter, were tested and a significant majority of the public agreed with eleven of them. For example, 82% of people agree that ‘technologically advanced societies can and must lower their domestic consumption’ (Caritas in Veritate,  # 49). 63% agree that ‘investment always has a moral as well as economic significance’ (Caritas in Veritate,  # 40). 63% agree that ‘It is irresponsible to view sexuality merely as a source of pleasure’ (Caritas in Veritate,  # 44). The only statement people disagreed with (81%) is that ‘Poverty is often produced by a rejection of God's love.’ (Caritas in Veritate,  # 53)

In a recent piece on the blog of www.neurosciencemarketing.com, Anibal Astobiza writes the following:

If you were asked to judge a policy proposal for addressing a social issue, which would be more important to you, the content of the proposal or the party that wrote it? Most of us would answer that the specific policies would be much more important than the political party that proposed it. Most of us would be dead wrong.

She goes on to explain how a study by the social psychologist Geoffrey Cohen at Yale University shows that cognitive dissonance plays a big role in the way people evaluate political issues.

Cohen’s experiment was simple. He organized two groups of subjects, one composed of liberal Democrats, the other of conservative Republicans. Then, he showed them very different proposals on the topic of welfare. One policy proposal was very liberal, and involved large expenditures of tax money. The other was harshly conservative, and proposed far lower levels of assistance and expense. As you might expect, the liberal subjects preferred the free-spending plan while the conservatives liked the restrictive plan.

Here’s the bizarre twist: when the subjects were told that the plan they didn’t like had been proposed by their own party, their attitudes changed and they favored the plan they had initially opposed. Liberals thought that cracking down on welfare was a good idea, while conservatives found they could justify opening the coffers for this important social purpose. They even wrote essays explaining why the policy they now favored was appropriate.

What’s the relevance of Cohen’s experiment to us?

It would be stupid to pretend that the majority of the population are ready to sign up to every jot and tittle of Catholic Social Teaching. They’re not. The public is unlikely to be won over by Catholic teaching on birth control any time soon. But that won’t overly concern the Church. As the former Bishop of Durham, Tom Wright, has said elsewhere, ‘The day the church bends to the whim or dictate of secular government or ideology is the day it ceases to be the church.’

What is clear is that people are more positive about Catholic Social Teaching than is popularly imagined. It appears to resonate with their view of the world. Perhaps that’s evidence of natural theology at work.

The visit of Pope Benedict presents the Catholic Church with a great opportunity to build bridges with the culture through its teaching. It might not sound a terribly fashionable or radical suggestion but it’s just possible that Catholic Social Teaching could increase public interest in the visit and encourage people to engage with Catholicism more generally. 

Paul Woolley is Director of Theos.