NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      ROME (CWNews.com) - A poll conducted in Italy for the 30th anniversary of the landmark papal encyclical Humanae Vitae showed on Thursday that many Italian Catholics flout Church teaching on contraception, abortion, divorce, and cohabitation.

      The poll by L'Espresso magazine said that 55.1 percent of professed Catholics disagree with the ban on contraception, while 31.4 percent adhere to the Church's teaching. About 68 percent said that people who divorce and remarry in civil ceremonies should be admitted to communion, and 86 percent said couples should be able to live together without marrying. The strongest defense of Church teaching came when respondents were asked about abortion: only 53 percent said abortion should remain legal while 42 percent said the 1978 law allowing it should be repealed.

      An opinion poll last week in the Catholic magazine Famiglia Cristiana said 72 percent of Italian Catholics believed homosexuals should be allowed to marry and receive the same legal rights as heterosexual couples.