NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      NEW YORK (CWNews.com) - A new poll released last week found that most Americans believe they will go to heaven after death and generally hold other traditional Christian beliefs.

      The Harris poll found that more than 75 percent of adults expect to go to heaven, while just 2 percent think they will be condemned to hell and only 4 percent expect to spend time in purgatory. Of those who identified themselves as Christians, 96 percent believe in the Resurrection and 91 percent in the Virgin Birth, while even 49 and 47 percent of non-Christians believe in those doctrines.

      But about 20 percent of Christians believe in reincarnation, the same rate as the general population, and 37 percent of all Americans believe in astrology and 35 percent in ghosts. Of all Americans, 94 percent believe in God, 90 percent in heaven, and 73 percent in the devil and hell.