What Catholic Women Think
about Faith, Conscience, and Contraception

A Story of Faith, Nuance, and Contradiction

MYTH: Catholic women universally reject the Church's teachings on contraception.

REALITY: Church-going Catholic women fall into three groups: "the faithful", "the dissenters", and the "soft middle".

Newly-released survey results (August 2012) offer surprising new data about the views of church-going Catholic women on the topics of faith, conscience, and contraception.

Our preliminary report, What Catholic Women Think About Faith, Conscience, and Contraception, probes the views of church-going Catholic women and analyzes their knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes about the Catholic Church and her teachings on family planning. This Preliminary Report is part of a larger research effort, the Women, Faith, and Culture Project, that explores the perspectives of church-going Catholic women on a wide array of issues related to faith, sexuality, and reproduction.

The Church's authoritative teachings on sexuality and reproduction are unambiguous, plainly stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and key Papal documents, such as Humanae Vitae, Familiaris Consortio, and Evangelium Vitae.

But it's no secret that the Catholic Church's teachings — especially the teachings on contraception — have met stiff resistance over the years, even from within the Church. Untold numbers of Catholics, including Catholic women of child-rearing age, reject the Church's teachings.

Why?

That's the question we set out to explore.

To our knowledge, no prior studies have undertaken to explore in depth what church-going Catholic women think — about faith, sexuality, and reproduction — and why they hold the beliefs they do.

Do church-going Catholic women have an accurate understanding of what the Church teaches about sexuality? Contraception? Reproduction? When the Church's teaching is presented accurately, do they accept it or reject it? If they reject it, then why? What are their reasons? Are they open to changing their minds? If so, what information might stir their interest in learning more about the Church's teaching?

The Women, Faith, and Culture Project explores these questions and more, by talking with women directly. Through surveys, focus groups, and in-depth interviews, our aim is to hear what church-going women have to say about what they believe and why.

Our hope is to gain insight into the information, approaches, and messages that may help Catholic women align their beliefs and actions more closely with the teaching of the Church.

While the full report on our findings will not be released until 2013, we have released a preliminary report discussing initial survey results related to faith, conscience, and contraception.

The preliminary report, What Catholic Women Think About Faith, Conscience, and Contraception, is available here on this website and on the Ethics and Public Policy Center website, from the Fellow page of co-author Mary Rice Hasson.

The research project Women, Faith, and Culture explores the views of church-going Catholic women on a variety of topics related to faith, conscience, sexuality, and reproduction. Focus groups, an on-line survey, and in-depth interviews provide both qualitative insights and quantitative data within the scope of the overall project (which will be completed in 2013). Focus groups, survey, and statistical analysis have been provided by the polling company, Inc., led by veteran pollster Kellyanne Conway.

Given the public debate around issues of conscience and the Catholic Church's teaching on contraception, however, the timing seems right to release relevant survey data in the form of this preliminary report. This preliminary report draws only upon the data from our online survey, fielded June 21 through July 1, 2011, and analyzes only the portions of that survey directly related to faith, conscience, and contraception. Other data and analysis, related to topics beyond the scope of this preliminary report, have been withheld for internal use.

Our work focuses on the views of church-going Catholic women, ages 18-54, rather than the larger group of women who self-identify as Catholic — a group which would include those who call themselves Catholic but who rarely or never attend Catholic Mass and have little consistent interaction with the institutional Church. Our survey sample was split between women who attend church at least weekly and those who attend church less than weekly but at least a few times per year. (See the Methodology section for details.)

Our decision not to include women who self-identify as Catholic but who have not attended Church at least a few times within the past year is not intended as a judgment of their personal faith or spiritual worthiness. We focused on church-going Catholic women out of an intuitive sense that their perspectives would offer greater insight on how well the Church communicates its teachings, how Catholic women who interact regularly with the Church respond to the substance of those teachings, and how these women regard Church authority on sexual and reproductive issues.

We hope that this work will support efforts within the Church to better communicate and defend the Church's teaching — even though some of what we report here is surely not good news for the Church.

The research project Women, Faith, and Culture commissioned an online survey of church-going Catholic women in the United States, designed to explore their views on a variety of topics related to faith, conscience, sexuality, and reproduction. Fielded from June 21 through July 1, 2011, the survey and statistical analysis were conducted by the polling company, inc./WomanTrend of Washington, D.C.

The sample of 824 church-going Catholic women ages 18-54 was drawn utilizing opt-in online panels of respondents targeted by gender, age and religion. Nested quotas were used to ensure an even mix of younger and older respondents as well as those who go to church frequently and infrequently. “Frequent” describes those who report attending church at least once a week and “infrequent” means those who report attending church less than weekly but at least a few times a year. Data pertaining to survey topics outside the scope of this preliminary report on faith, conscience, and contraception have been withheld for internal use.

Data are unweighted.
The margin of error for this study is ± 3.5%.
Margins of error for subgroups (cross-tabulated results) are slightly higher.

Note: The present survey was administered only in English, without a Spanish language option. While 11% of the survey population was non-white, it did not include a proportionally representative sample of Latina/Hispanic women to match the Catholic Church's growing Latina/Hispanic membership. Thus these survey results do not draw conclusions by ethnic background or national origin; further research is needed in those areas.

The vision for this project emerged from experience — our own and the shared experiences of lay people and clergy active in women's ministries, marriage preparation programs, Catholic inquiry classes (RCIA), and natural family planning programs.

As faithful Catholics, we have taught the faith and ministered to women through a variety of Church-related works for more than twenty years. We respect the Church's teachings on these issues and believe that they will not change. At the same time, however, we believe that the Church's approaches to communicating and “marketing” its teaching must be open to change in order to compete more effectively in the marketplace of ideas — particularly in a sexualized culture hostile to those beliefs. Others have made similar observations.

We believe that effective evangelization requires us to hear and understand what Catholic women think. Until now, no one has asked church-going Catholic women why they reject the teaching of the Church, whether they are open to new information that might change their minds, and if so, what kind of information might interest them.

This project, Women, Faith, and Culture, is an effort to begin filling that knowledge gap, in service to the Church. We explore these questions by talking with women directly. Through surveys, focus groups, and in-depth interviews, our aim is to hear what church-going women have to say about what they believe and why. We need to hear womens' perceptions of Church teaching, understand their objections, and provide answers to their questions.

We hope that the insights arising from this research will help generate new strategies and solutions — based on objective, quantifiable data as well as experiential insights and observations — to help the Church reach Catholic women who want to live their faith but whose perspectives on these issues don.t always align with Church teachings.

Scope. As a whole, the Women, Faith, and Culture Project explores what Catholic women think about a range of Catholic teachings in areas of sexual morality, conscience, and reproduction. It encompasses other topics in addition to "Faith, Conscience, and Contraception", the topics covered by the preliminary report released in August 2012. We rely on focus groups, an on-line survey, and in-depth interviews with Catholic women to provide data and qualitative insights. (Focus groups, survey, and statistical analysis provided by the polling company, Inc./WomanTrend, led by veteran pollster Kellyanne Conway.)

This effort focuses specifically on the views of church-going Catholic women, ages 18-54, rather than the larger group of women who self-identify as Catholic — a group which would include those who call themselves Catholic but who rarely or never attend Catholic Mass and have little consistent interaction with the institutional Church. Our survey sample was split between women who attend church at least weekly and those who attend church less than weekly but at least a few times per year. (See the Methodology section for details.)

Our decision not to include women who self-identify as Catholic but who have not attended Church at least a few times within the past year is not intended as a judgment of their personal faith or spiritual worthiness. We focused on church-going Catholic women out of an intuitive sense that their perspectives would offer greater insight on how well the Church communicates its teachings, how Catholic women who interact regularly with the Church respond to the substance of those teachings, and how these women regard Church authority on sexual and reproductive issues.

Project Co-Directors

Mary Rice Hasson, J.D.

Mrs. Hasson is a Fellow in the Catholic Studies Program at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Washington, D.C., where she researches and writes on issues related to Catholicism, women, and families. She directs the Women, Faith, and Culture project, a project of Women, Faith, and Culture, Inc., a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit Virginia corporation.

Contact: mhasson@eppc.org

Michele Hill

Mrs. Hill has served the Catholic Church for 25 years in a variety of ministries to women, principally within the Archdiocese of Baltimore. A Baltimore businesswoman, she co-directs the Women, Faith, and Culture project.

Research

Survey and Statistical Analysis by:

Advisory Committee

This project has benefited immensely from the invaluable knowledge, wisdom, and creativity of our Advisory Committee, a select group of women in the Church. Their suggestions for lines of inquiry and their comments at critical stages of this project improved our work immeasurably. In particular, we express deep gratitude to Dr. Pia de Solenni, Dr. Theresa Farnan, Terry Polakovic, Erika Bachiochi, Lisa Brenninkmeyer, and Marjorie Campbell for their ongoing, valuable contributions. We are thankful for the time, talent, and dedication that all these women offer in service to the Church, Catholic women, and their families. The authors, Mary Rice Hasson and Michele Hill, generated the report's final conclusions and any errors in this report are the sole responsibility of the authors.

(Affiliations included for identification only and do not imply institutional endorsements)

• Erika Bachiochi , J.D., Editor, Women, Sex, and the Church
• Laraine Bennett , M.A., Co-author of the best-selling Temperament series, including The Temperament God Gave Your Kids
• Lisa Brenninkmeyer , Co-Chairman of the Board and Founder, Walking With Purpose
• Marie Buonforte, President of Women, Faith, and Culture, Inc.
• Marjorie Campbell J.D., Ll.M., J.C.L., creator of NewFeminism.co
• Maria Cunningham, Educator
• Theresa Farnan, Ph.D., Advisor, USCCB Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth; Adjunct Professor, Franciscan University of Steubenville
• Lisa Hendey , Author, The Handbook for Catholic Moms and A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms; Creator of CatholicMom.com
• Jennifer Roback Morse , Ph.D., Founder and President, Ruth Institute
• Elizabeth Moschetto, Educator
• Terry Polakovic , Co-Founder and Executive Director, ENDOW
• Pia de Solenni , S.T.D., Moral Theologian and Cultural Analyst

We are grateful for the support of Cardinal Edwin F. O'Brien, who encouraged this project while he was Archbishop of Baltimore. We thank Msgr. John A. Dietzenbach of Church of the Resurrection Parish in the Diocese of Baltimore for his invaluable support as well. We are grateful also to the Our Sunday Visitor Institute for the grant that helped make this work possible — and for their willingness to fund a new approach in support of the Church's teaching on sexual morality and the dignity of human life. In particular, we are indebted to Dr. Janet Smith, Ph.D., a tireless ambassador of the Church's teachings on contraception, for her support, encouragement, and advice. We thank also those additional benefactors who preferred to remain anonymous.

Advisory Committee

This project has benefited immensely from the invaluable knowledge, wisdom, and creativity of our Advisory Committee, a select group of women in the Church. Their suggestions for lines of inquiry and their comments at critical stages of this project improved our work immeasurably. In particular, we express deep gratitude to Dr. Pia de Solenni, Dr. Theresa Farnan, Terry Polakovic, Erika Bachiochi, Lisa Brenninkmeyer, and Marjorie Campbell for their ongoing, valuable contributions. We are thankful for the time, talent, and dedication that all these women offer in service to the Church, Catholic women, and their families. The authors, Mary Rice Hasson and Michele Hill, generated the report's final conclusions and any errors in this report are the sole responsibility of the authors.

(Affiliations are for identification only and do not imply institutional endorsements.)

• Erika Bachiochi , J.D., Editor, Women, Sex, and the Church
• Laraine Bennett , M.A., Co-author of the best-selling Temperament series, including The Temperament God Gave Your Kids
• Lisa Brenninkmeyer , Co-Chairman of the Board and Founder, Walking With Purpose
• Marie Buonforte, President of Women, Faith, and Culture, Inc.
• Marjorie Campbell J.D., Ll.M., J.C.L., creator of NewFeminism.co
• Maria Cunningham, Educator
• Theresa Farnan, Ph.D., Advisor, USCCB Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth; Adjunct Professor, Franciscan University of Steubenville
• Lisa Hendey , Author, The Handbook for Catholic Moms and A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms; Creator of CatholicMom.com
• Jennifer Roback Morse , Ph.D., Founder and President, Ruth Institute
• Elizabeth Moschetto, Educator
• Terry Polakovic , Co-Founder and Executive Director, ENDOW
• Pia de Solenni , S.T.D., Moral Theologian and Cultural Analyst

For media inquiries or for more information about this preliminary report
"What Catholic Women Think about Faith, Conscience, and Contraception"
please contact:
Mary Rice Hasson — director@whatcatholicwomenthink.com

Preliminary Report, Co-Authors

Mary Rice Hasson

Ms. Hasson is a Fellow in the Catholic Studies Program at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Washington, D.C., where she researches and writes on issues related to women and families. She directs the Women, Faith, and Culture Project and can be reached at: director@whatcatholicwomenthink.com

Michele M. Hill

Ms. Hill has served the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Baltimore in a variety of ministries to women for 25 years and is a Baltimore businesswoman. She co-directs the Women, Faith, and Culture Project and can be reached at: mhill@whatcatholicwomenthink.com

*Women, Faith, and Culture is a project of Women, Faith, and Culture, Inc., a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit Virginia corporation