One of the few qualifications for being a respondent to America's recent survey of U.S. Catholic women was seemingly a simple one: answer “yes”to the question, “Are you Catholic?” Indeed, the folks who answered our survey all said yes. But the rest of their answers—on topics ranging from Mass attendance to political views to marital status to opinions on the possibility of female deacons—varied widely, demonstrating a range of opinions and beliefs as well as varying levels of understanding of or attention to Catholic teachings.
The America survey was a sociological study that we commissioned in order to find out, in concrete and quantitative terms, what Catholic women believe. It used a statistically significant sample size, was conducted in partnership with a world-renowned research group and was offered as a starting point for a new conversation about women in the life of the church.
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