
When Pope Benedict XVI released his major new encyclical this week, "Caritas in Veritate," I was certain his words would appear in every major broadcast and would be a cause for national discussion. Yet, between the 24/7 coverage of Michael Jackson's death and legacy, and Sarah Palin's sudden resignation as governor of Alaska, the coverage of the pope's newest message to the world's 1 billion Catholics seemed to get a bit...lost in the media shuffle.
This has made me wonder, just how relevant is the pope to our nation's Catholics? Will the 68.1 million Catholics in America read the encyclical, and heed the pope's message? Do the majority of Catholics even know it was released? How do the views of American Catholics compare to those of the pope on major issues?
In an effort to find out more, I created this very informal and unscientific survey:
If you are interested, please click on the above link and take a moment to answer a few basic questions about your interest in the pope's latest statement and his teachings. That is, if you can tear yourself away from the debate over what Sarah Palin might be thinking about 2012, or who attended Michael Jackson's funeral....