Polling Shows American People Eager to Hear Pope's Message on Economic Issues

Unhappy with ethics of economic decisions, people seek moral direction from
Pope Benedict XVI

NEW HAVEN, Conn., July 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On the eve of the release
of Pope Benedict XVI's new encyclical letter on the economy and globalization,
the American people are hungry for his message, according to Knights of
Columbus - Marist College poll data.

The polling shows that 70% of Americans want to hear the pope talk about world
hunger and poverty, 57% want to hear his message on the short-sightedness of
greed, and 55% want to hear what he has to say on how Americans can build a
society where spiritual values play an important role.

In addition, the poll found that 59% of Americans have a very favorable or
favorable view of the pope; only 20% have an unfavorable or very unfavorable
view.

"In the area of business, many in our country have fallen ethically ill. The
American people know this. Polling shows this," said Supreme Knight Carl
Anderson. "It is thus no wonder that this survey clearly indicates that the
American people are eager to hear from Pope Benedict XVI on key moral issues
with economic implications: the shortsightedness of greed and the need to
build of a just society. Without attention to these two issues, which the pope
will address in his encyclical letter, no technical solution will be able to
solve the underlying moral problem that we face in trying to recover from this
economic crisis. The American people are looking for a moral compass, and they
know that Pope Benedict XVI has one."

The poll of 2,078 Americans was conducted the last week of March. It has a
margin of error of +/-2.5%.

The full results are available at
http://kofc.org/un/cmf/resources/Communications/documents/poll_pope_20090517.pdf

SOURCE Knights of Columbus

Andrew Walther of Knights of Columbus, +1-203-752-4253 (o), +1-203-824-5412
(c)