Report Finds U.S. Catholics Have Much to Learn About Islam

Welcome to Rome. Pope Francis greets Syrian refugees he brought to Rome from the Greek island of Lesbos, at Ciampino airport on April 16, 2016. A recent study from The Bridge Initiative found that the pope has been deeply influential on attitudes toward Islam among U.S. Catholics. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Michael O'Loughlin | Sep 12 2016 - 12:32pm

Well, at least there’s room for improvement.

That could be the takeaway from a new Georgetown University report released on Monday that found fewer than two in 10 U.S. Catholics hold a favorable view of Muslims, with many possessing little understanding when it comes to the beliefs of the world’s second largest religion.

When asked, “What is your overall impression of Muslims?” 30 percent of those Catholics polled said they held unfavorable views, 14 percent said favorable and 45 percent said they held neither favorable nor unfavorable views.

The report was released by Georgetown's The Bridge Initiative, a program at the Washington, D.C., Jesuit university aimed at improving public understanding of Islam while tracking the public discourse on Islam and Muslim life.

http://americamagazine.org/content/dispatches/report-finds-us-catholics-much-learn-about-islam

http://bridge.georgetown.edu/