The Catholic Church teaches that premarital sex, gay marriage, contraception, and divorce are wrong — but a major survey ahead of Pope Francis' trip to the United States finds that much of his American flock does not agree. 
 
 The new poll by the Pew Research Center reveals that Americans who identify as Catholic are surprisingly open to non-traditional families, and many don't see birth control, cohabitation, remarriage or gay sex as sins — no matter what the Vatican says. 
 
 Much smaller but still significant percentages don't even see abortion — grounds for excommunication under canon law — as a sin. 
 
 "This may be in part because Francis' American flock is experiencing life in all its modern complexity," the Pew researchers wrote, noting that a quarter of Catholics have been divorced themselves and almost half have at one point done what used to be called "living in sin." 
 
 A Pew Research Survey has taken the pulse of American Catholics ahead of Pope Francis' visit to the United States. EDUARDO MUNOZ / Reuters 
 
 The data shows that Catholics who attend Mass weekly are more likely to stick to church teachings than those who only show up occasionally, but even among the very faithful sizable numbers could be seen as "cafeteria Catholics" who pick and choose which tenets to follow. 
 
 On the question of what's a sin, the researchers found: 
 
 Cohabitation without marriage : 65 percent say it's not a sin, and 51 percent of regular church-goers. 
 
 : 65 percent say it's not a sin, and 51 percent of regular church-goers. Homosexual behavior : 50 percent of all Catholics say it's not a sin, although that dropped to 36 percent among those who attend Mass regularly. 
 
 : 50 percent of all Catholics say it's not a sin, although that dropped to 36 percent among those who attend Mass regularly. Contraception : More than three-fourths say it's not a sin, including 63 percent of those who are in the pews every Sunday. 
 
 : More than three-fourths say it's not a sin, including 63 percent of those who are in the pews every Sunday. Divorce : Seven out of 10 say it's not a sin; more than half of those who frequently attend services agree. 
 
 : Seven out of 10 say it's not a sin; more than half of those who frequently attend services agree. Abortion: A third of Catholics say terminating a pregnancy is not a sin. Among church-going Catholics, one in five don't see abortion as sinful. 
 
 While Catholics say the traditional family structure of a husband and wife with kids is ideal, the survey showed that large majorities think it's fine for kids to be raised by other kinds of families: 87 percent are accepting of single parents, 83 percent of unmarried parents who live together or divorced parents, and 66 percent of gay couples with kids. 
 
 There is widespread support among American Catholics for change in church teaching, especially on the subject of contraception and allowing priests to marry. 
 
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 Despite the gap between church teachings and congregants' beliefs, Catholics are clinging to their religious identity: seven out of 10 said they would not leave the church for any reason. 
 
 Father Tom Reese, a senior analyst for the National Catholic Reporter, said the "all-or-nothing" approach to Catholicism has been waning since the progressive reforms of Vatican II. 
 
 "People are more educated and making up their minds on these issues, not just accepting what father says from the pulpit," he said. 
 
 "People now have a lot more personal experience with these things," he added. "They have brothers and sisters and friends who are gay, who are divorced — and they don't want to consign them to hell." 
 
 Pope Francis, who is coming to the U.S. later this month, has won fans for a less judgmental approach to Catholic rule-breakers. Just this week, he said priests can absolve women who had abortions, considered a grave sin. 
 
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 But Reese said Francis' kinder-gentler approach and the liberal attitudes of some American devotees doesn't mean church teaching will be changing anytime soon. 
 
 "We have great impatience as Americans. We want things now," he said. "But this pope is trying lead a 1.2 billion-member organization with thousands of bishops from around the world, and he's not simply going to get on his throne and change policy." 
 
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 Correction: Figures in this story for Catholics who attend Mass regularly have been changed. The figures in an earlier version referred to the views of regular church attendees of all religions. 

 45% of Americans Are Catholic or Connected to Catholicism 
 
 When Pope Francis arrives in the U.S. for the World Meeting of Families later this month, he will find a Catholic public that is remarkably accepting of a variety of non-traditional families, according to a new Pew Research Center survey that provides an in-depth look at American Catholics’ views on family life, sexuality and Catholic identity. 
 
 Nine-in-ten U.S. Catholics say a household headed by a married mother and father is an ideal situation for bringing up children. But the survey shows that large majorities think other kinds of families – those headed by parents who are single, divorced, unmarried or gay – are OK for raising children, too. 
 
 This may be in part because Francis’ American flock is experiencing life in all its modern complexity. According to the survey, one-in-four Catholics have gone through a divorce. One-in-ten have not only divorced but also remarried. One-in-ten are living with a romantic partner, sans wedding, and more than four-in-ten have done so at some point in their lives. 
 
 When it comes to matters of sexuality, there are a number of issues on which Catholics either mostly disagree with the church (e.g., on the question of whether Catholics should be permitted to use birth control) or are divided (e.g., on the question of whether the church should recognize the marriages of gay and lesbian couples). 
 
 But there also are numerous ways in which Catholics express their dedication to the church and its teachings. For example, seven-in-ten say they cannot ever imagine leaving the Catholic Church, no matter what. Nearly six-in-ten Catholics say abortion is a sin. And more than half say devotion to Mary and receiving the sacraments are “essential” to what being Catholic means to them personally. The survey shows, furthermore, that Catholics who say they attend Mass regularly (at least once a week) are consistently more in agreement with church teachings than are Catholics who attend Mass less frequently. 
 
 The survey also shows that the United States is a nation of people whose ties to Catholicism run both deep and broad. Fully 45% of Americans are connected to Catholicism in some way, including one-fifth who claim the faith as their current religion, one-tenth who were raised in the faith and have now fallen away, and a similar share who maintain a cultural connection to Catholicism. 
 
 The latter group – “cultural Catholics” – do not identify Catholicism as their religion; most are Protestants or say they have no religion. But they do identify as Catholic or partially Catholic in some other way. This attachment to Catholicism shows up in their lives in various ways: For example, one-third say they attend Mass at least occasionally. And among cultural Catholics who were raised in the church, roughly four-in-ten say they could imagine returning to the faith someday. 
 
 The new survey also suggests that Pope Francis may have a difficult time persuading Catholics in the U.S. to adopt his philosophy about excess and his focus on the environment. Though six-in-ten Catholics say working to help the poor and needy is essential to their Catholic identity, only about half as many say the same about working to address climate change. Catholics are divided on the question of whether it is sinful to spend money on luxuries without also giving to the poor, but large majorities say it is not a sin to live in a house larger than needed or to use energy without concern for the impact on the environment. The survey finds that Hispanic Catholics are much more inclined than non-Hispanic whites to express concerns about the morality of excessive consumption. 
 
 These are among the key findings of Pew Research Center’s 2015 Survey of U.S. Catholics and Family Life, conducted May 5-June 7, 2015, on landlines and cellphones among a national probability sample of 5,122 adults, including 1,016 self-identified Catholics, with a margin of sampling error of +/- 3.5 percentage points for Catholics and +/- 1.6 percentage points for the full sample. (For more information on the survey’s methodology, see Appendix A.) The survey examines Catholics’ views about a wide range of family issues that Francis and Catholics from around the world may discuss later this month at the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia and that the church’s hierarchy is expected to continue to discuss at an October Synod of Bishops in Rome. 
 
 The new survey also explores the nature and forms of Catholic identity and connections to the church, and it describes Catholics’ own experiences with divorce, remarriage and cohabitation. 
 
 Catholics’ Views on Family Life and Sexuality 
 
 Nine-in-ten U.S. Catholics say, when it comes to parenting, a married mother and father are ideal – as good as, or better than, any other arrangement for bringing up kids. But large majorities of Catholics think other family configurations generally are acceptable, too. 
 
 For example, 84% of Catholics say it is acceptable for unmarried parents who live together to bring up children, including 48% who call this as good as any other arrangement for raising children. And fully two-thirds of American Catholics think it is acceptable for same-sex couples to raise children, including 43% who say a gay or lesbian couple with children is just as good as any other kind of family. 
 
 Leaving children aside, Catholics also condone a variety of adult living arrangements that the church traditionally has frowned upon. A sizable majority (85%) think it is acceptable for a man and woman to live together as a couple outside of marriage, including more than half (55%) who say cohabitation is as good as any other living arrangement for adults. And seven-in-ten Catholics say married couples who opt not to have children have chosen a lifestyle that is as good as any other. 
 
 But the survey also shows that Catholics who attend Mass regularly are more inclined to hew to the traditional teachings of the church. For example, among Catholics who say they attend Mass weekly, six-in-ten think that a gay or lesbian couple raising children is either unacceptable (36%) or acceptable but not as good as some other arrangements for raising children (25%); just 34% say a same-sex couple raising children is as good as any other family configuration. 
 
 By comparison, roughly half of Catholics who attend Mass less than once a week (49%) say being raised by a same-sex couple is just as good an arrangement for children as any other, and an additional 22% say this is acceptable even if not as good as some other arrangements. Only about one-in-five Catholics who attend Mass less than once a week (22%) say being raised by a same-sex couple is not an acceptable arrangement for children. 
 
 (Roughly four-in-ten Catholics say they attend Mass at least once a week. For details, see Chapter 2.) 
 
 Overall, Catholics are split on whether homosexual behavior is a sin. More than four-in-ten (44%, including 59% of weekly Mass attenders) say it is, but nearly as many (39%) say it is not. And the preponderance of lay Catholic opinion in the United States today is that living with a romantic partner outside of marriage is not a sin: 54% say it is not a sin, compared with 33% who say it is sinful. Similarly, more U.S. Catholics say getting remarried after a divorce without first obtaining an annulment is not a sin (49%) than say it is a sin (35%), and the same is true on the issue of using contraceptives (66% vs. 17%). 
 
 Moreover, many U.S. Catholics would like the Catholic Church, as an institution, to adopt a more flexible or accepting approach toward people who are divorced, cohabiting with a romantic partner outside marriage or in same-sex relationships. Fully six-in-ten say the church should start allowing Catholics who are cohabiting, as well as those who have divorced and remarried without obtaining an annulment, to receive Communion (61% and 62%, respectively). And nearly half of Catholics (46%) think the church should recognize same-sex marriages. 
 
 As with attitudes about family arrangements, Catholics who report attending Mass regularly are more likely than other Catholics to accept church teachings about the sinfulness of certain sexual behaviors and living arrangements. For example, most Catholics who attend Mass at least once a week say homosexual behavior is a sin, and nearly half say cohabitation and remarriage after a divorce without an annulment are sinful. Among Catholics who attend Mass less often, fewer view these behaviors and living arrangements as sinful. Regular Mass-attending Catholics are also more likely than other Catholics to say the church should not allow cohabiting Catholics or divorced Catholics who have remarried without obtaining an annulment to receive Communion. 
 
 Catholics’ Own Experiences with Divorce, Remarriage and Cohabitation 
 
 The new survey finds that a quarter of U.S. Catholic adults have gone through a divorce, including about one-in-ten (9%) who are now remarried. About a quarter of divorced Catholics (26%, or 6% of all Catholic adults) report that they or their former spouse sought an annulment of their previous marriage. In addition, 44% of Catholics say they have cohabited with a romantic partner at some point in their lives, including 9% who are currently doing so. 
 
 In a separate survey, nearly half of Catholics (47%) said they have a close friend or family member who is gay. And in Pew Research Center’s 2014 U.S. Religious Landscape Study, about 4% of Catholics described their own sexual orientation as gay, lesbian or bisexual. 
 
 Catholic Identity and Catholic Connections 
 
 Pew Research Center’s 2014 Religious Landscape Study, which asked 35,000 Americans about their religious affiliation, beliefs and practices, found that about one-in-five U.S. adults (21%) identify their current religion as Catholic, down from 24% in a parallel study of the U.S. religious landscape conducted in 2007. 
 
 One of the goals of the new survey of U.S. Catholics is to explore a wider range of Catholic identities and connections to the church than previous polls have covered. Indeed, the new survey finds that fully 45% of Americans have some personal connection to Catholicism. For analytical purposes, this report divides them into four main groups: 
 
 Catholics : When asked, “What is your present religion, if any?” one-in-five U.S. adults say they are Catholic. Within this group, there is a wide spectrum of beliefs and practices. Some say they attend Mass at least once a week (39%), while others say they rarely or never go to Mass (16%). But all respondents who say their current religion is Catholic are included as “Catholics” in this report. And, by and large, they are deeply loyal to the Catholic Church. Fully seven-in-ten say they could never imagine leaving Catholicism, no matter what. 
 
 : When asked, “What is your present religion, if any?” one-in-five U.S. adults say they are Catholic. Within this group, there is a wide spectrum of beliefs and practices. Some say they attend Mass at least once a week (39%), while others say they rarely or never go to Mass (16%). But all respondents who say their current religion is Catholic are included as “Catholics” in this report. And, by and large, they are deeply loyal to the Catholic Church. Fully seven-in-ten say they could never imagine leaving Catholicism, no matter what. Cultural Catholics : Nearly one-in-ten Americans (9%) say they belong to a faith other than Catholicism (most often Protestantism) or are religiously unaffiliated (atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular”) but nevertheless consider themselves Catholic or partially Catholic in some other way. The survey asked these respondents to explain, in their own words, why they consider themselves Catholic. They give a variety of reasons, including, most commonly, that they were raised in the Catholic faith and – even though they no longer consider Catholicism to be their religion – they still think of themselves as indelibly Catholic by culture, ancestry, ethnicity or family tradition (for more details, see Chapter 1). Smaller numbers say they were not raised in the Catholic Church but have some other attachment, such as being married to a Catholic, and therefore think of themselves as partially Catholic even though Catholicism is not their own faith. Cultural Catholics generally express an affinity for the church, including high approval ratings of Pope Francis. But they rate much lower than Catholics on measures of Catholic observance (such as attending Mass). 
 
 : Nearly one-in-ten Americans (9%) say they belong to a faith other than Catholicism (most often Protestantism) or are religiously unaffiliated (atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular”) but nevertheless consider themselves Catholic or partially Catholic in some other way. The survey asked these respondents to explain, in their own words, why they consider themselves Catholic. They give a variety of reasons, including, most commonly, that they were raised in the Catholic faith and – even though they no longer consider Catholicism to be their religion – they still think of themselves as indelibly Catholic by culture, ancestry, ethnicity or family tradition (for more details, see Chapter 1). Smaller numbers say they were not raised in the Catholic Church but have some other attachment, such as being married to a Catholic, and therefore think of themselves as partially Catholic even though Catholicism is not their own faith. Cultural Catholics generally express an affinity for the church, including high approval ratings of Pope Francis. But they rate much lower than Catholics on measures of Catholic observance (such as attending Mass). Ex–Catholics : An additional 9% of Americans say they were raised in the Catholic Church but no longer consider themselves Catholic in any way, either by religion or aside from religion. Not all ex-Catholics appear to be deeply alienated from the church. More than half (59%) give Pope Francis positive ratings, and a few say they go to Mass at least once or twice a year (10%) and would choose to have the sacrament of anointing of the sick – sometimes performed as part of last rites – if they were seriously ill (9%). 
 
 : An additional 9% of Americans say they were raised in the Catholic Church but no longer consider themselves Catholic in any way, either by religion or aside from religion. Not all ex-Catholics appear to be deeply alienated from the church. More than half (59%) give Pope Francis positive ratings, and a few say they go to Mass at least once or twice a year (10%) and would choose to have the sacrament of anointing of the sick – sometimes performed as part of last rites – if they were seriously ill (9%). Other connections: About 8% of Americans were not raised Catholic and do not consider themselves Catholic, but nonetheless say they have some familial or institutional connection to the Catholic Church. This group includes people who had a Catholic parent but were not brought up in the faith. It includes some non-Catholics who say they attend Mass at a Catholic church at least a few times a year. It also includes people who have a Catholic spouse or partner but who say they don’t think of themselves, personally, as Catholic or even partially Catholic in any way. (If they did, they would be in the cultural Catholic category.) 
 
 While any attempt to divide nearly half of the U.S. population into a handful of categories is bound to blur some important distinctions, one benefit of this novel categorization is that it highlights the broad reach Catholicism has in American life, extending well beyond the population that currently self-identifies as Catholic by religion. Connections to Catholicism are particularly widespread among Latinos: 84% of Latinos in the current survey are either Catholics (45%), cultural Catholics (13%), ex-Catholics (18%) or otherwise connected to the church (8%). 
 
 The categories also make it possible to compare the views and experiences of Catholics not just with the general public, but also with non-Catholics who have varying degrees of exposure to and affinity for Catholicism. With this in mind, many of the charts and tables throughout this report show figures for Catholics as well as for cultural Catholics and ex-Catholics, as appropriate. Respondents with other kinds of connections to Catholicism are discussed less frequently, both because the nature of their connections to Catholicism are quite disparate (some have a Catholic spouse, others a Catholic parent, still others are Catholic-connected in the sense that they attend Mass at least occasionally) and because they were not raised Catholic and do not identify as Catholic today (either by religion or aside from religion). 
 
 Leaving, Joining and Staying in the Catholic Church 
 
 Another feature of the new survey is that Catholics were asked whether there was ever a period in their lives when they left the church. This allows a fuller picture of switching into and out of Catholicism, which turns out to be even more common than previously known. The new analysis shows that among all U.S. adults who were raised Catholic, fully half (52%) have left the church at some point in their lives. Of these, about one-in-five (11% of all adults who were raised Catholic) are “reverts” – people who left the church for a while and have since returned. The remainder (41% of everyone who was raised Catholic) have not returned to the faith. 
 
 Since Pope Francis’ election in 2013, there has been much discussion of a potential “Francis effect,” with some commentators speculating that the popular pope, and the winds of change he has brought to the church, might draw more former Catholics back into the fold. The survey suggests that the most likely candidates to be drawn back by a Francis effect are in the cultural Catholic category. 
 
 Most cultural Catholics (73%) express a favorable view of Pope Francis, with large majorities describing him as humble, compassionate and open-minded. Moreover, a third or more of cultural Catholics say they observe Lent, go to Mass at least occasionally and would want the sacrament of the anointing of the sick if they were very ill. And among cultural Catholics who were raised in the faith, fully 43% say they can see themselves possibly returning to the church someday. 
 
 The situation is quite different among ex-Catholics. Although they, too, generally hold the pope in high regard, an overwhelming majority of ex-Catholics (89%) say they cannot imagine themselves ever returning to the church. 
 
 (For full results on views toward Pope Francis, see the first release based on this survey, “Catholics Divided Over Global Warming.”) 
 
 Care for the Environment and Concern for the Poor 
 
 The new survey was conducted shortly before the Vatican released “Laudato Si’,” the pope’s encyclical addressing environmental issues and highlighting the disproportionate impact of climate change on the world’s poor. The survey’s results, therefore, may not reflect the full impact of the encyclical on public opinion. But even before the pope’s highly anticipated message, concern for the poor was very much on the minds of many Catholics. A solid majority (62%) said working to help the poor and needy is essential to what being Catholic means to them, and four-in-ten (41%) said they consider it sinful to buy luxuries without also donating to the poor. 
 
 It is less clear whether this concern for the poor affects Catholics’ thinking about the environment in general or climate change in particular. Prior to the publication of the encyclical, just a quarter of U.S. Catholics (23%) said it is a sin to use electricity, gasoline and other forms of energy without concern for their impact on the environment. And three-in-ten Catholics (29%) said that working to address climate change is an essential part of what being Catholic means to them, far fewer than the share who said the same about working to help the poor and needy. 
 
 Other Key Findings 
 
 Additional highlights in this report include: 
 
 Catholics are divided on the question of whether their Catholic identity is more a matter of religion or ancestry/culture. While 45% say that for them personally, being Catholic is mainly a matter of religion (or of religion and ancestry/culture), 49% say that their Catholic identity is mainly a matter of ancestry or culture (or both). And among those in the “cultural Catholics” category, fully six-in-ten (62%) say that for them, being Catholic is mainly a matter of ancestry and/or culture. 
 
 In terms of what being Catholic means to them, both Catholics by religion and cultural Catholics emphasize the importance of a personal relationship with Jesus, belief in the Resurrection and working to help the poor and needy. But cultural Catholics are less likely than Catholics by religion to place importance on devotion to Mary, receiving the sacraments or being part of a Catholic parish. 
 
 More than half of Catholics (56%) say they sometimes participate in Catholic activities, even if they don’t believe in them, because it is important to their family or friends. Roughly six-in-ten cultural Catholics (63%) and nearly half of ex-Catholics (46%) say this as well. 
 
 Many Catholics, cultural Catholics and ex-Catholics think the Catholic Church should change its position on a variety of issues, including allowing priests to marry and women to be priests, although fewer believe these changes will actually take place in the next few decades. 
 
 Younger Catholics are much more likely than older Catholics to say they could imagine leaving the Catholic Church someday. Four-in-ten (41%) Catholic adults under age 30 say they could see themselves leaving the church, compared with about a quarter (26%) of those ages 30-64 and just 14% of those ages 65 and older. 
 
 A plurality of Catholics say they receive Holy Communion every time they go to Mass (43%), and an additional 13% say they take Communion most of the time. White Catholics are much more likely to say they receive Communion regularly than are Hispanic Catholics. Fully 56% of white Catholics say they take Communion each time they attend Mass, compared with just 21% of Hispanic Catholics. Most Hispanics say they take Communion only some of the time (35%) or that they never receive the sacrament (27%). 
 
 About four-in-ten Catholics (43%) say they go to confession at least once a year, including 7% who report going monthly and 14% who say they go several times a year. Those who attend Mass at least once a week are far more likely than less-frequent church attenders to say they go to confession once a year or more (68% vs. 27%). But, on the whole, there are only modest differences on this question among women and men, younger and older Catholics, whites and Hispanics, and college graduates and those with less education. 
 
 When they pray, about half of Catholics say they rely on memorized prayers such as the Hail Mary (21%) or a combination of memorized prayers and “personal conversations” with God (31%). By comparison, eight-in-ten Protestants (82%), including nine-in-ten white evangelical Protestants (89%), say they rely primarily on personal conversations with God. 
 
 Catholics are as likely as Protestants to believe in the concept of sin, with roughly nine-in-ten in each group professing such a belief. About half of religiously unaffiliated Americans – including 47% of ex-Catholics who now say they are religious “nones” – believe that some actions are offensive to God. 
 
 Acknowledgments 
 
 Many individuals from Pew Research Center contributed to this report. Alan Cooperman, director of religion research, oversaw the effort and served as the primary editor. Gregory A. Smith, associate director for religion research, and Jessica Hamar Martínez, senior researcher, served as the primary researchers and wrote the Overview and the chapter on exploring Catholic identity. Smith also wrote the chapter on participation in Catholic rites and observances. The chapter on family matters was written by Research Associate Elizabeth Podrebarac Sciupac. Research Associate Becka Alper wrote the chapter on expectations of the church, and Senior Researcher Besheer Mohamed wrote the chapter on beliefs about sin. Copy Editor Aleksandra Sandstrom prepared the glossary, and Research Assistant Claire Gecewicz prepared the detailed tables. The report was number checked by Alper, Gecewicz, Martínez, Mohamed, Sciupac and Smith. The report was edited by Sandra Stencel, Michael Lipka, Caryle Murphy and Sandstrom. Bill Webster created the graphics. 
 
 Pew Research Center’s methods team, led by Director of Survey Research Scott Keeter and including Research Methodologists Kyley McGeeney and Andrew Mercer, provided advice on the sampling plan, questionnaire design and data analysis. 
 
 Others at Pew Research Center who provided research guidance include Michael Dimock, Claudia Deane, Carroll Doherty, Cary Funk, Ana Gonzalez-Barrera, Jocelyn Kiley, Andrew Kohut and Kim Parker. Communications support was provided by Stefan S. Cornibert, Erin O’Connell and Andrew Cohen. Web support was provided by Stacy Rosenberg and Benjamin Wormald. 
 
 Pew Research Center received invaluable advice on the survey questionnaire, analysis of results and writing of this report from a panel of advisers that included: Gary Adler Jr., assistant professor of sociology, The Pennsylvania State University; Tricia C. Bruce, associate professor of sociology, Maryville College; Jesuit Father Allan Figueroa Deck, distinguished scholar in pastoral theology and Latino studies, Loyola Marymount University; Mark M. Gray, senior research associate at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) and director of CARA Catholic Polls (CCP), Georgetown University; John C. Green, distinguished professor of political science and director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics, University of Akron; Mary Ellen Konieczny, assistant professor of sociology, University of Notre Dame; Stephen F. Schneck, director of the Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies, Catholic University of America; and W. Bradford Wilcox, associate professor of sociology and director of the National Marriage Project, University of Virginia. 
 
 Roadmap to the Report 
 
 The remainder of this report explores in greater depth many of the key findings summarized in this overview. Chapter 1 offers a detailed look at Catholic identity, including the ways in which cultural Catholics consider themselves Catholic, and documenting the beliefs and practices that Catholics say are essential to what being Catholic means to them. Chapter 2 examines participation in Catholic rites and practices. Chapter 3 explores family matters, describing Catholics’ own living arrangements and marital histories and detailing their attitudes about a number of non-traditional family arrangements. Chapter 4 examines changes Catholics say they would like to see in the church. And Chapter 5 analyzes Catholics’ attitudes about sin. 

 Skip Ad Ad Loading... x Embed x Share Pope Francis' evolving views on controversial social issues have surprised observers. Now an unprecedented bit of research shows that USA Catholics' views may be just as surprising. USA TODAY 
 
 Pope Francis leads special prayers marking a day he has dedicated to praising and protecting nature's marvels in St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, Sept. 1, 2015. Any Catholic priest -- rather than just bishops and selected prelates -- will be able to pardon the grave sin of abortion during the upcoming Jubilee of Mercy, Pope Francis has said. (Photo: Murizio Brambatti, EPA) 
 
 Pope Francis' evolving views on a host of fraught social issues have surprised observers since his rise to the Vatican 2-and-a-half years ago. Now, an unprecedented bit of research shows that USA Catholics' views may be just as surprising. 
 
 A trove of data out Wednesday from the Pew Research Center finds that the typical American Catholic doesn't find it sinful to use contraception or to live with a romantic partner outside of marriage. While nearly half of Catholics believe the church should not recognize the marriages of gay and lesbian couples, just as many think it should. 
 
 The findings come as Pope Francis this week waded into one of the thorniest topics of his papacy: abortion. 
 
 On Tuesday, he said priests can forgive the "sin of abortion" for women who are sorry about it. In a letter published by the Vatican, the pontiff — who has been striving to build a more inclusive church — said priests will have the power during a special "Holy Year of Mercy" that begins in December. 
 
 The new Pew survey of 5,122 adults found that while most Catholics — 57% — believe it's "sinful" to terminate a pregnancy, opposing abortion ranks relatively low among a list of 10 beliefs when it comes to defining what's "essential" to being a Catholic. Only about one in three respondents said opposing abortion was essential to being a Catholic. By contrast, about two-thirds said "having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ" was essential. 
 
 "I think it just says something about how salient this issue is to Catholics overall," said Jessica Martinez, a Pew senior researcher. "When they think about living out their faith day to day, it doesn't seem like opposing abortion is high on the list for most Catholics." 
 
 Like much of the survey, the questions asking Catholics to rank essential beliefs are unprecedented for Pew, Martinez said, so they don't have comparable data from previous years. 
 
 In his brief tenure, which began in the spring of 2013, Pope Francis has laid out sometimes controversial stances on a host of social issues, including divorce, gay marriage and contraception. 
 
 Francis hasn't budged much from the church's view that artificial contraception is a sin — in remarks he later walked back, Francis said Catholics need not reproduce "like rabbits.'' Days later, he praised big families for "welcoming children as a true gift of God." 
 
 The Pew survey found that 66% of Catholics believe it's not sinful to use contraception — actually, that's several percentage points higher than the general public's view. Overall, 63% of Americans believe it's not sinful to use contraception. 
 
 Asked by Pew if they believe the church will "definitely" or "probably" allow contraception by 2050, 59% of Catholics agreed. And three-fourths believe the church should allow it. 
 
 Just months after being named pontiff, Francis struck a tolerant tone on gay marriage, saying, "Who am I to judge?" when asked whether gays and lesbians could be good Christians. "They shouldn't be marginalized," he said. "The tendency (to be homosexual) is not the problem. They are our brothers." 
 
 The Pew survey found that Catholics are evenly split, at 46% apiece, on whether the church should recognize the marriages of gay and lesbian couples. Another 8% are undecided. 
 
 On divorce, the Pope issued a call last month for the church to embrace divorced and remarried Catholics. He said such couples "are not excommunicated, and they absolutely must not be treated that way." Francis told a Vatican crowd, "They always belong to the church." 
 
 The Pew survey actually revealed that, given the choice between a divorced or same-sex couple raising children, more Catholics believe that the same-sex arrangement is "acceptable and as good as any other arrangement." 
 
 Even as the findings suggest that many USA Catholics are at odds with traditional church teachings on social issues, Martinez noted, seven in 10 say they couldn't imagine quitting Catholicism. 
 
 "They're still very much attached to their church," she said. 
 
 Contributing: Katharine Lackey, John Bacon, USA TODAY 
 
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– American Catholics may be fans of Pope Francis—but not necessarily the ideas he represents as head of the Catholic Church. A new Pew Research Center poll of 5,122 adults shows Americans who identify as Catholic are much more accepting and have a very different view on what constitutes a sin compared to the Vatican. A few takeaways, via USA Today and NBC News: Cohabitation: About 86% are willing to accept a man and a woman living together without being married. In fact, 44% of Catholics say they were guilty of the practice at some point. When it comes to gay couples, 70% support cohabitation. Non-traditional families: While 44% of Catholics say homosexual behavior is a sin, almost as many, 39%, say it isn't. Some 66% say they are accepting of gay couples who raise children, 87% accept single parents, and 83% support unmarried parents who live together. Birth control: Some 66% of US Catholics say using contraception is A-OK, compared to just 63% of the overall US population. About 75% of Catholics say the Church should allow birth control. Abortion: Though 57% of Catholics oppose abortion, a third say they support the termination of a pregnancy—a "sin" Pope Francis says can be forgiven. Divorce: A quarter of Catholics have been divorced themselves and 70% say there's nothing sinful about it. Some 49% say getting remarried isn't a sin, either, compared to 35% who believe it is. About 9% of US Catholics have been divorced and remarried. Click for more from the survey.