Most American Catholics Ignore the Pope and Vatican on Moral Guidance

A new Pew Research Center survey contains more bad news for the Vatican and Pope Francis - most Catholics look to their own conscience rather than the Pope and/or Church dogma for moral Guidance.  Thus, one has to wonder why the media is so breathlessly reporting Church synods on the families or Pope Francis' recent blather about divorced Catholics and gays which did nothing to change long standing Church misogyny.  Here are some sample findings:

About three-quarters of U.S. Catholics (73%) say they look to their own conscience “a great deal” for guidance on difficult moral questions. Far fewer Catholics say they rely a great deal on the Catholic Church’s teachings (21%), the Bible (15%) or the pope (11%) for such guidance.

Catholics who are highly religious are more likely than less religious Catholics to turn to church teachings, the Bible or the pope for guidance on difficult moral questions. Still, far fewer highly religious Catholics say they rely a great deal on any of these three sources for guidance on tough moral questions than say they rely on their own conscience.

Among those who identify as "Nones" church attendance and/or holding religious belief is viewed as having little bearing on whether or no one is a moral person.  Indeed, honesty is one of the aspects that is seen as something that is essential to being a moral person.  Ironically, among Christofascists, honesty holds little value given the incessant lies that they disseminate about others.  Here is some of what Pew found in this regard:

Relatively few religious “nones,” who make up 78% of the non-Christians surveyed, say religious beliefs or behaviors are central to what it means to be a moral person. For example, only about three-in-ten respondents without any religious affiliation say believing in God is either essential (13%) or important but not essential (18%) to what being a “moral person” means to them. And only about one-in-ten religious “nones” say attending religious services is essential (2%) or important but not essential (10%) to what it means to be a moral person. By contrast, about half or more of the unaffiliated say honesty and gratitude are essential to being a moral person.