Poll Finds 2 of 3 Catholics in Favor of Women Priests : Religion: Most also support allowing clergy to marry. Results show split between Rome and church members.

Underscoring the widening chasm between ordinary Roman Catholics in the United States and the church hierarchy, a new Gallup poll has found that two out of three Catholics believe women should be admitted to the priesthood, and 75% say that priests should be allowed to marry.

The poll’s dramatic findings were unveiled as nearly 240 American bishops meeting here at the University of Notre Dame deadlocked on a proposed pastoral letter on women’s role in the church. A pastoral letter is an authoritative teaching of the church.

In the making for nine years, the draft letter reaffirms the centuries-old Catholic tradition--and the strongly held view of Pope John Paul II--of a male priesthood even, as it condemns what it called the “sin of sexism” and says women should be treated with equality.

An unlikely coalition--church liberals who charged that the letter did not go far enough in advocating the ordination of women, and conservatives who thought the draft went too far--appeared to doom its chances of adoption in November, when a vote of the bishops is scheduled in Washington.

In an unusual and dramatic straw vote Thursday, it appeared that more than one out of three bishops could not support the draft. Bishops voted by standing up, but no formal count was taken.

Minutes later, the chairman of the drafting committee, Bishop Joseph L. Imesch of Joilet, Ill., told reporters it would take “a miracle” to salvage the proposal before the bishops’ next meeting.

“Realistically, I don’t see how that’s possible,” he said, adding, “We’re going to give it a try.”

It seemed likely that if the letter is issued at all, it will be downgraded to the status of a less authoritative working paper or committee document. Vatican officials last year had suggested such a move.

The poll released Thursday is the latest from Gallup to track church opinion on such volatile issues as women’s ordination and a married priesthood, and points to growing support for change among the laity. In 1974, 29% of those polled supported the ordination of women. That figure grew to 58% in 1985 and 67% in 1992.

The poll of about 800 Catholics across the nation also found that 58% supported the ordination of women as Roman Catholic bishops. There was also strong support among Catholics that their opinions should be considered by bishops in developing church teaching on sexuality (80% strongly agreed or somewhat agreed). Respondents also favored the election of diocesan bishops by the priests and laity of the diocese (72%) and choosing their own pastors instead of the diocesan bishop appointing them (68%).

On the question of whether sexual relations between gays or lesbians in a committed relationship would be morally acceptable, 19.4% strongly agreed and 26.5% said they were in some agreement.

In all cases, the various causes elicited their strongest support among younger poll respondents.

“This is nothing less than a quiet but massive grass-roots revolution in the church. (It) documents the fact . . . that the Catholic laity and hierarchy are at odds on virtually every major issue facing the church today,” said Sister Maureen Fiedler, co-director of a church reform group known as Catholics Speak Out. “The depth and breadth of this diversity of opinion has reached . . . the point of being a profound and deepening crisis in our church.”

Despite the dramatic findings, there was little indication that they carried much weight with bishops as they debated the proposed pastoral letter.

“The church decides its doctrine on 2,000 years of traditional teaching based on the Scriptures and the message of our Lord Jesus Christ,” said Bishop Raymond J. Boland of Birmingham, Ala. “We’re not about to change it just because of the polls. . . . The polls are a reflection of opinion, not doctrine.”

The split among bishops on the pastoral letter draft was evident during several hours of debate. It was the first time bishops had publicly discussed the third and latest draft, which has been the subject of intense pressure from members of the Catholic laity, influential Vatican officials and prelates from around the world.

The letter stresses that men and women are equal in human dignity and urges priests to view and treat women as equals. But it also states that men and women are called to “distinctive vocations” for the good of the whole church.

Last year, the draft committee was summoned to the Vatican and told the text must conform to church tradition. For example, a section that urged consideration of ordaining women to the deaconate, one step below priesthood, was noticeably more obscure in the draft discussed here.

In debate, Auxiliary Bishop John R. Sheets of Ft. Wayne-South Bend, Ind., warned that the church was threatened with divisions over what he termed “a unique sense of feminine identity. Like all major movements . . . it has power for good as well as for evil. My present concern is the potential it has to divide the church in a way that goes beyond anything that has happened in the past. Its basic thrust is diametrically opposed to the Scripture text.”

Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland of Milwaukee said, “I find the letter is not going to be a healing letter. . . . I find it at times rather brusque and harsh.”

Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles arrived late to the meeting and did not participate in the discussion of the letter.

Fiedler, the nun who called for women’s ordination, hailed the letter’s likely defeat as “wonderful. It’s self-contradicting and also hypocritical.”

Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago urged the bishops to approve the letter, even though he said it may fall short of expectations.

“It would be a serious mistake at this time to walk away from it,” he said. “It gives the impression we have nothing to say or don’t know what to say about the concerns of women . . . or that we don’t have the courage to exercise our responsibility as teachers of the church.”

Changing Attitudes

A Gallup poll of a American Roman Catholics shows a growing gap bet between the laity and the church hierarchy on the ordination of women. Responses were asked on the statement, “It would be a good thing if women were allowed to be ordained as priests.” Conducted May 5-17, the poll has a 4% margin of error. Gallup has tracked this issue since 1977. The 1974 poll cited was done by National Opinion Research.

Percentage in agreement 1974: 29% 1977: 36% 1979: 40% 1982: 44% 1985: 47% 1992: 67%

Responses by age All Catholics: Agree: 67% Disagree: 29% Don’t know or no opinion: 6%

Under 35: Agree: 80% Disagree: 18% Don’t know or no opinion: 2%

35-54: Agree: 66% Disagree: 30% Don’t know or no opinion: 5%

55+: Agree: 50% Disagree: 49% Don’t know or no opinion: 1% Source: Gallup Organization