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WASHINGTON, September 2, 2015 (Donna Rachel Edmunds) - Support for gay marriage is higher among American Catholics than it is in the general population, a new study claims, with one in six Catholics giving the go-ahead to same sex unions. The study comes as Catholics worldwide urge Pope Francis to clarify the Church’s position on marriage.

The study, conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute and funded by the Henry Luce Foundation surveyed 1,331 Americans in early August and found that approximately one in five, a total of 384 people surveyed, were Catholic.

When those respondents were asked whether gays and lesbians should have the legal right to marry, 60 per cent of them said yes, against 55 per cent of respondents overall. Almost 53 per cent of Catholics disagreed that same-sex marriage goes against their religious beliefs, while 42 per cent agreed, and 76 per cent of Catholics favoured laws to protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people against discrimination, while 21 per cent opposed the policy.

The study also found opposition to exemption from discrimination laws on the grounds of religious freedom, with 65 per cent of Catholic respondents in opposition to a policy that would allow small business owners to refuse products or services to gay and lesbian people, even if doing so goes against their religious beliefs.

Another 28 per cent supported religious exemption from discrimination laws, but that figure rose to 58 per cent amongst those who attend church weekly or more often.

The authors of the study, Robert Jones and Daniel Cox have attributed the results to the liberal leanings of Pope Francis, titling their paper: The Francis Effect? They noted:

Across a range of public policy questions, American Catholics are more likely to say they agree with Pope Francis than to say they disagree with him. However, a significant number of Catholics report being unfamiliar with the pope's position on a range of issues, and there is evidence that some Catholics may not have an accurate understanding of Pope Francis' positions.

Read the rest at Breitbart.com.

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