Rick Santorum, a Roman Catholic, has
suggested that Catholics do not take their faith seriously.
Exit polls from states that have held
nominating contests show that Santorum does not fare well with
Catholic voters.
Several analysts have pointed to
Santorum's opposition to birth control and gay marriage as possibly
alienating Catholic voters.
“It's not easy to describe the
typical Catholic anymore,” Thomas Reese, director of the Woodstock
Theological Center, a Jesuit research institute affiliated with
Georgetown University, told Reuters. “We've always traditionally
been the big tent that included people of all stripes.”
A recent New York Times/CBS News
poll found that an overwhelming majority of Catholics support gay
unions. Forty-four percent surveyed favored marriage, and 25 percent
said they support civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. Only 24
percent said the relationships of gay couples deserve no recognition.
In an appearance on the American Family
Association's (AFA) Sandy Rios in the Morning radio program,
Santorum was asked his views on why Catholics are not more supportive
of his bid to win the GOP presidential nomination.
“I really wish I could tell you,”
he
said on the program. “I think the bottom line is that we do
well among people who take their faith seriously, and as you know
just like some Protestants, some Protestants are not church going,
they are folks who identify with a particular religion but don't
necessarily practice that from the standpoint of going to church and
the like, and I think, you know, with folks who do practice their
religion more ardently I tend to do well.”