While the Catholic Church officially maintains that homosexual acts are sinful, many Catholics in the U.S. have a more liberal view. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found that more than seven-in-ten U.S. Catholics (71%) say homosexuality should be accepted by society. Just a third (33%) say they believe homosexual behavior is a sin, down from nearly half who said this in 2003; this is the biggest drop of all Christian denominations; only (22%) believe that homosexuality should be discouraged in society. However, fully half (54%) of American Catholics say there is at least some conflict between their personal religious beliefs and homosexuality, with 42% saying there is “a lot” of conflict.
