Our survey garnered 11,000 responses from people of different faiths to questions about the next pope and the challenges facing the Catholic Church.

Catholics

I am glad I do not have a choice in the matter, as I have no idea what makes a good pope. All I know that we need a pope, who inspires, like the last pope. (United States)

I pray the cardinals pick a divinely spiritual person, such as Pope John Paul II. The church needs someone with whom you feel you could sit down and discuss issues. I must believe that God will direct us on the right path. (United States)

The Holy Spirit has a candidate. Since the 115 voting cardinals are endowed with free will, the Holy Spirit's candidate could lose. We have had bad popes before, yet the church survives only through the grace of God, shown through a promise of Christ, "...and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." I pray these men obey the Holy Spirit and choose the candidate of God. (United States)

My vision of my ideal pope is that he will lead my church in a better direction by allowing priests to be married. He will get rid of the priests who have committed sexual abuse against anyone and also get rid of those who helped protect those priests, no matter who they are. My pope will continue John Paul II's evangelization throughout our world. He will one day allow women to be ordained priests.

(United States)

There is no ideal pope. He is a man with human faults and characteristics. If he works hard to serve the Lord it would suffice. (United States)

One who would not withhold Holy Communion from anyone Jews, Muslims, Protestants, divorced, or gay Christ died for us all. (United States)

A visionary who will continue in the steps of John Paul II toward his goal of world peace.

(United States)

Jesus' Sermon on the Mount should be the guiding principle for the new leader of the church. Church hierarchy seems caught up in the rule of law instead of the spirit of the law. We need more spirit-led people in the pews; and we need the hierarchy to recognize that all of us are the church. We need a true "people's pope" one who is from the people as well as for the people. (United States)

The ideal pope would be married with children. (United States)

One who represents God's visions, not ours. (United States)

Moderate and open minded. Not a control freak! (United States)

A staunch enforcer of church dogma who will crack down on clergy everywhere to do the same. (United States)

Someone less inclined to listen to the Curia, and run the church as Christ would have done, rather than a Fortune 500 company. (United States)

A holy man, multilingual, from a Third World country, who appoints more prophetic leaders as bishops, instead of these sorry "safe" non-boat-rockers who are so shallow intellectually. (United States)

One who follows the will of God in his life and sets that example. One who is merciful and spreads the message of Jesus, e.g. mercy and trust. One who doesn't waffle on the teachings of Jesus' established church. One who is in union with the Holy Trinity and honors the mother of Jesus. One who feeds his sheep! (United States)

He would be more open to the realities of the world of today, more inclusive to all people, not only other religion but all sexes and sexual persuasions. He would also deal with the priests' failure to abide by the rules with the same strict results as the parishioners. For example, if the people are excommunicated from the church for divorcing, then priests are excommunicated for sexual molestation of children. (United States)

He should travel to stay connected with the world's people and continue to inspire young people as John Paul II did. And he should begin to have dialogue with bishops and priests, not just cardinals, on how to increase our priest membership, even if it means ordaining women or allowing priest to marry. (United States)

One who promotes social justice through moral leadership and does not confuse death with dignity with right to life. We need to seriously revise women's role in the church. Honor women role models and allow women to be ordained and have equal status with men in church decisions or the Catholic Church will become a relic. (United States)

We need a very conservative pope to continue John Paul II's years of work. He brought back the older theologies of the church as Christ meant it to be. We need a pope who will not modernize the laws of the church to fit the human desires for things against the true ideologies of Catholicism. We don't want women priests, abortion, homosexuality given true thought or recognition. I believe the devil is definitely putting his "two cents" in. I pray every day that the church will stay strong and that we don't get a liberal pope who un-does all that Pope John Paul II strove to do for the church. (United States)

I believe that John Paul II's leadership was open and supportive to a degree. Someone with similar values and ideals would be great. It was heartwarming that he recognized Mary the mother of Christ as someone special to him and the faith. It also brought about some global change toward the equality of women. I will miss him dearly and pray that the next pope will have as strong convictions as he did in these areas.

(Australia)

A non-authoritarian pope who would listen to the findings of modern psychology, etc. and realize that reform does not mean that one is being irreligious rather that he would feel that necessary change is a godly part of all our lives...for instance slavery was once condoned by the church, appalling. more rights for the marginalized e.g. gay people and divorced, etc. and a realization that such people are frequently striving to lead very good lives within a less old-fashioned 'morality'.

(Europe)



Protestants

A man who is truly on fire for God and wants to reach the world in love for Jesus Christ so that others may taste and see that the Lord is good! (United States)

Compassionate, open, in touch with contemporary culture. (Canada)

One who knows the Bible and prays for the guidance of the Holy Spirit in all of his decisions. This might make him more conservative and traditional in some areas, but in others he might be progressive and change some church practices. (United States)

A person [who] accepts the fact that God truly recognizes other religions and make that observation to all Catholics. As an Episcopalian, I was disgusted when I couldn't even take Communion when I went to my nephew's baptism and a friend's funeral. With the history of the Inquisition and the lurid past in its hierarchy (such as selling forgivenesses), they should drop their arrogance and finally become real Christians. It will take a true believer in God and His overall omnipotence and compassion to accomplish this. (United States)

A person who reaches out to other faiths and promotes unity within Christendom. A promoter of peace and good will amoung all people. A person who see all Christians as brothers and sisters in Christ and seeks open communion between all Christians. (United States)

Pope John Paul II was my vision of an ideal Christian man. I admired him. He renewed my faith in humankind. We didn't always agree, but who does? His life was a truly great and momentous one, and no one will probably ever come up to him (and I'm not Catholic!). (United States)

Jews

Open-minded and willing to recognize the challenges of the 21st century and modify church practices accordingly. Continue to strengthen relations with Jews and Moslems. Place more emphasis on the fact that Jesus was a Jew and that his teachings were those same 1,500-year-old teachings he learned and lived as a Jew. Remind Catholics that the Gospels were written long after Jesus' death and that the differences in their tone and emphasis remind us that the Bible is open to wide interpretation. Remind Catholics that the English translation of the Bible is a biased one at best, depending on the agenda of the interpreter. Speak out against those who hate and kill in the name of religion. (United States)

An ideal pope would remember the root of the Christian church was in fact Peter, not Paul! Jesus and the apostles and disciples were all Jews, yet after the conversion of Paul and his rejection of his birth religion, the church bent to his will within two centuries and rejected Judaism altogether. Since the pope is the Vicar Peter, his first duty is to re-instill the openness and love of the Jewish religion. Rather than continue the self-hate and mortification present in today's church, which is a step backward lead by John Paul II. Vatican II breathed life into a dying church, stating that life, love, spirit, family, and community mattered (all true Judeo-Christian scriptural beliefs). The ideal pope will have grown up enough in his personal, psychosexual, and spiritual life push the tired institution of the church from 1250 AD to 2005. It will not be easy with the politics of the College of Cardinals and various conferences of bishops. But the pope will need to be a grand leader the likes of John XXIII. (United States)

One who embodies the teaching of Christ, not the church. G-d made man, and then man created religion and that's the problem. (United States)

A person who realizes that there is but one G-d, Who does not change. That there are as many interpretations of how to get to G-d as there are people. And what is most important is not so much the vehicle used to try to unite with G-d, but the way we drive it on the journey. (United States)

A relatively youthful, energetic pontiff with the ability and desire to reach out to other faiths and cultures than his own. A pope who continues to lead the Roman Catholic Church in its strong opposition to war, violence, and poverty. A pontiff who hails from Africa or Latin America and can bring a unique perspective from those developing areas. Or... a female pope!

(United States)

One who says, "This is silly. Christ died for you, so this church hierarchy is useless. Go pray and be forgiven. I quit as pope." (United States)

Muslims

A peacemaker who opens to door to God for everyone, no matter their faith. A true spiritual leader, not just the Catholic leader. All rivers lead to the ocean! (United States)

A man of color and from the working class, who has the same type of outgoing personability and moral integrity of the previous pope but has a vision of a church for the people by the people. I want to see more outreach to un-churched people and more Catholic participation in international relief efforts. (United States)

A man of peace, wisdom, and clarity. I hope that the next pope continues what John Paul II started to unify all the great religions of this world. (United States)

The ideal pope was Pope John Paul II, and therefore the next one should be someone with his attributes: promoting peace, interfaith dialogue, discouraging useless wars, and always standing up for what is right, what is honest, and ultimately for what God loves best. (United States)

The ideal pope will be unambiguous on moral and doctrinal issues, but willing to grant more local autonomy to bishops. He will make real efforts to resolve doctrinal differences with mainstream Protestants, not just Eastern churches and pursue yet more dialogue with other faiths, especially Islam and Judaism. (United States)

The ideal pope will travel the world and help the poor. He would sell the church's riches and feed the people. He would make marriage an option for nuns and priests. (United States)

Buddhists

A person of true belief in the alleged words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, his "beatitudes" and the greatest commandment: "Love one another." One who understands that the future of humankind is in removing, as much as is possible, suffering, neglect, war, starvation, over-population, and preventable disease. A loving higher power would never deny these basics to a loving people. (United States)

He should be very open-minded and be able to change with the times. Religious dogma is what has been giving the church a bad name for some time now. (United States)

It's hard to top the last pope! The new pope needs to be an all-around person with great vision, a person of great compassion. (United States)

One who puts the love Christ taught before the tradition of the church. (United States)

Someone more like the Buddha. (United States)

Someone like Thich Nhat Hanh and His Holiness Dalai Lama. (United States)

I hope the next pope is more realistic. My ideal vision of the next pope is one who lives in the real world. (Europe)

To me, the ideal pope is moral, disciplined, wise, compassionate, aware of the present times. (Canada)

Hindus

One who truly sees the good in all religions, and does not force conversion through economic measures or other means. (United States)

Accepting all faiths as different paths to the one God. (United States)

The ideal pope would be a kind and dignified man. He should be tolerant of other religions, especially ones that are peaceful and not filled with hate and killing. The ideal pope must be accessible to everyone, no matter which God they pray to as I feel there is only one God and the pope is an emissary of God. (Asia)

Spiritual, but not religious

One who embraces all human beings equally male, female, homosexuals..... Also, one that does not focus on guilt and sin but on how to make this world a better place through acts of, say, kindness, generosity, responsibility, ... where we truly treat one another with respect no matter their views. Allow priests to marry; allow women ordination; bring to justice through the civil courts any priest charged with abuse of children and adults. (United States)

I am not black, but it is time for a black pope. Consider the number of black people who have come to the Catholic Church...and many more out there. The African nation needs hope and the rest of the world needs Africa to have hope. (United States)

The ideal pope must have more modern ideas and be far more realistic about what is going on today, especially regarding women and the understanding that men and women are equals. He must reach out and accept all faiths and spirituality. To me, no so-called "Christian" church follows Jesus' teachings or truly understands them with love, compassion, and understanding toward all people. (United States)