Five Georgetown students discussed Catholicism with George Stephanopoulos Sunday on the ABC News program “This Week.” Michael Bayer (CAS ‘05), Becca Danis (NHS ‘06), Octavio Gonzalez (CAS ‘06), Hamid Johnson (CAS ‘07) and Pilar Siman (SFS ‘07) were part of a panel that also featured five students from Catholic University.
“Most American Catholics are between the ages of 18 and 34,” Stephanopoulos said during the 40-minute debate, which addressed topics such as priestly marriage, female clergy and the Church’s stance on contraception.
According to Stephanopoulos, a March 20 ABC News poll found that 57 percent of American Catholics feel that the next Pope should modernize the Church. But Bayer, a theology major, pointed out that the global Catholic population does not necessarily share the American viewpoint.
“The problem with that is that most American Catholics think there is an American Catholic church, and it’s a very egocentric way to go about doing business,” he said.
All of the students who participated profess the Catholic faith. The panel discussion aired approximately two weeks after Pope John Paul II’s April 2 death, and two days before the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as the new leader of the Catholic Church. Ratzinger was named Pope Benedict XVI this Tuesday, April 19, becoming the first pope of German descent since the 11th century.
