Austin, USA - Most Texas Catholics disagree with the church's position on birth control.
That's according to the Scripps Howard Texas Poll. The survey found that 74 percent of the Catholics surveyed believe the church should back birth control.
But Bishop Edmond Carmody of the Corpus Christi Catholic Diocese says the pope has no choice but to follow church teachings.
The poll randomly surveyed a thousand adult Texans between April 14th and May Fourth. The margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points.
The poll also showed 55 percent of Texans believe priests should be allowed to marry -- including 50 percent of the Catholics. Support for women becoming priests garnered less support in Texas, with 46 percent who favor allowing women into the priesthood -- including 43 of the Catholics..
On abortion, 33 percent of Texans -- and 49 percent of the Catholics surveyed -- support making Catholic doctrine less strict.