Here...............
http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/conclave-cardinali-stati-uniti-estados-unidos-united-states-22584/
In the U.S., 74% of Americans express a favourable view of the Pope’s work although this figure has dropped since April 2008 (83%) and is lower than the highest approval rating earned by John Paul II (93%). The most controversial issue is still the sex-abuse scandal in the Church: Only 33% of Americans judge the Pope’s efforts to combat this as good or excellent, while 63% said it was unsatisfactory. Peoples’ opinion of the Church’s relations with other religions, however, is more positive, with 55% saying “that Benedict has done a good or excellent job in promoting relations with other religions.”
And here......
http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/22592/
The Holy See’s Secretariat of State has issued a statement condemning attempts to condition cardinals ahead of the Conclave, through the publication of “news reports…which are often unverified or not verifiable, or even false, even subsequent damage to people and institutions.”
The statement issued by the Vatican Secretariat of State and published by Vatican Radio goes on to say: “The freedom of the College of Cardinals, which alone, under the law, is responsible for the election of the Roman Pontiff, - has always been strongly defended by the Holy See, as a guarantee of a choice based on evaluations solely for the good of the Church.”
“Over the centuries, - the text continues - the Cardinals have faced multiple forms of pressure exerted on the individual voters and the same College, with the aim of conditioning decisions, to bend them to a political or worldly logic.”
“If in the past it was the so-called superpowers, namely States, who sought to condition the election of the Pope in their favour, today – the statement reads - there is an attempt to apply the weight of public opinion, often on the basis of assessments that fail to capture the spiritual aspect of this moment in the life of the Church.”
