Many Dutch Catholics more accepting of women priests, LGBT, abortion

Many Catholics in the Netherlands are more progressive than the church regarding things like same-sex marriage, women in the priesthood, and abortion. Only 14 percent of active Catholics believe that the church leaders are moving with the times, Trouw reports based on a study by I&O Research among a representative group of 894 active Catholics and 1,029 people who grew up Catholic but left the church.

Three-quarters of active Catholics said they are in favor of women in the priesthood and LGBTQI+ marriage in the church. The church is against both of those things. 65 percent of active Catholics are for euthanasia, and more than half want to scrap the Catholic Church's ban on abortion.

Only 8 percent of respondents said they'd consider leaving the church because their views differ from the church leaders'.

Strikingly, Catholics under 34 are more conservative about celibacy than those over 65. They also more often believe in hell. Catholics aged 35 to 49 are most likely to support the church, with a third following the conservative line. The elderly are most likely to make large donations.

Among the former Catholics, the church's conservative views were a big reason for their departure. Sexual abuse within the church was another often mentioned reason to leave. But the main reason for departure is that they simply stopped being religious.