Support for the Pope among British Roman Catholics remains high despite most disagreeing with their Church’s stance on controversial issues, according to a survey.

Days ahead of Pope Benedict XVI’s arrival in the UK, the first Papal visit in 28 years, the poll showed a division between official doctrine on contraception, abortion and homosexuality and the views of the Catholic community in this country.

The majority of respondents expressed firm support for the Pontiff despite saying they believed the Catholic Church was permanently damaged by child abuse scandals.

Just over one in 10 (11per cent) of Catholics polled for ITV’s Tonight programme agreed with the doctrine that abortion should only be allowed as an indirect consequence of life-saving treatment while almost a third (30 pr cent) said abortion should always be allowed.

Asked about contraception, four per cent agreed with the Catholic Church that it was wrong and should not be used compared with seven in 10 (71 per cent) who felt contraception should be used more often to avoid disease and unwanted pregnancies.

Almost a quarter (23 per cent) said it was entirely up to couples whether they used contraception, the survey found.

More than a quarter (28 per cent) of respondents said it was up to adults to do what they wanted in private and 41 per cent claimed both gay and straight relationships should be celebrated.

This contrasted with 11 per cent of Catholics who supported the Catholic Church doctrine that homosexual acts were morally wrong.