While Catholics in the U.S. continue to grapple with fallout stemming from the clergy abuse scandals, new polling suggests that Catholics have a higher opinion of the Church than they did this time last year.

According to data from the Saint Leo University Polling Institute, the favourable opinion – those who responded strongly and somewhat favourably – was recorded at 73.5%, up from 69.3% in November 2019.

In addition, the new data shows a significant increase from April 2019, where U.S. Catholics only expressed a 57.1% level of favourability.

Along with the heightened favourability ratings among Catholics, overall the general favourable opinion of the Church among the public ticked slightly upward to 43.6%, compared to 42% in November. This marks another slight improvement from April 2019, when the favourable opinion was measured at 40.1%.

Meanwhile, seven years into papacy, Francis has suffered a dip from 56.6% in November 2019 to 52.2% in the latest round of polling among the general population. Since St Leo first began their polling, the numbers have ranged from 64.4% in August 2018 to 44.7% in October 2018, to a now midway point between the two. Among U.S. Catholics, however, the pope – who marked the seventh anniversary of his pontificate on March 13 – clocks in at 74.6%, down from 78.1% in November 2019.