Five years after Pope Francis ascended to the papacy, a new survey of U.S. Catholics reports that most still harbour warm feelings toward the pontiff — but his popularity is waning among political conservatives.
According to a new study from the Pew Research Centre, the first Latin American pope retains a soaring 84 % favourability rating among Catholics overall, with only a 1-point drop since 2014. A majority (58 %) also still believe he represents a major positive change for the Roman Catholic Church.
But there are signs Francis’ honeymoon period has ended in some circles. Roughly a quarter (24 %) of American Catholics say he is naive, up from 15 % in 2015, and 34% now say the pontiff is too liberal, compared with 19 % who said the same three years ago.
The divisions appear to be more political than theological. According to the survey, the share of Republican and Republican-leaning Catholics who say Francis is too liberal has more than doubled since 2015, jumping from 23 % to 55 %. Similarly, while only 16 % of Republican Catholics surveyed in 2015 said Francis is naive, roughly a third say so today.
