Pope Francis' approval rating remains high in the U.S. but has slipped since 2021
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Pope Francis waves to pilgrims in St. Peter's Square gathered for his weekly general audience on April 3, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaCNA Staff, Apr 12, 2024 / 17:00 pm (CNA).A new Pew Research study has found that three-quarters of Catholics in the U.S. view Pope Francis favorably, though that figure has dipped 8% since 2021. In addition, the Pew report suggests that a majority of Catholics in the U.S. want the Church to change its teaching on a number of key issues, including the all-male priesthood, contraception, and so-called same-sex marriage. But broken down by political affiliation, significant differences in opinion emerge. "Regardless of their partisan leanings, most U.S. Catholics regard Francis as an agent of change. Overall, about 7 in 10 say the current pope represents a change in direction for the Church, including 42% who say he represents a major change," the new April 12 Pew report reads. Francis' approval rating among U.S. Catho...
Pope Francis waves to pilgrims in St. Peter's Square gathered for his weekly general audience on April 3, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media
CNA Staff, Apr 12, 2024 / 17:00 pm (CNA).
A new Pew Research study has found that three-quarters of Catholics in the U.S. view Pope Francis favorably, though that figure has dipped 8% since 2021.
In addition, the Pew report suggests that a majority of Catholics in the U.S. want the Church to change its teaching on a number of key issues, including the all-male priesthood, contraception, and so-called same-sex marriage. But broken down by political affiliation, significant differences in opinion emerge.
"Regardless of their partisan leanings, most U.S. Catholics regard Francis as an agent of change. Overall, about 7 in 10 say the current pope represents a change in direction for the Church, including 42% who say he represents a major change," the new April 12 Pew report reads.
Francis' approval rating among U.S. Catholics reached 90% in Pew's 2015 survey. By September 2018 — at a time when the entire Church was reeling from fresh scandals related to sexual abuse — the pope's approval rating stood at just 72%, the lowest of his papacy. It had ticked back up to 83% three years later, before its latest dip to 75% in February of this year.
Pope Francis' late predecessor Benedict XVI initially had a low approval rating of 67% among U.S. Catholics upon taking office in 2005. By 2008, however, his approval rating had reached 83%, and he closed out his papacy at 74%, in 2013.
Neither Benedict nor Francis has yet achieved the lofty heights set by the saintly Pope John Paul II, who in 1990 and 1996 garnered approval from 93% of U.S. Catholics, according to Pew's data.
Broken down by self-described party affiliation, 35% of Catholic Republicans and Republican leaners said they have an "unfavorable" view of Pope Francis, compared with just 7% of Catholic Democrats and Democratic leaners. Catholic Republicans' views of Pope Francis have gotten more negative over the past decade, while the views of Catholic Democrats have not changed much, Pew says.
"The partisan gap in views of Pope Francis is now as large as it's ever been in our surveys," Pew noted.
"Roughly 9 in 10 Catholics who are Democrats or lean toward the Democratic Party hold a positive view of him, compared with 63% of Catholics who are Republicans or lean Republican."
Pew asked respondents about their opinions on several hot-button issues related to the Church's teaching and found that the Catholics most likely to be in favor of changing Church teaching largely identify as Democrats or lean Democratic (57%), and many say they seldom or never attend Mass (56%).
In contrast, Catholics who mostly say the Church should not change its teachings are predominantly Republicans or lean Republican (72%), and many say they attend Mass at least once a week (59%).
Of those surveyed, 83% said they favored a change of the Church's teaching on contraception; 75% said the Church should allow Catholics to take Communion even if they are unmarried and living with a romantic partner; 69% said priests should be allowed to get married; 64% said women should be allowed to become priests; and 54% said the Church should recognize the marriages of gay and lesbian couples. (These findings are not markedly different from those of a decade ago, Pew says.)
Catholics who attend Mass regularly — once a week or more — are far more inclined than those who go less often to say the Church should take a "traditional or conservative" approach on questions about the priesthood and sexuality, Pew says.
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A map of the Juan Diego Route which goes through Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, ending in Indiana. / Credit: EWTN News In-DepthCNA Staff, May 18, 2024 / 05:00 am (CNA).The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage will span the United States with four different pilgrimages starting in California, Texas, Mississippi, and Connecticut and meeting in Indianapolis for the 10th National Eucharistic Congress."A cross-country pilgrimage of this scale has never been attempted before. All told, it will travel through 27 states and 65 dioceses, covering a combined distance of 6,500 miles on foot and with the help of support vehicles," said Tim Glemkowski, CEO of the National Eucharistic Congress, Inc. "It will be a tremendously powerful action of witness and intercession as it interacts with local parish communities at stops all along the way."The St. Juan Diego Route, named for the beloved saint who encountered Our Lady of Guadalupe, will start at the sou...
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Construction projects are underway in Rome as the city prepares for the 2025 Jubilee Year. / Credit: EWTN NewsRome Newsroom, May 18, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).Construction projects are underway in Rome as the city prepares for the 2025 Jubilee Year (Dec. 24, 2024, to Jan. 6, 2026). According to the city's mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, the upcoming "Jubilee of Hope" is expected to draw in an additional 30 million to 35 million tourists to Italy during the Catholic holy year."The jubilee is an extraordinary global event with a great spiritual significance for which the city of Rome must be ready," Gualtieri told EWTN News Vatican Bureau Chief Andreas Thonhauser. "We are working to make it more welcoming so that pilgrims can live the experience of the Jubilee in the best possible way." The city of Rome's online portal Roma Si Transforma currently lists approximately 358 planned projects in the Lazio region in which Rome is located. Each project is categorized as either a culture, inn...
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A view of the crowd and nearby waterfront at the opening Mass for World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal on Aug. 1, 2023. / Credit: Arlindo Homem/JMJ Lisboa 2023ACI Prensa Staff, May 18, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).Jimena, the young woman who regained her sight after receiving Communion at a Mass during World Youth Day (WYD) in Lisbon, Portugal, in August 2023, told ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, about how she experienced that moment, her return home, and the details of a special meeting she had with Pope Francis during a pilgrimage she made with her family to Rome to thank the Virgin for that "miracle."For two and a half years, Jimena suffered from a loss of sight due to a myopia problem that left her with a 95% vision loss.She traveled to Lisbon from Madrid with a group from Opus Dei. During the days prior, relatives and acquaintances of the young woman organized a novena to pray to Our Lady of the Snows, whose feast day is commemorated Aug. 5, the same day she recov...