Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of more than 1 billion Catholics worldwide, was hospitalized this month with lung and kidney issues. Pew Research Center has conducted more than a dozen surveys about Francis since his papacy began in 2013. Here’s a closer look at the results of these surveys.
Favorability ratings
Francis has been broadly popular among U.S. Catholics throughout his tenure. At least 80% of Catholics have expressed a favorable opinion of him in 10 of the 15 U.S. surveys in which we have asked about the pope since 2013.
His highest favorability rating was 90% in February 2015. In our most recent poll – conducted Feb. 3-9, 2025, shortly before Francis’ recent hospitalization – 78% of U.S. Catholics expressed a positive view of him.
U.S. Catholics have generally viewed Francis more positively than his immediate predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. Benedict’s favorability ratings ranged between 67% and 83% during his pontificate. Upward of 90% of U.S. Catholics expressed favorable views of Benedict’s predecessor, St. John Paul II, on the three occasions we asked about him between 1987 and 1996.
Differences by political party
Over the last seven years, U.S. Catholics have been more divided by party in their views of the pontiff than was the case earlier in his tenure. In our most recent polling from earlier this month, 88% of U.S. Catholics who are Democrats or lean toward the Democratic Party express a positive view of him, compared with 69% among Republicans and Republican leaners.
In our latest data, Catholics’ views of Francis do not differ significantly by gender, race or ethnicity, age, or frequency of mass attendance.
For example, roughly identical shares of Catholic men (79%) and Catholic women (77%) express favorable views of Francis. The same is true for Catholics who attend Mass at least weekly (80%) and Catholics who seldom or never go to Mass (77%).
Francis as a source of change in the church
Regardless of their partisan leanings, most U.S. Catholics have regarded Francis as an agent of change. In our February 2024 survey, about seven-in-ten said the pope represents a change in direction for the church, including 42% who said he represents a major change and 30% who said he represents a minor change.
Catholics who view Francis unfavorably were especially likely to say he represents a major change for the church. Among those with an unfavorable view of the pope, 54% said in February 2024 that he represented a major change in direction. A smaller share of those who view Francis favorably said this (41%).
Views of Francis in Latin America
We’ve also surveyed Catholics in Latin American countries about the pope on two occasions: first in 2013-14 (near the start of his papacy) and again in 2024. In the six countries surveyed both times, Francis was broadly popular in both sets of surveys, though his favorability ratings were lower in 2024 than a decade earlier.
The decrease in favorability was sharpest among Catholics in Argentina, his country of birth. While nearly all Argentinian Catholics (98%) expressed a favorable opinion of Francis in 2013-14, the share fell to 74% by 2024. Meanwhile, in Brazil, 84% of Catholics had a positive view of Francis in 2024, down from 92% a decade earlier.
Most Catholics in the six countries we surveyed also said Francis represented a change in the Catholic Church’s direction, with more calling it a major change than a minor one.
Note: Here are the questions used for the 2025 U.S. survey, the topline and the survey methodology.
