{"id":14967,"date":"2013-11-25T06:00:09","date_gmt":"2013-11-25T11:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/no-clear-pope-francis-effect-among-u-s-catholics\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:26:40","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:26:40","slug":"no-clear-pope-francis-effect-among-u-s-catholics","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2013\/11\/25\/no-clear-pope-francis-effect-among-u-s-catholics\/","title":{"rendered":"No clear \u2018Pope Francis effect\u2019 among U.S. Catholics"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/assets.pewresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2013\/11\/FT_13.11.25_PopeEffectinUS_640x300.jpg\"><img data-dominant-color=\"a27865\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #a27865;\" decoding=\"async\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" class=\"wp-image-27407 not-transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.pewresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2013\/11\/FT_13.11.25_PopeEffectinUS_640x300.jpg\" alt=\"FT_13.11.25_PopeEffectinUS_640x300\" ><\/a><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the first eight months of his pontificate, Pope Francis has impressed, charmed and inspired many people around the world with his <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.reuters.com\/faithworld\/2013\/03\/29\/pope-francis-includes-women-muslims-for-first-time-in-holy-thursday-rite\/\">outreach to non-Christians<\/a>, his statements of <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.reuters.com\/faithworld\/2013\/11\/13\/u-s-catholic-bishops-new-leaders-echoing-popes-concern-for-the-poor\/\">concern for the poor<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/news\/world\/pope-francis-embraces-man-disfigured-face-article-1.1523437\">disabled<\/a>, and his <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/opinion\/latest-columns\/20130730-pope-francis-acts-of-humility.ece\">personal humility<\/a>. At the same time<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/11\/10\/us\/conservative-us-catholics-feel-left-out-of-the-popes-embrace.html\">, other Catholics have expressed dismay<\/a> over the pope\u2019s statements about <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/online\/blogs\/newsdesk\/2013\/07\/who-am-i-to-judge-francis-redefines-the-papacy.html\">homosexuality<\/a> and his remarks that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.americamagazine.org\/pope-interview\">the church is \u201cobsessed\u201d<\/a> with some social issues.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some news accounts contend that the pope\u2019s popularity has created a \u201cPope Francis effect,\u201d producing a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/ceciliarodriguez\/2013\/11\/17\/the-pope-francis-effect-everyones-loving-it-so-far\/\">\u201csignificant global rise in church attendance,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 based on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/ceciliarodriguez\/2013\/11\/17\/the-pope-francis-effect-everyones-loving-it-so-far\/\">reports by Catholic clergy<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.religionnews.com\/2013\/11\/11\/rise-italian-catholic-church-attendance-attributed-francis-effect\/\">in Italy<\/a>, Britain and and <a href=\"http:\/\/vaticaninsider.lastampa.it\/en\/the-vatican\/detail\/articolo\/gran-bretagna-papa-chiese-29829\/\">other countries<\/a> of a recent rise in Mass attendance.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the United States, home to <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2013\/02\/13\/the-global-catholic-population\/\">the world\u2019s fourth-largest Catholic population<\/a>, the pope appears to be well-liked by Catholics and non-Catholics alike, <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2013\/09\/12\/six-months-into-papacy-large-majority-of-catholics-continue-to-express-favorable-view-of-pope-francis\/\">rated favorably by 79% of Catholics and 58% of the general public<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignrightwp-image-251547\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.pewresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2013\/11\/FT_francis-effect.png\" alt=\"FT_francis-effect\" width=\"310\" height=\"383\"><\/figure>\n<p>But has the pope\u2019s popularity produced a Catholic resurgence in the U.S., where <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2009\/04\/27\/faith-in-flux3\/\">10% of adults are former Catholics<\/a>? Not so far, at least in terms of the share of Americans who identify as such, or the share of those who report attending Mass weekly.<\/p>\n<figure><a href=\"https:\/\/assets.pewresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2013\/11\/MassAttendance.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-251557 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.pewresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2013\/11\/MassAttendance.png\" alt=\"MassAttendance\" width=\"310\" height=\"349\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>A new analysis of pooled Pew Research surveys conducted between Francis&#8217; election in March and the end of October this year finds that the percentage of Americans who identify as Catholics has remained the same \u2013 22% &#8212; as it was during the corresponding\u00a0seven-month period in 2012. In fact, our polls going back to 2007 show Catholic identification in the U.S. has held stable, fluctuating only between 22% and 23%.<\/p>\n<p>Though <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2013\/09\/13\/what-surveys-say-about-worship-attendance-and-why-some-stay-home\/\">Americans may report attending church more frequently<\/a> than they actually do, our surveys find that self-reported levels of Mass attendance have remained virtually unchanged since the new pope was elected. Since April of this year, 39% of U.S. Catholics report attending Mass at least weekly, similar to the 40% attendance figure last year.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The pope\u2019s popularity hasn&#8217;t yet produced a Catholic resurgence in the U.S. in terms of the share of Americans who identify as Catholic, or the share of those who report attending Mass weekly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":159,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":null,"sub_title":"","_crdt_document":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"bylines":[{"key":"b1b9ef3278b00ba0a066e36a286d9da9","termId":934}],"acknowledgements":[],"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[180,436,405],"bylines":[934],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[517],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-14967","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-catholicism","category-pope-francis","category-size-demographic-characteristics-of-religious-groups","bylines-conrad-hackett","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-religion"],"label":"Short 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