{"id":8824,"date":"2021-06-25T12:00:39","date_gmt":"2021-06-25T17:00:39","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-04-23T23:56:48","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T03:56:48","slug":"americans-including-catholics-continue-to-have-favorable-views-of-pope-francis","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2021\/06\/25\/americans-including-catholics-continue-to-have-favorable-views-of-pope-francis\/","title":{"rendered":"Americans, including Catholics, continue to have favorable views of Pope Francis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Pope
Pope Francis prays at San Marcello al Corso Church in Rome. (Vatican Media\/AFP via Getty Images)\n<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Pope Francis\u2019 popularity dropped<\/a> in the United States a few years ago amid a sex abuse crisis in the U.S. Catholic Church. But Americans\u2019 opinions of the pontiff have since rebounded<\/a>, and between February 2020 and March 2021 \u2013 13 months that included moves by Francis to expand the role of women<\/a> in the church as well as a widening debate about whether President Joe Biden should be denied Communion<\/a> \u2013 views toward Francis remained fairly stable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About six-in-ten U.S adults (63%) have a \u201cvery\u201d or \u201cmostly\u201d favorable opinion of Pope Francis, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in March using the Center\u2019s online American Trends Panel<\/a>. This is nearly identical to the share of adults who had a favorable view of Francis in February 2020 (64%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pope\u2019s favorability also has remained steady among U.S. Catholics, with 82% of Catholics in both the March 2021 and February 2020 surveys saying they have a favorable opinion of the pope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These March 2021 and February 2020 results are not entirely comparable to figures from earlier surveys the Center conducted by telephone. Online and phone surveys sometimes produce disparate results<\/a>, a polling phenomenon called a mode effect<\/a>. One key difference is that online polls tend to result in fewer respondents declining to answer the question <\/a>if there are fewer opportunities to express \u201cno opinion.\u201d This analysis indicates that any change in the results between January 2020 (when this question was last asked on the phone) and March 2021 was likely due to fewer people declining to give an opinion on the web survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Six-in-ten<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
How we did this<\/div>