For example, in Colombia, 83% of adults held a favorable view of Francis in late 2013 and early 2014 – roughly a year into his papacy. But in 2024, 72% of Colombians share this opinion.
The biggest decline in favorable attitudes has been in Argentina – the pope’s home country. While 91% of Argentines said a decade ago that they had a positive opinion of Francis, that share has dropped to 64% today.
There have also been two other significant changes in views of the pope:
Rising shares in all Latin American countries surveyed have an unfavorable view of the pope. In Mexico, for instance, adults today are three times more likely than they were a decade ago to voice a negative opinion of Francis (27% vs. 9%).
Fewer people do not give an opinion. This group includes people who say they don’t know who Pope Francis is. In 2013-14, it also included those who said they couldn’t assign a rating to him – perhaps due to the recency of his role.
While this analysis focuses on the overall adult populations of these countries – along with public attitudes in the United States – an accompanying report looks at the patterns in favorability among Catholics. Latin American Catholics are more likely than the region’s Protestants and religiously unaffiliated adults to have a favorable view of Francis, but the shares of Catholics who view the pope favorably are also declining.
Opinions of Pope Francis in the United States
In the U.S., most adults (57%) have a favorable opinion of Pope Francis. This is the same share who said this in 2013.
His favorability ratings in the U.S. reached high points in 2015 and 2017 – when seven-in-ten adults viewed him positively – before declining in the last few years.
There have been two other shifts in Americans’ views of the pope over the past decade. These are similar to the patterns in Latin America:
The share who has an unfavorable view of the pope roughly doubled. There was a marked increase beginning in September 2018.
The shares who either have not heard of Francis or refused to answer the question shrunk considerably.
Looking at specific religious groups in the U.S., Catholics (75%) are more likely than Protestants (51%) or the religiously unaffiliated (56%) to have positive views of Francis today.
For more on U.S. Catholics’ attitudes toward Pope Francis, refer to our recent report, “Majority of U.S. Catholics Express Favorable View of Pope Francis.”
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Publish date : 2024-09-26 02:49:00
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