IMAGE: CNS photo/Bob Roller
By Mark Pattison
WASHINGTON
(CNS) — In the advent of Pope Francis’ fifth anniversary in the papacy, a new
Pew Research poll of U.S. Catholics shows their regard of the pope is, for the
first time, colored by their political leanings.
The
survey, released March 6, said it saw “signs of growing discontent with Francis
among Catholics on the political right, with increasing shares of Catholic
Republicans saying they view Francis unfavorably, and that they think he is too
liberal and naive.”
In
2014, one year into Pope Francis’ papacy, “there was no discernible difference
between the share of Catholic Republicans (90 percent) and Democrats (87
percent) who expressed a favorable view of Francis,” the survey said. “Today,
by contrast, the pope’s favorability rating is 10 points higher among Catholic
Democrats (89 percent) than among Catholic Republicans (79 percent).”
“In our
polling about John Paul II and Benedict XVI, when we look at them we don’t see any
falloff from them over time,” Greg Smith, a Pew senior researcher, told
Catholic News Service. “What’s interesting about this survey that this is the
first one where this political polarization among American Catholics really
stands out.”
The
March 6 poll was the eighth time Pew had asked Catholics their views about the
pope. Pew had asked Catholics about Pope John Paul or Pope Benedict eight times
total over 25 years — five times for Pope Benedict and three for Pope John
Paul.
Pope
Francis still maintains marks any religious or civil leaders would covet: 94
percent of Catholics say he is compassionate and 91 percent say he his humble — numbers unchanged from a 2015 Pew survey. His overall favorable rating is down
one point, from 85 to 84 percent, from a 2014 poll. Those with unfavorable
views of the pope were double that of 2014, but still in the single digits at 8
percent.
But “the
share of American Catholics who say Pope Francis is ‘too liberal’ has jumped 15
percentage points between 2015 and today, from 19 percent to 34 percent,” the
poll said. And 24 percent of U.S. Catholics now say he is naive, up from 15
percent in 2015.
Since
2014, “the share of Catholic Republicans who say Francis represents a major,
positive change for the Catholic Church has declined from 60 percent to 37
percent. By contrast, there has been little movement since the end of Francis’
first year as pope in the share of Catholic Democrats who view him as a major
change for the better,” the poll said — 71 percent today vs. 76 percent four
years ago.
Other groups
hold Pope Francis in high esteem, although not as much as Catholics do. Of white mainline Protestants, 67 percent approve of Pope Francis’ tenure, as
do 58 percent of religiously unaffiliated adults.
Slimmer
majorities of black Protestants (53 percent) and white evangelical Protestants
(52 percent) also approve of the pope. Nine percent of white evangelicals were unfavorable
toward Pope Francis when he was chosen pope in 2013. That number has since tripled
to 28 percent; it had been 31 percent last year.
The
survey introduced new questions not asked in past polls.
Fifty-five
percent of Catholics said the priests at their parish are “very supportive” of
Pope Francis. Another 23 percent say their priests are “somewhat supportive” of
the pontiff.
Similar
approval numbers were generated when Catholics were asked whether Pope Francis
was doing an “excellent” or “good” job appointing new bishops and cardinals; 58
percent said so. And 55 percent say he is doing an “excellent” or “good” job
addressing environmental issues.
A
somewhat larger majority — 63 percent — said Pope Francis “has done at least
a little to promote acceptance of homosexuality,” the survey said, adding he
has done “about the right amount” or that they would like to see him “do more”
on this issue. Also, 64 percent of Catholics say the pope has done at least a
little to increase acceptance of divorce and remarriage.
The
survey further asked Catholics to describe the most significant thing Pope
Francis has done in his time as pope. In response, American Catholics named a
broad range of accomplishments without being prompted as to specific issues. Nine
percent noted Francis’ work in setting a good Christian example, another 9
percent cited his “opening up the church and becoming more accepting.” Eight
percent said helping the poor; 7 percent said Pope Francis has made the church more
accepting toward gays and lesbians; 6 percent mentioned his global outreach; and
5 percent said he is uniting the Catholic community and encouraging open
communication and dialogue.
Four
percent each cited two negative or neutral actions: becoming overly involved in
politics or alienating conservative Catholics. Another 4 percent of respondents
said he hasn’t done anything significant at all, or that they are still waiting
to see what he will do. And 29 percent either did not know or could not name
any significant thing that Pope Francis has done.
The Pew
survey was conducted Jan. 10-15 by phone among 1,503 adults, including 316
Catholics — three times as many being contacted by cellphone than by landline.
The margin of error was 2.9 percentage points for the full survey, and 6.4
percentage points for Catholics.
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