12 hours ago
What do Americans think of Pope Leo XIV a month into his papacy? What poll finds
A month into his papacy, Pope Leo XIV — the Wordle-playing, White Sox-loving, first American pope — maintains a high favorability rating among U.S. Catholics and the general public, a poll found.
Sixty-five percent of Catholics said they have a favorable impression of the new pope, compared with six percent who have an unfavorable view, according to a June 15 AP-NORC poll.
Twenty-nine percent of Catholics said they still didn't know enough to say, the poll found.
The poll of 1,158 U.S. adults was taken June 5-9 and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
A plurality of the general public, 44%, also said they have a favorable view of Pope Leo, according to the poll.
Forty-six percent of Americans said they weren't sure yet, and 10% said they had an unfavorable view, per the poll.
How does this compare to Pope Francis?
Support for Pope Leo mirrors support for his predecessor at the start of his pontificate, researchers said.
Forty-four percent of Americans had a positive view of Pope Francis, while 13% viewed him unfavorably and 42% weren't sure, according to an October 2015 poll.
Pope Leo was elected head of the Holy See on May 8 after four rounds of voting.
What do Americans want from pope?
Before the conclave took place, many Catholics, 37%, said they wanted the next pope to have more conservative teachings, according to a poll, McClatchy News reported.
Twenty-one percent said they wanted to see more progressive teachings, per the poll.
In May, Americans were split on whether they thought the new pope was liberal or conservative, with 16% saying he is liberal and 12% saying he's conservative, according to a poll, McClatchy reported.
Forty-three percent said they were not sure, the poll found.
