Americans Divided Over Pope Francis' Role in U.S. Affairs

By IndraStra Global News Team

Cover Image Attribute: The file photo of Pope Francis attending his weekly General Audience at the Paul VI Hall on August 09, 2023, in Vatican City / Source: Vatical Pool

A recent YouGov article reveals that a significant portion of Americans, including a majority of Republicans, believe that Pope Francis should refrain from involving himself in U.S. affairs. The Pope, who began his papacy in 2013, initially enjoyed relative obscurity among 44% of Americans. 
Among those who held an opinion of him, encompassing Democrats and Republicans in nearly equal proportions, positive views of the Pope outweighed negative ones. However, current perceptions of Pope Francis have become deeply entwined with political divisions, with Democrats generally holding more favorable opinions of him and Republicans exhibiting a more favorable outlook toward the Catholic Church as an institution.
Presently, Pope Francis maintains a positive image among Americans, with 43% holding a favorable view of him, compared to 38% who view the Catholic Church favorably. On the other hand, Roman Catholics view the Pope slightly less favorably than they do the Church as a whole, with 66% having a favorable opinion of Pope Francis and 77% favoring the Catholic Church.

An intriguing aspect emerges when examining ideologically conservative Catholics, who express strong support for the Catholic Church while harboring a less favorable opinion of Pope Francis. A remarkable 84% of conservative Catholics view the Church positively, while only 47% hold a favorable view of Pope Francis.
Another noteworthy observation is the perception that Pope Francis is more liberal than the Catholic Church, especially among Roman Catholics. Approximately 28% of Catholics consider Pope Francis too liberal, and 16% state that his stance diminishes their positive view of the Church.

In the wake of Pope Francis critiquing some conservative American Catholics, a poll reveals that more Americans advocate for the Pope to abstain from interfering in U.S. domestic matters (46%) compared to those who believe he should actively participate when he deems it necessary (25%). Among Catholics, 44% prefer that the Pope refrain from engaging in U.S. domestic affairs, while 36% believe he should be actively involved. Democrats are evenly split on this issue, with 33% endorsing the Pope's non-interference and 33% supporting his active involvement. Among Catholic Democrats, the preference for the Pope to take an active role is pronounced, with 51% in favor. Conversely, Republicans are more inclined towards non-interference, with 59% preferring that the Pope refrain from U.S. affairs. This marked a significant shift from 2015 when 15% of Americans were more likely to endorse the Pope's active involvement in U.S. domestic affairs.
Methodology: To gather respondents for this study, individuals were chosen from YouGov's opt-in panel using a technique known as sample matching. This involved selecting a random sample from the 2019 American Community Survey, with careful stratification based on gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration status. The margin of error for the overall sample stands at approximately 3%.

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