Among the US public overall, 56% say Pope Francis represents a major change in direction for the Catholic Church, including 48% who see it as a change for the better.
When Catholics are asked whether a series of words or phrases describe Francis, about nine-in-ten or more say the terms "compassionate," "humble" and "open-minded" describe him.
Far fewer ascribe negative traits to the pope. Roughly one-in-five Catholics say Pope Francis is "too liberal" (19%), while 15% say he is "naïve" and 11% say he is "out of touch."
Catholics who describe themselves as conservative are more likely than liberal Catholics to say Pope Francis is "too liberal" (25% vs. 16%). And Hispanic Catholics are twice as likely as white Catholics to say Pope Francis is "out of touch" (17% vs. 8%). Still, large majorities in all groups say these negative terms do not describe the pontiff.
Overall, about two-thirds of Catholics (65%) say only positive terms describe Pope Francis — saying he is compassionate, humble or open-minded (or some combination of the three) and not saying he is naïve, out of touch or too liberal. Roughly one-third of Catholics (35%) express mixed views of the pope, saying that he is naïve, out of touch or too liberal (or some combination) but that he is also compassionate, humble or open-minded. Fewer than 1% of Catholics say that only negative terms describe Francis.
Pope Francis continues to receive positive ratings from Catholics on a variety of papal responsibilities. Fully 84% of Catholics give the pope a high rating for spreading the Catholic faith, including 41% who say Francis is doing an excellent job and 43% who say he is doing a good job. Roughly eight-in-ten also say Francis is doing a good or excellent job standing up for traditional moral values (80%), addressing the needs and concerns of the poor (79%), addressing the needs and concerns of families (79%) and promoting good relations between the Catholic Church and other major religions (78%).
On other issues, however, more Catholics appear to see room for improvement. Smaller majorities say Pope Francis is doing a good or excellent job addressing the needs and concerns of women (65%), reforming the Vatican bureaucracy (63%) and addressing the sex abuse scandal in the church (55%). About half (53%) say he is doing a good or excellent job addressing environmental issues.
Across the board, Catholics who say they attend Mass at least once a week give Francis more positive job performance ratings than do Catholics who report attending Mass less often.
- In the current survey, 34% of Catholics describe themselves as Democrats, 24% describe themselves as Republicans and 31% describe themselves as political independents. ↩
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