Pope Francis holds his weekly general audience in the Courtyard of St. Damaso on June 9, 2021. / Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Washington D.C., Jun 25, 2021 / 14:30 pm (CNA).
According to a recent online survey released by the Pew Research Center on June 25, Pope Francis’ popularity remains “fairly stable” among both American Catholics and Americans in general.
More than six-in-ten U.S adults, 63%, have a “very” or “mostly” favorable opinion of Pope Francis, according to the survey conducted in March using the center’s online American Trends Panel.
Among U.S. Catholics overall, 82% say they have a favorable opinion of the pope.
Claire Gecewicz, who focuses on religion research at Pew Research Center and who authored the report, explained that “views of Pope Francis have remained fairly stable among Catholic subgroups, too.”
“For example, Catholics who identify as Democrats or who lean toward that party continue to have a more positive opinion of Francis than their Republican counterparts, a partisan pattern that has held since 2018,” she said.
“In the latest survey, 90% of Catholic Democrats expressed a favorable opinion of the pope, compared with 73% of Catholic Republicans and GOP leaners,” she said.
The survey also found little difference in opinions of Pope Francis among Catholics who attend Mass regularly, and those who attend less often. Among weekly Mass-goers, 84% said they have a very or mostly favorable opinion of Pope Francis, compared to 82% of Catholics who answered similarly and who attend Mass less often, or not at all.
Pope Francis’ overall popularity in the United States has rebounded since 2018, Pew said, when new revelations had surfaced regarding the sex abuse crisis in the U.S. Church and questions were raised regarding Pope Francis’ handling of allegations against former cardinal Theodore McCarrick.
The survey showed that over a 13-month period from February 2020 to March 2021, a higher percentage of overall respondents gave favorable ratings to Pope Francis than in January 2020. Fewer people declined to answer the question on favorability. Pew said that the disparity in figures could be related to the survey being conducted by phone in January 2020, while the survey over the 13-month period in 2020 and 2021 was conducted online.
“Online and phone surveys sometimes produce disparate results, a polling phenomenon called a mode effect,” Pew noted, adding that “online polls tend to result in fewer respondents declining to answer the question if there are fewer opportunities to express ‘no opinion.’”
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CNA Staff, Apr 5, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).
The U.S. Catholic bishops announced on Wednesday that April 27-28 will be this year’s annual Catholic Home Missions Appeal, which supports vital ministries for more than 75 U.S. dioc… […]
Pope Francis with Cardinal Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery of Divine Worship and Discipline of Sacraments, at the consistory in St. Peter’s Basilica, Aug. 27, 2022 / Daniel Ibáñez / CNA
Rome Newsroom, Aug 27, 2022 / 08:31 am (CNA).
Pope Francis created 20 new cardinals for the Catholic Church during a liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica Saturday.
“Jesus calls us by name; he looks us in the eye and he asks: Can I count on you?” Pope Francis said in a homily addressed to the College of Cardinals and its new members on Aug. 27.
“The Lord,” he said, “wants to bestow on us his own apostolic courage, his zeal for the salvation of every human being, without exception. He wants to share with us his magnanimity, his boundless and unconditional love, for his heart is afire with the mercy of the Father.”
The pope’s reflection followed a reading from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 12, verses 49-50: “In that time, Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!’”
“The words of Jesus, in the very middle of the Gospel of Luke, pierce us like an arrow,” Francis said.
“The Lord calls us once more to follow him along the path of his mission,” he said. “A fiery mission – like that of Elijah – not only for what he came to accomplish but also for how he accomplished it. And to us who in the Church have been chosen from among the people for a ministry of particular service, it is as if Jesus is handing us a lighted torch and telling us: ‘Take this; as the Father has sent me so I now send you.’”
The pope ended his homily mentioning that one cardinal-elect, Richard Kuuia Baawobr of Wa (Ghana), was not present. Francis asked for prayers for the African prelate, explaining Baawobr had been taken ill.
At the beginning of the consistory, Pope Francis pronounced the opening prayer of the ceremony in Latin.
During the ceremony, the new cardinals made a profession of faith by reciting the Creed. They then pronounced an oath of fidelity and obedience to the pope and his successors.
Each cardinal then approached Pope Francis, kneeling before him to receive the red birretta, the cardinal’s ring, and a document naming the titular church he has been assigned.
Pope Francis embraced each new cardinal, saying to him: “Pax Domini sit semper tecum,” which is Latin for “the peace of the Lord be with you always.” Each cardinal responded: “Amen.”
The new cardinals also exchanged a sign of peace with a number of the members of the College of Cardinals, representative of the whole college.
While placing the red biretta on the head of each cardinal, the pope recited these words: “To the glory of almighty God and the honor of the Apostolic See, receive the scarlet biretta as a sign of the dignity of the cardinalate, signifying your readiness to act with courage, even to the shedding of your blood, for the increase of the Christian faith, for the peace and tranquility of the people of God and for the freedom and growth of the Holy Roman Church.”
As he gave each new cardinal the ring, Francis said: “Receive this ring from the hand of Peter and know that, with the love of the Prince of the Apostles, your love for the Church is strengthened.”
In his homily, the pope said: “The Lord wants to bestow on us his own apostolic courage, his zeal for the salvation of every human being, without exception. He wants to share with us his magnanimity, his boundless and unconditional love, for his heart is afire with the mercy of the Father.”
He also recalled another kind of fire, that of charcoal. “This fire,” he said, “burns in a particular way in the prayer of adoration, when we silently stand before the Eucharist and bask in the humble, discreet and hidden presence of the Lord. Like that charcoal fire, his presence becomes warmth and nourishment for our daily life.”
“A Cardinal loves the Church, always with that same spiritual fire, whether dealing with great questions or handling everyday problems, with the powerful of this world or those ordinary people who are great in God’s eyes,” he said.
The pope named three men as examples for the cardinals to follow: Saint Charles de Foucauld, Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, and Cardinal Van Thuân.
The consistory to create cardinals also included a greeting and thank you to Pope Francis, expressed by Cardinal Arthur Roche, prefect of the liturgy dicastery, on behalf of all the new cardinals.
Cardinal Arthur Roche speaking on behalf of the new cardinals in St. Peter’s Basilica, Aug. 27. 2022. Daniel Ibáñez / CNA
“All of us, coming from different parts of the world, with our personal stories and different life situations, carry out our ministry in the vineyard of the Lord. As diocesan and religious priests, we are at the service of preaching the Gospel in many different ways and in different cultures, but always united in the one faith and the one Church,” Roche said.
“Now, in manifesting your trust in us, you call us to this new service, in an even closer collaboration with your ministry, within the broad horizon of the universal Church,” he continued. “God knows the dust of which we are all made, and we know well that without Him we are capable of falling short.”
Roche quoted Saint Gregory the Great, who once wrote to a bishop: “We are all weak, but he is weakest of all who ignores his own weakness.”
“However, we draw strength from you, Holy Father,” he said, “from your witness, your spirit of service and your call to the entire Church to follow the Lord with greater fidelity; living the joy of the Gospel with discernment, courage and, above all, with an openness of heart that manifests itself in welcoming everyone, especially those who suffer the injustice of poverty that marginalizes, the suffering of pain that seeks a response of meaning, the violence of wars that turn brothers into enemies. We share with you the desire and commitment for communion in the Church.”
At the end of the consistory to create cardinals, Pope Francis convened a consistory for the cardinals to give their approval to the canonizations of Blessed Artemide Zatti and Giovanni Battista Scalabrini.
The new cardinals are:
— Cardinal Arthur Roche, 72, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and former Bishop of Leeds (England);
— Lazarus You Heung-sik, 70, prefect of the Congregation for Clergy and former Bishop of Daejeon (South Korea);
— Jean-Marc Noël Aveline, 63, Archbishop of Marseille, the first French diocesan bishop to get the honor during Pope Francis’ pontificate;
— Peter Ebere Okpaleke, 59, Bishop of Ekwulobia in the central region of Nigeria, who was created bishop in 2012 by Benedict XVI;
— Leonardo Ulrich Steiner, 77, Archbishop of Manaus, in Brazil’s Amazon region, a Franciscan who played a leading role during the Amazon Synod and as Vice President of the recently created Amazonian Bishops’ Conference;
— Filipe Neri António Sebastião do Rosário Ferrão, 69, Archbishop of Goa (India), appointed bishop by St. John Paul II in 1993;
— Robert McElroy, 68, Bishop of San Diego (United States), whose diocese is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, led by the President of the USCCB, Archbishop José Gomez;
— Virgilio do Carmo Da Silva, 68, a Salesian, since 2019 the Archbishop of Dili (East Timor);
— Oscar Cantoni, 71, Bishop of Como (Italy), appointed in January 2005 by St. John Paul II, who is suffragan to Milan;
— Archbishop Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, L.C., 77, president of the Governorate of the Vatican City State and of the Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State; the Spaniard is the first Legionary of Christ to become a cardinal;
— Anthony Poola, 60, Archbishop of Hyderabad (India), a bishop since 2008 and the first dalit to become a cardinal;
–Paulo Cezar Costa, 54, Archbishop of Brasilia (Brazil), the fourth archbishop of the Brazilian capital to become a cardinal;
— Richard Kuuia Baawobr, 62, Bishop of Wa (Ghana), former Superior General of the White Fathers, and bishop since 2016;
— William Goh Seng Chye, 65, Archbishop of Singapore since 2013;
— Adalberto Martinez Flores, 71, Archbishop of Asunción (Paraguay) and the first Paraguayan cardinal;
— Giorgio Marengo, 47, Italian Missionary of the Consolata and Apostolic Prefect of Ulan Bator in Mongolia, the youngest cardinal in recent history, along with Karol Wojtyla, who also was created a cardinal at 47, during the consistory of June 26, 1967.
Furthermore, Pope Francis appointed the following prelates over the age of 80, who are therefore excluded from attending a future conclave.
Jorge Enrique Jiménez Carvajal, 80, Archbishop Emeritus of Cartagena (Colombia); Arrigo Miglio, 80, Archbishop Emeritus of Cagliari (Italy); Fr. Gianfranco Ghirlanda, a Jesuit and former rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University, who extensively collaborated in the drafting of the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium; and Fortunato Frezza, 80, (Italy) currently a Canon at the Basilica of St. Peter, who collaborated for several years at the Secretariat General for the Synod of the Bishops.
Pope Francis had originally also nominated Ghent Bishop Luc Van Looy, 80, who later declined to accept the post because of criticism of his response to clergy abuse cases.
Denver Newsroom, Oct 2, 2022 / 00:00 am (CNA).
On Oct. 2, the Catholic Church celebrates the memorial of the guardian angels. Guardian angels are instruments of providence who protect their charges from sufferi… […]
Accuracy in measures is not always consistent with reality due to variables. In the instance of Pope Francis’ popularity among Catholics at 83%, you can bet the farm that the number of actual practicing Catholics among those claiming to be Catholic in America is 17% [portend of Benedict’s remnant Church]. “In the latest survey, 90% of Catholic Democrats expressed a favorable opinion of the pope, compared with 73% of Catholic Republicans and GOP leaners” (Claire Gecewicz for Pew). That Republicans favor the Pontiff’s views that high [73%] spells great difficulty for the Church to recover what it once was, even stretching back as recent as the seventies. If Gecewicz’s figures are reasonably accurate the large statistic in favor of Francis is consistent with a belief that attending Mass [the vacant or sparsely attended churches worldwide is a strong indicator] receiving the sacraments, following an Apostolic moral code is irrelevant to salvation [one can have far more fun and still be saved at crunch time]. Again, if the figures are more or less correct, what is the message, if not the popularity of Francis’ doctrine of mercy that surpasses divine justice contemporaneously, that is, in respect to how we live our lives? The tragedy of those beguiled to follow this view is the stark reality of final judgment, that belongs to God, not Francis.
Instead of “opinions,” has the overloaded public reverted back mostly to impressions? Lest we forget everything, governance by “pollsters” came into use in the mid-twentieth century precisely because the term sounded so much like hucksters.
Define “Catholic” before I even consider this survey. In my mind, a Catholic is someone who through baptism believes ALL that the Church holds to believe. When I say “ALL” I mean all.
I’m willing to bet that the more likely a Catholic is to practice their faith, attend Mass regularly and the more likely to actually believe what the Church teaches (and apply it to their everyday lives), the lower their opinion of Pope Bergoglio.
To me the mercy of Pope Francis takes after that of the Parable of the Dishonest Manager, who wrote off the debts(sins) of others(world) to ingratiate himself. This could explain the polls.
By 
The same majority that denies the Real Presence?
Accuracy in measures is not always consistent with reality due to variables. In the instance of Pope Francis’ popularity among Catholics at 83%, you can bet the farm that the number of actual practicing Catholics among those claiming to be Catholic in America is 17% [portend of Benedict’s remnant Church]. “In the latest survey, 90% of Catholic Democrats expressed a favorable opinion of the pope, compared with 73% of Catholic Republicans and GOP leaners” (Claire Gecewicz for Pew). That Republicans favor the Pontiff’s views that high [73%] spells great difficulty for the Church to recover what it once was, even stretching back as recent as the seventies. If Gecewicz’s figures are reasonably accurate the large statistic in favor of Francis is consistent with a belief that attending Mass [the vacant or sparsely attended churches worldwide is a strong indicator] receiving the sacraments, following an Apostolic moral code is irrelevant to salvation [one can have far more fun and still be saved at crunch time]. Again, if the figures are more or less correct, what is the message, if not the popularity of Francis’ doctrine of mercy that surpasses divine justice contemporaneously, that is, in respect to how we live our lives? The tragedy of those beguiled to follow this view is the stark reality of final judgment, that belongs to God, not Francis.
Instead of “opinions,” has the overloaded public reverted back mostly to impressions? Lest we forget everything, governance by “pollsters” came into use in the mid-twentieth century precisely because the term sounded so much like hucksters.
You said it!
Define “Catholic” before I even consider this survey. In my mind, a Catholic is someone who through baptism believes ALL that the Church holds to believe. When I say “ALL” I mean all.
So what?
Polls utilizing specious, at best, methodologies are to the illiterate as smack is to a junkie.
I’m willing to bet that the more likely a Catholic is to practice their faith, attend Mass regularly and the more likely to actually believe what the Church teaches (and apply it to their everyday lives), the lower their opinion of Pope Bergoglio.
To me the mercy of Pope Francis takes after that of the Parable of the Dishonest Manager, who wrote off the debts(sins) of others(world) to ingratiate himself. This could explain the polls.