By 
The NBC News Survey by Hart Research Associates/Public Opinion Strategies surveyed 1,000 registered voters about public figures and various topics, including the first U.S. pope.
When asked how they felt about Leo, 42% of respondents were “very positive” or “somewhat positive,” while 8% felt “somewhat negative” or “very negative.”
With a favorability rating that outpaced unfavorability by 34 points, Leo ranked ahead of other U.S. figures including comedian Stephen Colbert, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, President Donald Trump, former Vice President Kamala Harris, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (listed in order of their net rating).
Leo’s total positive score beat out Trump’s by 1 percentage point and JD Vance’s by 4 percentage points. The American pope’s total negative score was markedly lower than that of other U.S. public figures as the only one in the single digits. Colbert was the only other public figure who had a net-positive rating.
The margin of sampling error for the full sample of 1,000 respondents is plus or minus 3.10 percentage points.
Comparison with previous popes
In comparison with previous popes in similar polls, Leo’s total positive rating is somewhere in between. Pope Francis peaked at a 57% approval rating in December 2013, according to NBC. Pope Benedict XVI had a 30% positive rating in February 2013, while Pope John Paul II’s favorability in January 1998 hit 65%.
Born on the South Side of Chicago, Leo is the first pope to hold U.S. citizenship as well as the first to hold Peruvian citizenship and the first Augustinian pope. Following Pope Francis, he is the second pope from the Americas.
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Give him an Oscar, or Emmy. I’m tired of Popes as rock stars, publicity hounds, sound-bite productions, world travelers, U.N. speech deliverers, showmen, and circus performers.
It’s time for Popes to say little in public, refrain from audiences and oversee the Church from the quiet enclaves of the Vatican. I’m nostalgic for the days when anything coming from the Pope was written, well thought out and momentous.
Right on,Diogenes!
Agree. The Pope’s mission as the head of the Roman Catholic Church, as Vicar or spokesman for Christ, is fidelity to Christ, and His kGospel, for the purpose of leading souls to Christ only, for the salvation of their souls.
Well, when the head of the institutional custodian of God’s truth tells the world that morality is fungible, implying who can really say what is right and wrong, how could he not be popular?
Unfortunately and sadly true. We are called to be counter-cultural- always.
1. Let the Pope teach forthrightly about the evil of contraception, fornication and abortion and his popularity poll numbers will plummet.
2. If you live in a world where sin is so easily accepted and virtue decried and your popularity polling is very high, it is a serious indictment of your Christian witness
3. Christ’s popularity polling in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday was running very high. At the end of that week, the people were crying out, “Crucify him, crucify him.”
The Great Commission is to “go and make disciples of the world”, not “go and become disciples of the world”.
FYI, not sure if you knowof/have already seen Shawn Ryan’s podcast with Exorcist Father Ripperger (sp?), but the stuff he says makes me think the world is more beset with evil than it has been in a long time, it’s not just that we’ve gone from sipping from a demi-tasse to drinking from a fire hose, informationally.
The worlddate.com reports:
40% of US children are born to unwed mothers
40% of US adults believe single motherhood is bad for society
40% of US children are born to unwed mothers
Annually, 1.4 million single women birth a child without a father in the home…
Yesterday, I had three good-looking males, late 20- or early 30 year-olds, Christian, hard-working, good income-generating electricians in my home. All were seeking good women to marry.
I’ve observed a greater number of young men lined up for confession at my parish.
Crucial and important points to remember. Thank you Father for your faithful witness.
Jesus did not call his disciples to be esteemed by the world.
“Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.” –Luke 6:26
“You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end* will be saved.” –Matthew 10:22
That’s because Leo is all about the seamless garment.
And following in the footsteps of his predecessor by taking the attitude, I don’t really need to learn the fundamentals of the Catholic religion, after all, I’m the Pope.