Pope Francis impresses America: Strong support for views on LGBT Community in the church

Half of Americans (50%) have a positive impression of Pope Francis, according to the latest YouGov Omnibus survey conducted on November 28^th – December 2^nd   2013.

·       55% of Americans aged 55 + have a somewhat or very positive impression of Pope Francis.

·       Atheists have a very positive reaction to the pope (70% positive).

·       Only 4% of Atheists surveyed have a negative reaction compared to 7% of Catholics.

The retired pope, Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) has low impression scores with only 22% of Americans maintaining a positive impression of him.  Pope Benedict is least popular among the younger American age group with 4 out of 10 Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 stating they have a somewhat or very negative impression.

Catholics have a more positive impression of Pope Benedict XVI than the general population, at 39% positive and 13% negative.  63% of Atheists surveyed, by comparison, have a negative impression.

Pope Francis has received much attention for some of his more liberal messages.  When asked to express his views on the gay community, Pope Francis affirmed: “If someone is gay and seeks the Lord with good will, who am I to judge?”

·       65% of Americans agree with Pope Francis’ view of gay people in the church

·       Only 12% of respondents surveyed stated they somewhat or strongly disagreed with the Pope’s statement.

·       63% of Atheists strongly agree with the pope’s declaration regarding gay people.

·       43% of Protestants strongly agree and 67% agree somewhat or strongly

The pope has stated that he would not currently consider the ordination of women. Despite American’s positive views of the pope only 24% agree with Pope Francis’ decision to not consider the ordination of women, with 42% of the women surveyed stating that they somewhat or strongly disagree with the pope’s stance on the ordination of women.

Since taking leadership of the Catholic Church Pope Francis has been a vocal opponent of unrestrained capitalism, which he describes as a “new tyranny.”  Furthermore the pope has urged global leader to fight poverty and growing inequality. Nearly half of Americans (48%) agree with Pope Francis’ view on capitalism, with less than a quarter (24%) disagreeing with the pontiff.  Higher earners (Americans with an income of over $80,000) are most likely to disagree with pope’s view on capitalism, with a third of higher income respondents (33%) surveyed stating they somewhat or strongly disagreed with the pope on this topic.

Note on Methodology

Total sample size was 1170 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 28^th November and 2^nd  December.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all US adults (aged 18+).

About YouGov

YouGov is an international full-service research and consulting company, which has pioneered the use of technology to collect higher quality, in-depth data for companies, governments, and institutions so that they can better serve the people that sustain them.

YouGov Omnibus is a shared cost approach to survey research that lets you conduct your study at a fraction of what you might spend on an ad-hoc study without compromising on the quality of the data.