Poll: Pope Francis' Popularity Remains High Among US Catholics

A new poll has found that five years into his papacy, Pope Francis continues to draw favorable reviews from a majority of American Catholics.

The Pew Research Center found that 84 percent say they have a "favorable" view of the pontiff, which is "virtually identical" to the share who expressed a positive view of the pope in his first year of service.

And about 9 in 10 U.S. Catholics describe Francis as "compassionate" and "humble," according to the survey conducted from Jan. 10-15 and released on Tuesday.

At the same time, Pew found signs of growing discontent with Francis among Catholics on the political right — with increasing shares of Catholic Republicans saying they see Francis unfavorably, and that he is too liberal and naïve.

The share of Republican and Republican-leaning Catholics who say Francis is "too liberal" has more than doubled since 2015, from 23 to 55 percent. And one-third of Catholic Republicans now say Francis is "naïve," up from 16 percent who said this in 2015.

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