Poll: U.S. views of pope plunge in approval ratings

NEW YORK -- Two months ahead of his first trip to the U.S., Pope Francis' approval rating among Americans has plummeted, driven mostly by a decline among political conservatives and Roman Catholics, according to a new Gallup poll released Wednesday.

Fifty-nine percent of Americans said this month they had a favorable view of the pope, compared to 76 percent in February 2014, Gallup reported. The share of Americans who disapproved of the pope increased from 9 percent to 16 percent in the same period. The changes were most dramatic among political conservatives, whose opinion of Francis nosedived by 27 points to 45 percent. Among Catholics, Francis' approval dropped by 18 points to 71 percent.

The survey was conducted from July 8 to 12, three weeks after the pope released his bombshell teaching document proclaiming climate change largely man-made and excoriating an economic system he said drives global warming and exploits the poor. The survey of more than 1,000 adults had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

When the poll was underway, Francis, the first Latin American pope, was on a homecoming tour through South America that also unsettled conservatives.

In his July 9 speech in Bolivia -- an address the Rev. Jim Martin, editor at large of the Jesuit magazine America, called Francis' most revolutionary so far -- the pope called for radical reform of the global economy and solidarity with the poor, while naming labor, lodging and land as "sacred rights."

Mark Gray, polling director for the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, said the poll reflects "many American Catholics are more closely affiliated with their political party than their faith." Several Catholics competing for the Republican presidential nomination have criticized or distanced themselves from the pope over his role in the historic thaw in U.S.-Cuba relations and his insistence unfettered capitalism has hurt the poorest and most vulnerable.

Catholic conservatives have also expressed discomfort with Francis' style and emphasis. Carl Olson, editor of the conservative Catholic World Report, last week wrote while he agreed with the pope's criticisms of consumerism and overreliance on technology as a cure for society's ills, Olson also found a "weariness" among some Catholics over the tone of many of Francis' sermons and statements, which Olson described as often "haranguing, harping, exhorting, lecturing" and "grating."