Though Pope Leo XIV still enjoys high levels of support from US Catholics, partisan polarization is growing, according to a new poll released by Pew Research Center on June 18.
About three-quarters (78 percent) of US Catholics expressed favorable views of Leo, and 12 percent expressed unfavorable views. Another 9 percent of US Catholics said they had never heard of Leo—the first pope from the US.
Seventy-eight percent is the same favorability rating that Pope Francis received in February of last year, just months before his death in April 2025.
