Just a few months into Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate, a majority of Americans give him positive marks, according to a new Gallup poll, with an even higher percentage of U.S. Catholics viewing him favorably.
About 57 percent of Americans hold a “favorable” view of Pope Leo, who was relatively unknown even in Catholic spaces before his election as pope on May 8th. Just 11 percent of Americans hold an unfavorable view of Leo, while 18 percent say that they do not know enough about him to have an opinion and 13 percent have not heard of him.
When it comes to U.S. Catholics, Leo enjoys even higher levels of support, with 76 percent saying they view him favorably.
According to Gallup, Leo’s relatively high approval ratings are similar to those of Pope Francis, who was viewed favorably by 58 percent of Americans when he was elected in 2013, and Pope Benedict XVI, who was viewed favorably by 55 percent of Americans following his 2005 election.
In the days immediately following Leo’s election, journalists scrambled to understand the background of the Chicago-born pope, who had lived most of his adult life outside the United States, in Peru and Italy. Reports showing that an X account belonging to the future pope shared articles critical of the Trump administration and in favor of racial justice may have shaped Leo’s narrative. Since his election, Leo has spoken out about the plight of migrants, signaled support for Francis’ environmental initiatives and has mostly shied away from hot-button culture war issues like abortion and LGBTQ topics.
The Gallup poll found that Americans who identify as liberal and moderate view Pope Leo favorably (65 percent and 61 percent) than Americans who say they are conservative (46 percent).
That is different from his two predecessors, both of whom enjoyed higher ratings from conservatives than liberals shortly after their elections. Benedict’s approval ratings dropped in all three groups over the course of his pontificate, with just 40 percent of Americans viewing him favorably in 2010. Francis, meanwhile, lost support among U.S. conservatives while gaining with moderates and liberals during his reign. By 2023, Francis’ overall approval rating stood unchanged from 2013, at 58 percent, though he was viewed more favorably by liberals, 70 percent, compared to just 42 percent of U.S. conservatives.
The Gallup report’s authors suggest that Americans may view Leo as a continuation of the Francis papacy, or at least assuming him to be until proven otherwise.
“Given the similarity to Francis’ image in his later years, this could indicate that Americans perceive Leo to be continuing Francis’ approach to religious and social questions, or that they are assuming that’s the case until shown otherwise,” the report states.
Leo enjoys the best net favorables among the 14 newsmakers about whom Gallup sought opinions. Other notable Catholics on the list include former President Joe Biden, of whom 43 percent of Americans hold a favorable view, and Vice President JD Vance, of whom 38 percent of Americans view favorably.
President Donald Trump is viewed favorably by 41 percent of Americans and unfavorably by 57 percent while the most unfavorably viewed newsmaker is Tesla CEO and former White House Advisor Elon Musk, whom 61 percent of Americans view unfavorably.
The telephone poll interviewed 1,002 U.S. adults between July 7-21, 2025.
