Pope Francis US approval ratings on the decline: poll

Washington

 Pope Francis will travel to the United States in several weeks, but a new poll suggested that his popularity in the country is waning, especially among conservative Catholics.

 The pope's popularity is down to where it stood in 2013, when he was elected leader of the 1.2 billion-member Roman Catholic Church, according to a Gallup poll.

 In the United States - where a quarter of Americans are Catholic -- the pontiff's overall approval ratings among a random sampling of adults, slid to 59 per cent, a drop from 76pc in early 2014.

 In April 2013, the month before he was elected pope, Francis's approval rating stood at 58pc among all Americans.

 His unfavorable rating nearly doubled between 2014 and 2015, jumping from nine pc to 16pc .

 Others still said they had no idea who the leader of the Catholic world is, or did not have strong opinions either way. 

 About one quarter of Americans polled said they had never heard of Pope Francis or had no opinion of him, up from 16pc in 2014.

 Just 71pc of Catholics reported a favorable image of their pope -  down from 89pc last year.

 "The drop in the pope's favorable rating is driven by a decline among Catholics and political conservatives, two groups that have been ardent supporters of the modern papacy," Gallup said.

 Favorable ratings among conservatives dropped 27 percentage points between 2014 and 2015 - from 72 to 45pc - while approval ratings among moderates dipped eight pc, down to 71pc.

 Popularity also dropped among Protestants, with a 21-percentage point drop in the same period.

 Still, Francis enjoys greater popularity than Pope Benedict XVI, who in 2010 had only a 40pc favorable rating, tainted in part by allegations of sex abuse by Catholic clergy members.