UNITED STATES
Seattle PI
Posted on December 11, 2013 | By Joel Connelly
A whopping 57 percent of Americans take a favorable view toward Pope Francis, nearly twice as many as viewed positively predecessor Pope Benedict XVI at his retirement, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Wednesday.
Only 5 percent have a negative view of the Argentine Jesuit who sits on the throne of Peter. Others have no opinion or do not know the man chosen Tuesday as Time’s “Person of the Year.”
Just nine months into his job, Francis has connected strongly with America’s Catholics, millions of who have become disaffected with their church over its removed, authoritarian hierarchy and bishops’ mishandling of clerical sex abuse scandals.
Pope Francis gets a thumbs-up from 76 percent of U.S. Catholics and 74 percent of the faithful aged 18-49. Just 45 percent of young Catholics had a positive view of Benedict XVI when he resigned last spring.
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