As Secretary of State Marco Rubio heads to meet the pope at the Vatican later this week and amid President Donald Trump’s recent criticisms of the Chicago-born pope, Americans voice positive reactions toward Pope Leo XIV and his comments about war and peace along with negative reactions to Trump’s comments about the pope, according to an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel.
The poll, conducted April 24-28, also finds Americans voice a widely negative reaction to Trump’s social media post of an image appearing to depict himself as Jesus, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth praying to God for violence during a Pentagon prayer meeting and Trump’s April post that “a whole civilization will die tonight” about Iran.
Favorable ratings of the pope
The ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll finds Americans favorable toward the pope by a more than 2-to-1 margin: 41% are favorable, 16% are unfavorable and 43% say they have no opinion. Among Catholic Americans, favorability rises to 61%, while just 14% disapprove and 25% voice no opinion. But that’s not as strong as previous popes at the beginning of their papacies.
Currently, Pope Leo has a 25-point net favorable margin among Americans overall, which grows to 47 points among Catholics, the lowest rating compared to the three previous popes.
In 2013, Americans were favorable of Pope Francis, who was pope from 2013 to 2025, by a 55-point margin and by an 88-point margin among Catholics. In 2008, Pope Benedict, a few years into his papacy, had a 24-point net favorable margin among Americans and 61 points among Catholics. And in 1987, Pope John Paul II was 43 points net favorable among Americans and 72 points net favorable among Catholics. Near the end of Pope John Paul II’s life, he climbed to 51 points net favorable overall and 79 points net favorable among American Catholics in March 2005.
Pope Leo XIV arrives for a weekly general audience in Saint Peter’s Square at the Vatican, April 29, 2026.
Remo Casilli/Reuters
Trump and the pope
In April, Trump falsely claimed that Pope Leo said that Iran can have a nuclear weapon. The pope has often called for peace and unity, condemning violence and war.
The ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll finds that 66% of Americans have a positive reaction to Pope Leo asking Americans on April 7 to contact Congress to work for peace and reject war while 57% have a negative reaction to Trump posting “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”
President Donald Trump speaks during a signing ceremony for a proclamation to revive the Presidential Fitness Test Award, a competitive school-based fitness program, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, May 5, 2026.
Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images
Among American Catholics, opinions are similar: 70% have a positive reaction to Pope Leo asking Americans to contact Congress and 61% are negative toward Trump’s post about the pope and nuclear weapons.
Americans are also largely negative about Trump’s post saying “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” if Iran did not make an agreement with the U.S.: 76% have a negative reaction, including 53% who are strongly negative.
Most Catholics (75%) and Protestants (70%) have a negative reaction to Trump’s post, along with non-Christians (72%).
Trump’s Jesus posting
In April, Trump posted an AI-generated image appearing to depict himself as a Jesus-like figure making it look like he was healing a patient. After backlash from some MAGA supporters, about 13 hours later, the image was removed.
Trump later said “I did post it, and I thought it was me as the doctor and it had to do with Red Cross.”
President Donald Trump posted this image that depicted him as a Christ-like figure to his social media platform late Sunday before taking it down on April 13, 2026.
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
Nearly 9 in 10 Americans express a negative reaction to Trump posting an image appearing to depict himself as Jesus, including 69% who express a strongly negative reaction in the ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll.
Nine in 10 Protestants have a negative reaction to this, including 68% who are strongly negative. White evangelical Christians, one of Trump’s most loyal groups, are also overwhelmingly negative: 87% say they have a negative reaction to Trump’s post appearing to depict himself as Jesus, including 61% who are strongly negative.
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Widespread negative reactions to Trump’s post expand to Catholics (90% negative, including 67% strongly) as well as non-Christians (85% negative, 68% strongly) and those with no religion (87% negative, 75% strongly).
Hegseth’s ‘no mercy’ prayer
In late March, Hegseth led a monthly Christian worship service at the Pentagon and prayed for “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.” Hegseth is evangelical and often portrays the U.S. as a Christian nation.
About 7 in 10 Americans say they have a negative reaction to Hegseth’s prayer for no mercy (69%), including nearly half who are strongly negative (47%).
A small majority of white evangelical Christians (53%) express a negative reaction about Hegseth’s prayer, including 25% who are strongly negative. Another 44% are positive.
Most Catholics (68%), non-Christians (71%) and those with no religion (80%) express a negative reaction toward Hegseth’s “no mercy” prayer.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at a briefing at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., May 5, 2026.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
On April 14, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor on the war in Iran: “Our troops deserve a mission, not a mess. They deserve strategy, not chaos.” A 62% majority of Americans have a positive reaction to Schumer’s quote.
Majorities of white evangelical Christians (54%) express a negative reaction toward this statement, but most Protestants (56%), Catholics (60%), non-Christians (70%) and those with no religion (69%) have a positive reaction to Schumer’s quote.
Methodology – This ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll was conducted among 2,560 U.S. adults overall and has an error margin of +/- 2 percentage points. Questions on Trump depicting himself as Jesus and a whole civilization dying tonight were among a half sample of 1,268-1,292 U.S. adults and have an error margin of +/- 2.8 percentage points. Error margins are larger among subgroups, including 559 Catholics with an error margin of +/- 4.3 percentage points and 384 White evangelical Christians with an error margin of +/- 5.2.
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More ABC News polls can be found at abcnews.com. Media contacts: Jeannie Kedas and Van Scott.
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