This Week in God.... (Maddow blog)

First up from the God Machine this week is an interesting shift in Americans attitudes towards Pope Francis in advance of his U.S. visit in September. MSNBC’s Eric Levitz reported this week on the latest survey results from Gallup.

Americans are losing faith in Pope Francis, according to a Gallup poll released Thursday.

The Pope’s favorability rating in the U.S. has fallen from 76% in early 2014 to 59% today, roughly where it stood at the start of his papacy.

Gallup’s report noted that the most striking change dragging down the pope’s U.S. support is the changing attitudes of American conservatives. Last year, 72% of conservatives said they had a favorable opinion of Francis, while this year, the number stands at just 45%

To put that in perspective, Gallup also noted this month that among Republicans, 49% have a favorable opinion of Donald Trump – suggesting that on the right, Trump’s message is resonating slightly more effectively than the Vatican’s.

The report added, “This decline may be attributable to the pope’s denouncing of ‘the idolatry of money’ and linking climate change partially to human activity, along with his passionate focus on income inequality – all issues that are at odds with many conservatives’ beliefs.”

(the rest)

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/week-god-72515?cid=sm_fb_maddow