Pope Francis Tops World Leaders’ Popularity Poll

According to a recent opinion poll, Pope Francis is more popular than any political world leader.

The WIN/Gallup International poll indicates that Roman Catholics and Jews have the most favorable opinion of Pope Francis.

More than half of the world’s protestants and even the majority of atheists and agnostics view the pontiff favorably.

About 1,000 people were questioned in 64 countries.

Those taking part in the poll were asked: “Irrespective of your own religion, do you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable or very unfavorable opinion of Pope Francis?”

Pope Francis was most popular with Roman Catholics, of whom 85% said they had a favorable opinion of him, and among Jews questioned the figure was 65%.

Among the 64 countries polled, the Philippines was the most enthusiastic nation with 93% thinking favorably of the Pope.

Pope Francis’s lowest ratings came in Tunisia, Turkey and Algeria, while most people in Azerbaijan said they did not know much about him.

WIN/Gallup said that Pope Francis heads the rankings when compared to the global popularity of political world leaders.

The poll gave the Pope a net score – the difference between favorable and unfavorable opinions – of +41 ahead of President Barack Obama on +30; German Chancellor Angela Merkel on +13; UK PM David Cameron on +10 and French President Francois Hollande on +6.