Pope Leo XIV is popular with Pa. Democrats after feud with Trump. But Republicans are split.
Pope Leo XIV drew Trump's ire when he condemned the war with Iran. It may have made him popular with many Pa. voters.
Pope Leo XIV is significantly more popular among Pennsylvania Democrats than Republicans in the state, according to an Inquirer/New York Times/Siena poll released this week.
While 75% of Democrats expressed a favorable opinion of Leo, only 40% of Republicans did. Meanwhile, 37% of Republicans viewed the pope unfavorably, compared with just 7% of Democrats, according to the poll.
The pope’s disfavor with GOP voters likely links back to his widely publicized dispute with President Donald Trump in the spring over the Iran war, when the two engaged in contentious exchanges, said Don Levy, who supervises the Siena Research Institute’s political polls.
Among independent voters, 64% viewed the pope favorably and only 16% viewed him unfavorably.
Similarly, voters who cast their ballots for Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 were more likely to hold a favorable view of the pope than were Trump voters: 79% of Harris voters held favorable views of Leo, compared with just 38% for Trump voters.
» READ MORE: Read the full poll here.
Among all likely Pennsylvania voters, nearly 60% have a favorable opinion of the first U.S.-born pope — making him about as popular as Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, according to the poll of 760 likely Pennsylvania voters conducted between Aug. 17 and 21.
Leo has ties to Pennsylvania, having attended Villanova University as an undergraduate student and earning a bachelor of science in mathematics in 1977.
The pontiff made a virtual appearance in Philadelphia on the eve of the United States’ 250th birthday to accept the National Constitution Center’s prestigious Liberty Medal. In a speech live streamed to an interfaith crowd inside the Center City museum, the pope extolled the virtues of immigration, drawing a clear contrast with the president.
One day later, he spent his home country’s anniversary visiting migrants in the Mediterranean.
“Pope Leo has embodied a different way of being an American on the world stage. He believes in collaboration with other nations, and has concerns about immigration,” said Massimo Faggioli, a professor of theology and religious studies at Villanova University and an expert on the papacy.
“He’s relatable, and many Americans like that,” Faggioli added about Leo’s appeal.
In the spring, the war with Iran brought tensions between the Vatican and the White House to the forefront of the national political conversation as the U.S.-born pope emerged as a leading international voice against Trump’s policies.
“Pope Leo never wanted to get into a fight with Trump about the war,” Faggioli said. “But certain things Trump said were not acceptable to the pope.”
The Leo-vs.-Trump fracas caught fire in April, when Trump threatened Iran by saying a “whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” if the country’s leaders did not open up the Strait of Hormuz.
Within hours, the pope labeled Trump’s words “truly unacceptable.”
Days later, Trump posted on Truth Social that “Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.”
Trump also claimed that Leo had been selected as pope only because of his election as president and referred to the fact that one of the pope’s brothers is a Trump supporter.
Trump went further in a lengthy post: “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. … And I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do.”
During that same period, Vice President JD Vance said the pope should “be careful” when talking about religion.
Pope Leo responded: “I have no fear of the Trump administration.”
Around the same time, Trump posted an image of himself dressed as Jesus healing the sick as an American solider and others reverently gaze upon him. Trump claimed that the now-deleted post was meant to show him as a doctor.
A majority of likely Pennsylvania voters — 58% — disapprove of Trump’s performance as president and an even greater number — 66% — disapprove of his handling of the war, including 30% of Trump voters, according to the poll.
For the poll, 592 likely Pennsylvania voters completed the full survey and responded to the question about the pope.
Among that group Catholic voters, in particular, had a more favorable view of the pope than the overall electorate, with 81% viewing him favorably, while 15% viewed the head of the church unfavorably.
Trump won a majority of Catholic voters in 2024, according to national exit polls. But Catholic voters were split on the president’s performance in the new Pennsylvania poll — 50% disapproved of Trump, while 44% approved.
Explaining how people feel about the pope, the Rev. Paul Galetto, the pastor of St. Paul’s Church in South Philadelphia and a friend of Pope Leo’s for 51 years, said Tuesday that “everyone knows this pontiff is focused on peace in the world.”
More basically, people are drawn to his “intellect and his humbleness,” Galetto said.
“I think Pope Leo’s favorability comes about because he is seeking solutions to problems that affect all of humanity,” he added. “People will always be attracted to someone with a larger vision to help the common good.”
The New York Times/Philadelphia Inquirer/Siena University poll of Pennsylvania was funded by a grant from The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. The poll was designed and conducted independently from the institute.
Staff writer Joe Yerardi contributed to this article.
