Pope Francis is set to land in New York next week. On the eve of his visit, a new Siena poll shows the pontiff's favorability rating soaring.
New Yorkers hold Pope Francis in high regard – according to a new Newsday/News 12 Long Island/Siena College poll. Catholics surveyed give Francis a near 90 percent positive favorability rating.
Siena College Research Institute director Don Levy says New Yorkers admire Francis: "And they said that it was in part due to his humble lifestyle. The fact that he has modest quarters, and he retained, for awhile anyways, an old car."
The poll found that 62 percent of New Yorkers believe Francis will bring major change to the Catholic church and nearly all surveyed believe that change will be for the better. "So the we asked them 'what would you like to see the church do?' and they said, they told us that overwhelmingly, 89 percent said they'd like to see the Catholic Church allow Catholics to use birth control. They'd like to make annulments for divorced Catholics easier, and we've seen some action on that recently. Nearly 80 percent said they'd like to see women serve as priests, and about 3/4ths said they'd like to see priests be able to marry, even a majority of Catholics said they'd like to see the church recognize same-sex marriage. So these are, with the exception of the annulment issue, all issues that as yet the Pope continues to espouse what have been the traditional views of the Church. When Catholics told us what the biggest obstacle the church faces, they said it's that the church is out of step with the lives of everyday New Yorkers."
The outlook darkens a bit from there: "When we asked people 'do you agree with all or most of the Pope's stances on social, cultural or in some cases political views' and there only about half of New York City residents said that they agree with most or all of what the pope stands for. In areas like addressing the sexual abuse scandals within the church, fewer than half think he's doing an excellent or good job, and the priest shortage. There's someplace where Catholics in particular think that there's a ways to go for this pope."
Levy says time will tell whether Francis will accomplish the changes he is expected to make. The survey concludes that there is a strong expectation that the pope will have a positive effect on the world. "About half of New Yorkers feel as though the Pope will have that sort of positive impact on the world, and they see it terms of lessening cultural insensitivity, enhancing the moral character of people, even 50 percent feel as though he's going to have a direct impact on resolving conflicts. Clearly this Pope is seen as a person who can bring folks together, who despite the fact that not everyone agrees with him on everything, that his presentation, his humble bearing, his spiritual quality, is seen as something that in one person is gonna have an effect on the world."
Dr. Jeffrey Marlett , professor of religious studies at the College of St. Rose, agrees and likens the pope's visit to New York to another visit to the Big Apple made a half-century ago. "It's like a religious version of the Beatles. This is a chance to come out and see 'the guy.' And so one of the things that will be interesting will be the popular reaction, just to see the size of the crowd."
The 78-year old pontiff is scheduled to be in the United States between September 23rd and 27th,: besides New York he'll visit Philadelphia and Washington D.C.
The Siena poll, conducted downstate between August 30th and September 8th, has a margin of error of plus or minus five percentage points.
