Pope Francis is not as popular as he once was. His favorability has actually declined to the point of his precursor Pope Benedict.
Although there are still roughly half of U.S. citizens polled that still approve of him.
Right now there isn’t a favorable light shining on the Catholic Church due to misconduct involving sex abuse. There is a lot of criticism surrounding Pope Francis and how he is dealing with the scandal.
Other factors impacting Pope Francis’ popularity are clergy appointments, the proliferation of Catholic faith and his fortification of “traditional morals”.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2018/10/02/653765725/pope-francis-popularity-falls-sharply-among-u-s-catholics
