Pope Francis has revived, ruffled US Catholic church

By RACHEL ZOLL

AP Religion Writer

NEW YORK

Pope Francis’ favorability ratings in surveys of U.S. Catholics and all Americans have fluctuated in his 2-year-old papacy – but always within a range that would be the envy of any leader.

His impending trip to the U.S. already is causing a frenzy. Free tickets for public events with the pope are being snapped up within minutes. Politicians, whether they agree or disagree with his views, are heading to Washington to see him. Yet, there is some trepidation about what the “slum pope,” who has made the poor and vulnerable a focus of his papacy, will say to one of the richest countries in the world.

In polls by the Pew Research Center, Francis’ popularity peaked in February 2015 at 90 percent among Catholics and 70 percent in the general public.

After he released his encyclical in June on ecology and climate change, calling for aggressive government action and personal moral transformation to save the planet and humanity, his approval ratings dipped. A Gallup poll found political conservatives upset he had gone so far – and liberals disappointed he hadn’t done more.

Still, a Public Religion Research Institute survey last month found his popularity returning to higher levels overall as his first U.S. visit neared.

Here’s a look at the impact Francis already is having in the U.S., before arriving Tuesday to visit Washington, New York and Philadelphia:

FRANCIS THE PUBLIC FIGURE

In a politically polarized country such as the U.S., Francis’ effort to turn down the volume on the culture wars dismayed hardliners, but was a relief for many Catholics and those alienated from the church. Just months into his papacy, he told Jesuit magazines that though he was a “son of the church” who upheld Catholic doctrine, he believed the church was too focused on “small-minded rules” and should instead be a “field hospital” that showed mercy on the spiritual battlefield of the modern world.

He followed these proclamations with real-life gestures of compassion, such as hosting the homeless for a tour and meal at the Vatican museums, and adopting a comparatively stripped-down lifestyle for a pope – using an economy car and carrying his own travel bag.

AFFLICTING THE COMFORTABLE

Francis remains popular despite discomfiting many inside and outside the church.

In July, Carl Olson, editor of the conservative Catholic World Report, wrote that though he agreed with some of the pope’s critiques of society’s ills, Olson also found a “weariness” among some Catholics over Francis’ tone, which Olson described as sometimes “haranguing, harping, exhorting, lecturing” and “grating.”

Francis’ moral instruction about daily life – on the Christian duty to stop consuming so much, start spending more time with the poor and give up air conditioning for the sake of the environment – has left some feeling scolded.

UPENDING THE CHURCH

Francis’ exhortation to throw open the doors of the church to all, then address their beliefs and behavior later, has unsettled many in American Catholic leadership. Using the metaphor of a badly injured man, Francis said, “You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else.”

Many U.S. bishops, while also striving to bring back fallen-away Catholics, had been putting doctrine first. The overwhelming majority were appointed by Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, who set the church on what they viewed as a badly needed course correction, establishing clearer, stricter boundaries for what could be considered truly Catholic.

REBRANDING THE FAITH

Francis’ revolutionary pontificate has drawn the spotlight away from controversies that have dogged the bishops and the U.S. church.

The Vatican under Francis quickly ended a contentious investigation of U.S. nuns that brought grief to the bishops.

Clergy sex-abuse scandals persist in American dioceses, despite broad reforms by the bishops in 2002 that pledged a quick ouster for guilty clergy and more safeguards for children.

Advocates for victims argue Francis has created an impression of change while taking little concrete action to address the issue around the world.