More Republican Catholics choose Trump over the Pope

A new poll from the Pew Research Center found that not only do more Republican Catholics side with President Donald Trump over the Pope, but their numbers are growing.

In the poll released Thursday, it was revealed that 39 percent of Catholics who identify as or lean Republican think Pope Leo XIV has been “too critical of the Trump administration,” while just 32 percent think President Donald Trump has been “too critical of Leo.” 28 percent agreed both that “Leo has been too critical of Trump but Trump hasn’t been too critical of Leo,” while only 21 percent said “Trump has been too critical of Leo but Leo hasn’t been too critical of Trump.” In other words, Trump has a roughly 7 percent advantage.

What’s more, the same poll showed that conservative Catholic unfavorability toward the Pontiff is on the rise. When the same poll was taken in August 2025, the Pope was deemed unfavorable by a mere 6 percent. Today, that’s up to 22 percent as his favorability has sunk from 84 percent to 72 percent.

According to Pew, “The survey was conducted from May 26 to June 1, in the wake of public tension between Leo and President Donald Trump over the conflict in Iran and other matters. In April, Leo spoke out against war and blamed it on unnamed leaders having a 'delusion of omnipotence.' Trump criticized Leo on social media, saying the pope was 'WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.'"

While Republican Catholics tend to side with Trump, that opinion did not reflect with Catholics as a whole, particularly Democrats. As Pew explains, “U.S. Catholics are split. While 19 percent say Leo has been too critical of the Trump administration, 16 percent say he hasn’t been critical enough. Another 35 percent say Leo is striking the right balance, and 30 percent say they are not sure, have no opinion or have never heard of Leo. By contrast, when asked about Trump’s approach to Pope Leo, far more Catholics say Trump has been too critical of Leo (51 percent) than say he hasn’t been critical enough (4 percent) or is striking the right balance (14 percent).”

Overall, the Pope has a 78 approval rating among all Catholics. That number is largely driven by Catholic Democrats and independents who lean Democrat, who are far more likely to say Trump has been too critical of Pope Leo than say Leo has been too critical of Trump (70 percent vs. 3 percent)... The balance of opinion among Catholic Democrats is fairly one-sided: 68 percent say Trump has been too critical of Leo but that Leo hasn’t been overly critical of Trump.”

The poll comes out amidst a surprising shift in tone in Pope-Trump relations. Following news of the peace deal with Iran, Leo posted, “I welcome with satisfaction the reaching of an agreement between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, which will be signed on Friday, as an encouraging result of patient work in dialogue and negotiation. I hope that the agreement may help strengthen mutual trust, security, and stability in the Middle East, promoting paths of dialogue and cooperation among peoples.” Trump shared the Pope’s statement to Truth Social without comment.

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