Pope's Dip In Approval Rating Not Expected To Lessen Impact Of Papal Visit
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A newly released Gallop poll suggests America's no longer all that enamored with Pope Francis, although he's still a rather popular guy.
Ask any politician and they'll tell you poll numbers can be a fickle thing. And so it is with the Pontiff, who had a 58% approval rating among Americans when he ascended to the Papacy a little over 2 years ago.
That number rose to 76 percent last year, only to dip down to 59 percent now. Professor Kevin Hughes, head of the Humanities Department at Villanova University, isn't surprised.
"The more socially conservative folks and the more radical liberal folks...I think you're seeing both sides of that equation become a little less enchanted."
Over issues like capitalism on the right and female priests on the left, Hughes believes the Pope still enjoys big support among middle of the road Americans and not just Catholics. Regardless of the numbers, he believes Francis's message when he comes to America in September won't be altered one bit.
"Whether it'll even come to his attention I don't know," Hughes said on Pope Francis even becoming aware of the numbers. "But if it did come to his attention, I can't imagine that Pope Francis would care one bit about it."
Hughes also does not believe it'll reduce the size of projected crowds at events like the Papal mass on the Parkway in late September.
