Pope Leo XIV draws 65 percent favorable rating in France, poll finds
A Cluster 17 survey taken on October 14 and 15, weeks after the pope's visit to France, put him ahead of every other international leader measured, with support on both the left and the right
Pope Leo XIV is the international leader with the highest favorable rating among French citizens, with 65 percent rating him "very good" or "fairly good," according to a poll by the firm Cluster 17 conducted on October 14 and 15. That placed him above presidents and prime ministers from around the world at the time the poll was published, weeks after his visit to France.
The support runs across the political spectrum. Among supporters of the center-right Les Républicains, 78 percent gave the pope a favorable rating, as did 75 percent of voters for the National Rally, a right-wing party. Support was not limited to the right: 54 percent of supporters of France Unbowed, the left-wing movement, also rated the pope favorably. No other foreign figure in the poll drew that level of support across party lines.
The poll does not show what lies behind that goodwill, or whether it implies agreement with Catholic teaching on life, the family or religious freedom.
More than one million people turned out in Paris, Lourdes and Metz during the pope's visit to France.
Contrast with other international leaders
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky each drew 54 percent approval, 11 points below the pope, but with support split sharply along ideological lines. Meloni was rated unfavorably by 80 percent of France Unbowed supporters, while her approval reached 91 percent among National Rally voters and 95 percent among supporters of Reconquête, another party on the right.
Zelensky drew unfavorable ratings from 55 percent of France Unbowed supporters and 58 percent of National Rally voters, while 92 percent of supporters of President Emmanuel Macron rated him favorably. Behind them came Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, with 34 percent favorable ratings, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, with 32 percent.
At the other end of the table was US President Donald Trump, whose disapproval rating among French respondents stood at 82 percent, the highest of any foreign leader in the sample. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also fared poorly, with 73 percent of respondents expressing a negative opinion of her.
