FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 11, 2026

CONTACT:Denise Murphy McGraw
dmurphymcgraw@hgmlobby.com

CATHOLIC SUPPORT FOR TRUMP PLUMMETS AS POPE LEO’S MORAL LEADERSHIP RESONATES

New polling shows Catholics increasingly comfortable opposing the Trump presidency and its rejection of Catholic social justice teachings

WASHINGTON, D.C. — New polling shows President Donald Trump rapidly losing support among Catholics as Pope Leo XIV’s message of peace, human dignity and responsible leadership earns broad approval from the faithful.

According to polling reported by Newsweek, Trump’s approval rating among Catholics has fallen to 38 percent—a 10-point decline since February 2025. Among white Catholics, his approval has dropped from 63 percent to 49 percent. The findings suggest that Catholics are increasingly rejecting an administration whose policies and rhetoric conflict with the Church’s teachings on human dignity, immigration, peace and care for the most vulnerable.

“These numbers show that the work of Catholics Vote Common Good is breaking through,” said Denise Murphy McGraw, National Co-Chair of Catholics Vote Common Good. “Catholics are feeling more and more comfortable opposing this disastrous presidency and actions that stand distinctly in opposition to our Catholic social justice teachings. Our faith does not call us to excuse cruelty, dehumanizing policies, attacks on immigrants or the reckless pursuit of power. It calls us to protect human dignity, welcome the stranger, pursue peace and stand with those who are vulnerable.”

Across the country, Catholics Vote Common Good has been creating space for Catholics to speak openly about the moral consequences of the Trump administration’s policies. Opposing those policies is not a rejection of their faith. It is an expression of it.

The contrast with Pope Leo XIV could hardly be clearer. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that 78 percent of American Catholics view the pope favorably, including strong majorities of Catholic Democrats and Republicans. Fifty-one percent of Catholics also said Trump has been too critical of Pope Leo.

Pope Leo has repeatedly reminded political leaders that authority carries a moral responsibility. In an April message addressing democracy and the legitimate exercise of power, he said: “Catholic social teaching regards power not as an end in itself, but as a means ordered toward the common good.”

That understanding of leadership stands in sharp contrast to an administration that too often treats power as a weapon against vulnerable people and anyone who refuses to submit to its political agenda.

The polling also delivers a striking rebuke to Vice President JD Vance, a relatively new Catholic who converted to the faith in 2019 and has increasingly presented himself as an interpreter of Catholic teaching. Navigator Research found that Vance has a net favorability rating of negative 12 points among Catholics, compared with Pope Leo’s positive 57-point rating—a nearly 70-point gap.

“JD Vance may be a newly minted Catholic, but Catholics clearly are not looking to him for moral instruction,” Murphy McGraw said. “Catholic identity is more than a label, a political prop or a chapter in a memoir. It requires us to respect the dignity of every person and recognize that no political leader is above moral accountability. Catholics overwhelmingly trust Pope Leo’s faithful witness more than Vance’s partisan distortion of our tradition.”

The polling reflects more than changing political preferences. It reveals a growing desire among Catholics for public leadership grounded in mercy, justice, humility and concern for the most vulnerable.

Catholic voters are not the political possession of any candidate or party. As more Catholics recognize the deep conflict between the Trump administration’s actions and Catholic social justice teachings, they are finding the confidence to speak out, organize and vote according to their values.

READ NEWSWEEK ARTICLE