The Francis Effect

The report identifies a 'Francis Effect,' where Americans—particularly Catholics—became more engaged and concerned about global warming between spring and fall 2015. This shift is characterized by increased trust in the Pope, higher issue salience in media and places of worship, and a growing perception of global warming as a moral and social justice issue. While concern and certainty that global warming is happening increased, the report finds that understanding of human-caused warming remained steady and support for specific climate policies changed only slightly.

• Between spring and fall 2015, American adults developed a more positive view of Pope Francis, with a 7 percentage point increase in those holding a 'very positive' opinion. This trend was most pronounced among Catholics, who saw a 13 percentage point increase in very positive views.
• Trust in Pope Francis as a source of information regarding global warming rose by 11 percentage points among the general American population and by 6 percentage points among Catholics.
• Global warming became more salient in the American consciousness; 45% of all Americans and 56% of Catholics reported seeing, reading, or hearing media coverage of the Pope's views on the topic. Awareness of the Pope's encyclical, Laudato Si’, increased by 14 points nationally and 16 points among Catholics.
• A significant portion of the surveyed population felt influenced by the Pope's position on global warming: 17% of all Americans and 35% of Catholics. Among those influenced, approximately half reported becoming more concerned about the issue.
• Certainty that global warming is occurring increased by 6 percentage points for Americans overall and 13 percentage points for Catholics. However, the proportion of Americans who believe human activities cause global warming remained unchanged at 52%.
• Global warming is increasingly viewed through a moral and ethical lens. National belief that it is a moral issue rose by 7 points and a social justice/fairness issue by 6 points. Among Catholics, the belief that global warming is a religious issue more than doubled, increasing from 6% to 13%.
• Support for unilateral U.S. action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, regardless of other countries' actions, increased by 7 percentage points. However, support for other policies was largely stagnant; support for renewable energy research rose by 2 points, while support for strict carbon dioxide limits on coal-fired power plants decreased by 3 points.

APA

Maibach, E., Leiserowitz, A., Roser-Renouf, C., Myers, T., Rosenthal, S., & Feinberg, G. (2015). The Francis Effect. Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2015/11/The_Francis_Effect.pdf

Chicago

Maibach, Edward, Anthony Leiserowitz, Connie Roser-Renouf, Teresa Myers, Seth Rosenthal, and Geoff Feinberg. The Francis Effect. Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, 2015. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2015/11/The_Francis_Effect.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{maibach2015francis, author = {Maibach, Edward and Leiserowitz, Anthony and Roser-Renouf, Connie and Myers, Teresa and Rosenthal, Seth and Feinberg, Geoff}, title = {{The Francis Effect}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2015}, month = nov, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2015/11/The_Francis_Effect.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }