Majority of Americans Admire St. John Paul II

Saint John Paul II at the Aqueduct Racetrack in New York, 1995.

We are obviously big fans of Saint John Paul II here at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine. But we aren’t the only Americans who admire the sainted pontiff.

A month before his beatification, the Knights of Columbus conducted a poll to see what Americans really thought of the late Holy Father. Some of the key findings were:

78% of Americans – along with 95 percent of Catholics and 98 percent of practicing Catholics – admire Pope John Paul II at least somewhat, with strong majorities of each demographic admiring him a great deal or a good amount (55 percent, 82 percent and 89 percent, respectively).

About six in 10 Americans (59 percent) believe that Pope John Paul II was one of the best or the best Pope in Church history. Among Catholics this view grows to more than 8 in 10 (82 percent of Catholics and 87 percent of practicing Catholics).

A large number of Americans (40 percent) – along with 65 percent of Catholics and 71 percent of practicing Catholics – remember watching one of John Paul II’s televised Masses or events.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans remember his trips to the United States, and almost half (46 percent) watched his funeral in 2005 – a number that includes more than two-thirds of Catholics (68 percent) and almost three-quarters of practicing Catholics (73 percent).

More than four in 10 Americans report that Pope John Paul II made at least some difference in their life spiritually. Among Catholics nearly three-quarters felt he had some spiritual impact on their lives (73 percent), as did nearly 9 in 10 practicing Catholics (87 percent).

In sum, Saint John Paul II is overwhelmingly admired by Americans. We hope that this fondness for the sainted pontiff will draw these people to the Saint John Paul II National Shrine, so that they can venerate this great man, learn more about his life, and be inspired to pursue lives of holiness. 

Saint John Paul II, Pray for Us!