Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

8. The Francis Effect

8.1. Pope Francis’s Teachings About Global Warming Have Had an Impact on the Views of Americans, Especially Catholics.

In June of 2015, Pope Francis issued an encyclical titled Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home intended to draw Catholics into a dialogue with one another, and with all of humanity, about the implications of climate change and other forms of environmental destruction. In the encyclical, Francis presented a strong moral call to action: people and nations should come together and take the actions necessary to protect the Earth – and thereby protect the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people from climate change. In September, Pope Francis visited the United States for five days to meet with President Obama, address a joint session of the U.S. Congress, address the General Assembly of the United Nations, and meet, talk, pray and hold Mass with ordinary Americans. During several of these events, he urged the nations of the world to come together to address climate change. His views were covered broadly by the American news media.

In a separate study that we conducted concurrently with this surveyMaibach, E., Leiserowitz, A., Roser-Renouf, C., Myers, T., Rosenthal, S., & Feinberg, G. (2015). The Francis effect: How Pope Francis changed the conversation about global warming. George Mason University and Yale University. Fairfax, VA: George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication., we found that many Americans’ views of global warming have recently been influenced by Pope Francis’s teachings about global warming, especially Catholic Americans. In this current survey we found many of the same results. We call this “The Francis Effect.”

For example, Catholics were especially likely to say:

• I trust Pope Francis as an information source on global warming (77% of Catholics versus 56% of non-Catholics)
• The Pope’s position on global warming had an impact on my own views about global warming (20% versus 5%, respectively)
• The Pope’s position on global warming has made me more concerned about global warming (19% versus 5%)

Enlarge Permalink

8.2. After the Pope’s Encyclical Release and Visit to the U.S., American Catholics Are More Likely Than Non-Catholics to Think Global Warming Is a Moral, Social Justice, and Poverty Issue.

Pope Francis has consistently emphasized the moral and social justice dimensions of global warming in his call for action on climate change. His words have resonated with some American Catholics, who are more likely now than prior to his encyclical release and U.S. visit, to see global warming as:

• A moral issue (46% versus 36% in spring 2015, +10 percentage points)
• A social justice (fairness) issue (33% versus 23%, respectively, +10 points)
• A poverty issue (29% versus 22%, +7 points)

More non-Catholics also now view global warming as a moral issue, although this increase was smaller than among Catholics:

• A moral issue (40% versus 35% in spring 2015, +5 percentage points)
• A social justice (fairness) issue (26% versus 24%, respectively, +2 points)
• A poverty issue (25% versus 24%, +1 point)

Enlarge Permalink