U.S. Priests Report High Confidence in Pope Leo XIV, Less Trust in Bishops
A 2025 survey of more than 1,100 American priests found high rates of self-reported personal flourishing, strong confidence in Pope Leo XIV, and a mixed level of trust in U.S. bishops.
The National Study of Catholic priests, published on Oct. 14, was commissioned by the Catholic Project at The Catholic University of America and conducted by Gallup.
- About 43% of those surveyed expressed “a great deal” of confidence in Pope Leo XIV.
- Another 43% reported “quite a lot” of confidence in the pontiff.
- About 13% said they have “some” confidence.
- Only 1% expressed “very little” confidence.
Researchers surveyed the same priests who were surveyed in The Catholic Project’s 2022 survey to examine the U.S.
Author's summary: Priests show high confidence in Pope Leo XIV.