Seventeen Percent of Americans have Never Heard of the Pope

This seems like a surprisingly high figure. I might have guessed 5% or something like that. I wonder what the figures would be for Canadians?

But the good news is that in the lead up to the Pope's visit to the US, most Americans are at least warm towards the Pope.

The survey results show that Americans have a generally positive opinion of the Pope and the Catholic Church. Most hope that during his visit Pope Benedict will address the place of spiritual values in ordinary life.

Fifty-eight percent of the United States residents polled have a “favorable” or “very favorable” opinion of Benedict XVI, while 13 percent have an “unfavorable” or “very unfavorable” opinion of the Pope.