The study, performed by Internet-based market research firm YouGov from the United Kingdom, ranked the world's 20 "most admired" men and women separately.

The most admired man for New Zealand respondents was David Attenborough, followed by Richie McCaw, Barack Obama and Stephen Hawking.

Prime Minister John Key ranked 13th on the New Zealand list.

The most admired women ranked by New Zealanders were Queen Elizabeth II, Helen Clark, Lydia Ko, Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres.

World-wide Stephen Hawking and Vladimir Putin pushed Pope Francis out of the men's top ten most admired.

He dropped from sixth to thirteenth.

The Pope ranked first in the Philippines and second in the United States.

According to YouGov, the Pope's drop may be explained by expectations of reform that distanced Francis from his predecessors, which have dimmed as the Argentine pontiff becomes "institutionalised".

The Dalai Lama came in ahead of him this year as the world's most admired spiritual leader.

Pope Francis also rated above Prince William, Dan Carter and Brendon McCullum in New Zealand.

In Brazil, Francis ranked 20th and in Mexico he came in ninth.

The most admired man overall was Microsoft founder Bill Gates, with Barack Obama second.

According to another survey Pope Francis remains the worlds most popular leader.

The survey, taken in March of 1,000 people in 64 countries respectively, puts the popularity of the Pope above US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande.

Francis achieved a net score of +41 - the difference between favourable and unfavourable opinions - 11 points ahead of closest rival President Obama, who achieved +30.

The regions where the Pope is held in highest esteem are Latin America, North America and Europe.

Portugal has the highest number of individuals with a positive view of the Pope, followed by the Philippines.

Segmented by religious belief, Roman Catholics view the Pope most favourably, followed by Jews and then Protestants.

Only 28 per cent of Muslims and 33 per cent of Buddhists see Francis in a positive light, but most of the Muslims and Buddhists surveyed had not heard of him.

The majority of atheists and agnostics polled view him favourably, according to the results.

Source

• cruxnow.com
• yougov.co.uk
• thetablet.co.nz
• Image: cruxnow.com

Yet that's basically today's situation, as Francis continues to garner acclaim and admiration from almost every quarter, most recently for a moving Oct. 4 visit to Assisi and for confirming his desire to reach out to divorced and remarried Catholics by announcing a Synod of Bishops in October 2014 dedicated to the family and marriage.

The "almost" in that sentence, however, is important because while Francis remains a smash hit overall, he's also got a budding "older son" problem.

The reference is to the parable of the prodigal son, a template many observers are now applying to Catholic reaction to the new pope. Over his first eight months, Francis basically has killed the fatted calf for the prodigal sons and daughters of the post-modern world, reaching out to gays, women, nonbelievers, and virtually every other constituency inside and outside the church that has felt alienated.

There are an awful lot of such prodigals, of course, which helps explain the pope's massive appeal.

Yet there are also a few Catholics today who feel a bit like the story's older son, wondering if what they've always understood as their loyalty to the church, and to the papacy, is being under-valued.

One can spot at least three such groups:

• Some Vatican personnel who have tried to do their best over the years in service to the successor of Peter and who may feel a bit demoralized hearing the pope describe their work environment as infested with careerism, "Vatican-centrism," and the "leprosy" of a royal court.
• Some pro-life Catholics who feel like they've carried water for the church on controversial and sometimes unpopular issues such as abortion and gay marriage and who now get the sense the pope regards some of their efforts as misplaced or over the top.
• Some evangelical Catholics, both clergy and laity, who've tried to reassert a strong sense of Catholic identity against forces they believe want to play it down, who now feel the pope may be pulling the rug out from under them. Some leaders in the reborn genre of Catholic apologetics, for instance, weren't thrilled recently to hear Francis call proselytism "solemn nonsense." Continue reading

Sources

• John L. Allen Jr in National Catholic Reporter
• Image: The Telegraph

John L. Allen Jr. is NCR senior correspondent.