A telephone survey commissioned by the Knights of Columbus found that U.S. Catholics think favourably of Pope Benedict XVI, who retired in February.

The Marist poll, taken March 2-5 – the week after Pope Benedict’s Feb. 28 retirement took effect – found that Catholics held favourable impressions of the retired pontiff’s tenure, his impact on their lives and the direction of both the Church and the world.

In the poll, 77 per cent of all U.S. Catholics, and 82 per cent of practising Catholics, said they had either a “positive” or “very positive” impression of the retired pope’s pontificate.

Seventy per cent of Catholics and 75 per cent of practising Catholics said the pope had a “positive” or “very positive” impact on the Church’s direction, while 65 per cent of Catholics and 69 per cent of practising Catholics said in the poll he had a “positive” or “very positive” impact on the moral direction of the world.