Polls conducted by the Pew Research Center leading up to Pope Francis' encyclical show that American Catholics remain divided on the issue of climate change.

While most U.S. Catholics (71 percent) believe in some form of climate change, only 47 percent of adult Catholics attribute it to human causes. Forty-eight percent view it as a very serious problem.

The polls were also split along party lines with 80 percent of Catholic Democrats saying they believe in climate change while only half of Catholic Republicans do. Sixty percent of Catholic Democrats attribute it to human activity versus just 25 percent of Catholic Republicans.

"Among the U.S. public as a whole," said the report, "belief that global warming is occurring is nearly twice as common among Democrats as Republicans (86 percent vs. 45 percent). The view that global warming is caused by human activity is roughly three times as common among Democrats as among members of the GOP (64 percent vs. 22 percent), as is the view that it represents a very serious problem (67 percent vs. 21 percent)."

Differing views on climate change could also be seen along lines of ethnicity as well, with Hispanic Catholics being much more inclined to believe in climate change owing to human activity than White Catholics.

Other than a brief dip in 2014, the poll showed that the divide among Americans has been relatively steady since 2013.

Pew Research Center conducted the survey using landlines and cellphones among a national sample of 5,122 adults, including 1,016 self-identified Catholics.