Pope Francis has been fiercely consistent in his priorities: the lives of the marginalised, the structures that diminish their dignity, and the pastoral imperatives that flow from mercy. He has not so much shifted mainstream Catholic discourse as broadened the terms.
The connections he makes in Laudato Si between climate change and the prevailing economic order, for instance, forces a rethink on what it means to be a Catholic with political power. The lead-up to his visit to the United States only confirms that this has been received as provocation, especially among Republicans.
Arizona representative Paul Gosar — a staunch Catholic — made a show of boycotting the historic papal address to the Joint Houses of Congress. In an article for TIME magazine, he explains that 'when the Pope chooses to act and talk like a leftist politician, then he can expect to be treated like one'. He advises the Pope to fight climate change 'in his personal time', adding that '(promoting) questionable science as Catholic dogma is ridiculous'.
Fox News radio host Brian Kilmeade was also blunt: 'I'm Catholic and he could stay home. Some of his comments just have no place. He's in the wrong country. He doesn't like capitalism. He blames us and money for what's going on in the Middle East ... He's never visited our country before, now he gets around to it and he's critical going in?'
Washington Post columnist George F. Will (an atheist) was at least less prosaic: 'Francis' fact-free flamboyance reduces him to a shepherd whose selectively reverent flock, genuflecting only at green altars, is tiny relative to the publicity it receives from media otherwise disdainful of his church.'
The conservative response to Francis has exposed fault lines; this much we can gather from the past two years. A US Gallup poll in July attributes the steep decline in his popularity — from 76 per cent to 59 per cent — to Catholics and conservatives. Last year, 89 per cent of American Catholics had a favourable view of Francis, dropping to 71 per cent this year. Among those who identify as conservative (rather than moderate or liberal), the figure dropped from 72 per cent to 45 per cent.
It is reasonable to believe that Francis' critique of free market economics has contributed to the hostility. One pundit described him as 'an eco-wolf in pope's clothing, a stealth Marxist in religious garb'.
Such intra-Catholic tensions aren't new. It is