Pope Francis Against the World

Peak Pope, a condition of exhaustion with Pope Francis and his public presence, has come and gone a couple of times during his short papacy. The first came back in the spring of 2014, when, after a year of homilies, sermons, and impromptu speeches, casual Francis fans in the media seemed to feel they had heard all they wanted to out of the pontiff. But Francis appeared set to maintain the enthusiasm of his media audience for just a little longer with the announcement and subsequent release of his encyclical on ecology, Laudato Si, in June. Whatever honeymoon may have issued from Francisâ??s bold treatment of climate change through the lens of Catholic moral theology has, however, ended. While conservatives increasingly disapprove of Francis for his seemingly leftward take on capitalism and the environment, liberals have had enough of his old-school Catholicism.