While papal visits to the United States are increasingly common, what is uncommon is to see political-ideological battle lines drawn around a pope. The tendency this time is especially acute among liberals, who eagerly frame Pope Francis as one of them — a categorization Francis has resisted. “I’m sure that I haven’t said anything more than what’s written in the social doctrine of the church,” he said as his plane approached U.S. soil.
To some degree, liberals are justified in linking Pope Francis to many of their concerns — climate change, wealth redistribution, poverty. And even many conservatives seem to concede this pope to the political left. In truth, however, both sides lack a full picture. To illustrate the point, I’ll focus on the subject area that brings Pope Francis here to America to begin with: A major international Roman Catholic Church synod on family and marriage.
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