re: #239 Dark_Falcon

Pope Francis can’t be easily classed according to the categories used in the US, in large part because he’s not an American and so is not shaped by American political coalitions and pressures. So he may speak about peace making and ‘social justice’, but at the same time he is firm about standing on his authority and he will no more brook direct challenges to said authority than would his two immediate predecessors.

The pope stands for the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, and just because he doesn’t want to emphasize culture war issues like abortion, that does not mean he is willing to allow clergy and Catholic institutions to flout church doctrine.

I was amused at how the Pope went from hero to villain to hero again in the RW press depending on what was being reported about him.