Washington Times: "Obama And Pope Are Shoulder To Shoulder Allies"

Pope Francis (R) and US President Barack Obama laugh as they exchange gifts during a private audience on March 27, 2014 at the Vatican.

 

Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty

This Week in God, 1.3.15

01/03/15 

By Steve Benen

First up from the God Machine this week is the increasing relevance of Pope Francis on domestic politics.

 

The conservative Washington Times reported this week, for example, “President Obama increasingly is finding a key policy ally in the Vatican, with Pope Francis standing virtually shoulder to shoulder with the White House on” several key issues.

 

The Hill added the same day that the pope “is increasingly driving a wedge between conservatives and the Catholic Church.”

The magnetic pope has sparked new enthusiasm around the world for the church and has flexed his political muscles internationally, most recently by helping to engineer a new relationship between the United States and Cuba.



 

But Francis’s agenda, which also includes calls to address income inequality and limit climate change, is putting him at odds with Republicans, including GOP Catholics in the United States.


This dynamic is likely to intensify fairly soon – Francis is reportedly investing considerable time, energy, and focus in 2015 to urging Catholics around the globe to combat climate change, an environmental crisis that many American Republicans continue to argue does not exist.

 

Sister Simone Campbell, perhaps best known for organizing the “Nuns on a Bus” tours, told The Hill, “Pope Francis’s message and tone are making Catholic Republicans a little uncomfortable. He’s stirring the concern on issues like poverty and the economy.”

 

At this point, it’s not entirely clear GOP officials care. When Francis played a role in the recent U.S./Cuba breakthrough, the pope was jeered by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), without any apparent concerns about the political or theological repercussions.

 

Still, the White House is looking for as many notable allies as it can assemble, and on several key issues, it appears Obama and Francis are on the same page.