Get ready for a sea of criticism of Pope Francis from Republicans, on Fox News, talk radio and on many conservative websites. In his first visit to the White House, the Pope did not shirk from giving some brief comments that offered his view on some of the issues that have become mega-political in this Presidential election cycle. He praised Barack Obama on restoring ties to Cuba and on his controversial climate change plan:

Pope Francis immediately dove into the whirlpool of U.S. politics on Wednesday, using his first direct address to the American people to weigh in on deeply divisive issues including climate change, Cuba, marriage and immigration.

The pontiff, speaking before 11,000 ticketed guests at an elaborate welcoming ceremony on South Lawn of the White House, signaled he will take on controversial issues during his six-day visit.

In prepared remarks that were laced more with politics rather than overtly religious messages and Scripture, Francis said he was ready to listen to the “hopes and dreams of the American people” and to offer guidance to those charged with guiding the nation’s political future “in fidelity to its founding principles.”

Many reports have underscored Pope Francis considers these issues part of the church’s mission and that the’s duty bound to speak out on them. This has increasingly led to criticism from conservative Republicans — some even calling him a socialist or Marxist, and one Catholic member of Congress announcing he’ll boycott Francis’s speech. As I noted before, any moment I expect a conservative to call him a CINO (Catholic In Name Only).

But what often gets lost in the polemics, he also clashes with Democrats as well. More from the CNN story:

In comments that could antagonize Republicans, Francis endorsed President Barack Obama’s efforts on climate change and rebuilding ties with Cuba after more than half a century of estrangement.

He said it was “encouraging that you are proposing an initiative for reducing air pollution. Accepting the urgency, it seems clear to me also that climate change is a problem that can no longer be left to a future generation.”

“When it comes to the care of our ‘common home’ we are living at a critical moment of history.”

Francis also made reference to one of the central themes of his papacy: that the modern global economy is enriching the few at the expense of the many.

The Politico frames the story this way:

Pope Francis wasted no time injecting politics into his visit to the White House on Wednesday, opening his remarks with a pointed reminder that the United States has a historical commitment to welcoming immigrants and following it with an exhortation to halt climate change.
“As the son of an immigrant family, I am happy to be a guest in this country, which was largely built by such families,” the pope said before a crowd of 11,000 on the South Lawn. “I find it encouraging that you are proposing an initiative for reducing air pollution. Accepting the urgency, it seems clear to me also that climate change is a problem which can no longer be left to a future generation.”

The 78-year-old pontiff also called for the protection of religious liberty while saying that American Catholics are “committed to building a society with is truly tolerant and inclusive.”
“With countless other people of good will, they are likewise concerned that efforts to build a just and wisely ordered society respect their deepest concerns and their right to religious liberty,” Francis said.
President Barack Obama also spoke about religious freedom, a topic that has come under more intense discussion in the U.S., in part because of debate about whether the legalization of same-sex marriage is unfair toward people of faith who disapprove of homosexuality, such as a Kentucky clerk recently jailed for five days for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.
Obama noted that Francis was a champion of religious liberty and took more of a global view about discrimination against Christians and other people of faith.
“Here in the United States, we cherish religious liberty,” Obama said. “Yet around the world at this very moment, children of God, including Christians, are targeted and even killed because of their faith. Believers are prevented from gathering at their places of worship. The faithful are imprisoned. Churches are destroyed. So we stand with you in defense of religious freedom and interfaith dialogue, knowing that people everywhere must be able to live out their faith free from fear and intimidation.”

graphic via shutterstock.com

JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief

Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.

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