By Ryan Hiles–
First and foremost, Pope Francis is not Bernie Sanders. I say this, because based on the way his recent visit to the United States is being covered and discussed, it would certainly be easy to conflate the two. There seems to be this narrative around the Pontiff that paints him as some kind of liberal champion. A Bernie Sanders for the Catholic world. That narrative, while convenient and refreshing, and even possibly uplifting, is demonstrably false.
Now, that’s not to say that there’s nothing fresh about this new Pope. He’s expressed concern about the opulence of the church while so many are without the basic means of survival. He’s advocated for more humane treatment of immigrants and refugees. He’s even gone so far as to call on the United States and other nations to take action against climate change, something his predecessor wouldn’t acknowledge existed.
He’s an inspirational, and possibly, hopefully, a transformational figure for an organization that is seeing it’s membership plummet around the world (with the exception of Pope Francis’ native South America), and whose policies are quickly backsliding into the realm of the archaic. But somehow, in the midst of his weeklong visit, his belief in moderate, common-sense policies and programs has turned him into a partisan ideologue. Gore Vidal in a pointy white hat.
This image of Francis is affirmed by the reaction to the Pope’s visit of one of the most conservative members of Congress, Arizona Republican Paul Gosar. Gosar had stated before the arrival of Francis in the states that he would indeed be boycotting the Pope’s address to Congress. As he understood it, the Pope “has adopted all the Socialist talking points, wrapped false science and ideology into ‘climate justice’ and is being used to guilt people into leftist policies.”
While Gosar may be the only member of congress without the political expediency to see that slinging mud at an internationally beloved religious leader may not be a worthwhile gambit, he is almost certainly not the only member of congress who holds this image of Francis as a radical socialist. But all of us, liberal and conservative, need to take a step away from the headlines and the 24-hour news networks that, out of necessity, create narratives like this. We need to look at reality, and the reality is that Pope Francis isn’t a progressive. He’s not even a liberal.
Pope Francis fronts an organization that in the year 2015 still, by rule, disqualifies women from positions of power. He himself is personally opposed, not just to gay marriage, but seemingly to LGBT rights in generally, as he’s been quoted comparing gender fluidity with nuclear weapons.
These are points of view that would absolutely color our perception of any other public figure, and yet when it comes to Francis, certain aspects are ignored while others are highlighted simply for convenience of narrative. Calling him the “the liberal Pope” is pithy, it’s catchy, and a hell of a lot easier to digest than “the largely conservative Pope with a few uncharacteristically progressive views, given his position”.
Though, maybe my bar is just a little too high. This is a 78 year-old devout Argentinian man we’re talking about here. And Catholics, particularly younger, more liberal Catholics seem to like the guy, and I can see why. “Previous Popes always kind of reinforced the idea that all Catholics are super-conservative.” Junior French major Spencer Comstock explained to me. “He seems to have lot to say about capitalism and how Christianity should be about helping those less fortunate, which is something I could never see his predecessors doing. He also seems to have a vested interest in the environment, which is nice to hear.”
Here’s the frustrating thing – no one is saying that Francis, particularly given his station in life, isn’t a favorable, benevolent leader. But the trouble with comparing his liberal bona fides with those of other Popes is that you’re not just setting the bar low, you’re digging a nice, cavernous hole in the ground and setting the bar at the bottom of that. That lack of perspective is what’s driving us to freak out over a guy because he’s simply not a climate change denier, all the while forgetting to mention that he also is a staunch believer in exorcism. Ladies and gentlemen, your 2016 Democratic nominee…
Photo Courtesy www.huffingtonpost.com
