How the Pope transcends politics

Mark Parent
Opinions Editor

If you’ve had the opportunity to watch any political media this week, it’s likely that you learned the pope is a liberal, anti-abortion, communist-lover.

Of course, he isn’t any of those things. In fact, he’s probably the best thing to happen to the Catholic Church since the untimely death of Pope John Paul II.

Just for a moment, however, digest the fact that Pope Francis is arguably the most popular man in the world. And, according to the Pew Research Center, this year his approval rating is around 90 percent among American Catholics and 70 percent with the broader public.

So, it’s abundantly clear that people love Pope Francis. After all, his personal touch, unwillingness to cast judgment and easy-going demeanor are rarities in 21st century American society.

Yet, this intense likeability has been unable to translate into acceptance by the media elite, especially among conservatives. And, as of late, it’s simply gone too far. For instance, Fox News is doing the country a disservice by discussing whether the pope is a Communist after his plane touched down at Joint Base Andrews last week.

Frankly, it seems like the Right is threatened by the pope’s views. As an unabashed believer in climate change and frequent critic of capitalism, the pope has distinguished himself from most card-carrying members of the Republican Party.

It is due to these views that many conservatives have outwardly mocked the pope and encouraged him to stay out of political matters. In a sense, they claim that the Papacy should only play a religious role and veer away from political matters at all costs.

Of course, this is horribly hypocritical. As a conservative, I’m aware of the untold amount of times social conservative leaders, such as Rick Santorum, have waded into religious matters, despite it not being their area of expertise.

And, for those who want to argue over the Papacy’s role in politics, I would direct you to any history book detailing European politics between 600 and 1815. Suffice it to say, the pope has never been as apolitical as right now.

But, aside from historical fact, conservatives need to embrace some of the pope’s teachings — notably what they dislike.

For starters, conservatives need to open their eyes and admit that climate change is real and influenced by human activity. It’s basic science and represents a consensus view among climate scientists. So, rather than fight a battle that cannot be won, conservatives need to accept climatic data and argue over policy solutions to the matter, like what Sen. Marco Rubio has been doing throughout his presidential campaign.

Next, conservatives need to shed their label of being xenophobic and judgmental, which has sadly been reiterated through the emergence of professional provocateur, Donald Trump.

I would argue that most conservatives are compassionate, charitable and open-minded; but, for some reason, this never seems to be visible in public. Obviously, a predominantly liberal media is partly to blame for this reality, but it doesn’t capture the whole picture.

The hard truth is that Republicans are terrible messengers; this is perhaps most clearly evidenced in the oft-cited claim that liberals possess a higher verbal IQ than conservatives despite their lower quality arguments. For example, on the issue of same-sex marriage, conservatives have a credible religious argument in defense of the traditional arrangement. Unfortunately, demagogues decide to exploit that bias into pushes for politically infeasible constitutional amendments defining marriage, and support for county clerks who blatantly violate the law.

I mean, seriously, we’ll hold a rally for Kim Davis but put our noses up in the air whenever the Log Cabin Republicans are mentioned?

To contrast this attitude, just take a look at Pope Francis who holds the same socially conservative views as nearly every single card-carrying Republican. He is, after all, a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage, birth control and abortion. Yet, he is celebrated by many liberals across the country.

In my mind, this has to do with tone. Too many Christians, including those on campus, are far too judgmental and unwilling to reach out to the segments of society in most need of eternal hope and salvation. Pope Francis, on the other hand, declines to cast judgment on others and is solely concerned with initiating a process in which individuals can chart a path to God.

Now, I must admit, I’m a little bit biased when it comes to the subject of the pope.

You see, this past spring I had the opportunity to travel to the Vatican and take in all of the sights and sounds of the holiest 109 acres on the planet.

But, for me, the wonders of the Sistine Chapel, beauty of St. Peter’s Basilica and calming sight of the Swiss Guards did not leave the impression of Pope Francis.

Every Sunday at noon, the pope overlooks a crowd in St. Peter’s Square and delivers a blessing. Fortunately, I happened to be in attendance for this event and watched with wonder as it all unfolded.

There were pilgrims everywhere. In fact, it was hard to maneuver your way through the mass of people to grab a decent spot to watch the pope. And, as you might expect, I heard all kinds of different languages in just the area surrounding me, which put the global reach of Christianity into perspective.

As Pope Francis offered his blessings in Italian, it became evident that thousands of people were simultaneously growing closer with their faith. This is even more amazing to me, because, as a Protestant, non-Italian speaker, I felt drawn closer to God than ever before.

Perhaps a cynic would argue that my feeling was a result of the spectacle of the moment. Yet, after deep self-reflection, I’m convinced that isn’t the case. Instead, I’ve realized that what moved me, and so many others that day, was the principle that God doesn’t care about race, wealth, social status, nationality, language or any other superficial creation of man. All God really cares about is the human heart and how one invests the commodity of love in society.

Pope Francis embodies this idea, and I’m so glad tens of thousands of Americans were able to witness it on a personal level this past week. Now, all we have to do is follow his example.