Why does Pope Francis back liberal causes directly, conservative causes subtly?

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Sep 24, 2015

Pope Francis challenged Americans of both liberal and conservative political sympathies in his historic address to Congress on September 24. But his objections to conservative stands were clear and direct, while his criticism of liberals subtle and oblique. Why?

The Holy Father made no bones about his opposition to the death penalty, his support for immigration, and his concern about climate change. His strong statements on those topics will headline news coverage of the speech. Since it was, after all, a speech to a political audience—there’s nothing more political than a gathering of Congressmen—it is not unfair to consider the political impact of the Pope’s remarks.

On the whole, judging from the early responses, it seems that Catholic liberals were pleased with the Pope’s speech; Catholic conservatives were frustrated. Both groups, I submit, have reason to reconsider their initial reactions.

While the “money quotes” were about immigration and the death penalty, the general tenor of the Pope’s remarks should have been unsettling to liberal listeners. The Pontiff himself said that concern for the family would be a “recurrent theme” of his visit to the US, and when he lamented that “the very basis of marriage and the family” is being called into question, he was obviously referring to (among other things) the legal recognition of same-sex marriage.

Some conservatives have protested that the Pope never mentioned abortion. It’s true that the word does not appear in his speech, but when the Pope reminded legislators that “you are asked to protect, by means of the law, the image and likeness of God on every human face,” no one should have missed the message. If anyone did, he came back to it a few minutes later, speaking of “our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development.”

The messages were there, evident to anyone who was ready to listen to them. But why did the Pope approach these topics indirectly, when he had dove straight into other political topics?

Here’s my theory:

Just the previous day, in his talk to the US bishops’ conference, the Pope had cautioned against a confrontational approach. “Harsh and divisive language does not befit the tongue of a pastor,” he said. When he spoke to Congress, I believe, the Pope was following his own advice.

Notice how the Holy Father approached the question of international terrorism:

We know that no religion is immune from forms of individual delusion or ideological extremism. This means that we must be especially attentive to every type of fundamentalism, whether religious or of any other kind.

The specific problem troubling the world today is not just any form of religious extremism, but Islamic extremism. However, to say that aloud is to invite a firestorm; remember how Pope Benedict XVI paid for his candid comments on Islam in his Regensburg lecture. Pope Francis evidently believed that he did not need to mention Islamic extremism in particular; he could count on his listeners to draw the obvious inferences.

But when he speaks on questions of American domestic policy, such as abortion and same-sex marriage, Pope Francis surely isn’t worried that a candid statement will provoke riots and firebombs. So why is he so careful to frame his arguments carefully, avoiding a head-on clash?

Is it because he knows that the American defenders of life and of marriage really are in sympathy with the Catholic Church, whereas proponents of abortion and homosexuality are fundamentally hostile? Because he knows that he must first establish some common ground with liberal secularists (including some who masquerade as Catholics) before he can expect any positive response? Because he realizes that he can encourage pro-lifers indirectly, and the message will come through loud and clear? Maybe the Pope is reaching out to the lost sheep, confident that the others will await his return.

Still I hope that before he ends his American sojourn, the Holy Father will find an occasion to reassure the stalwart Catholics who have been caught up for years in the culture wars, defending life and marriage. The World Meeting of Families would be an ideal occasion for the Pope to repeat, in his way, the message that the father of the Prodigal Son gave to the elder brother: “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.”