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View from the Hill

Pope's visit bridges political divide

Despite recent controversy over Pope Francis's alleged visit with Kim Davis, he seemed to have struck an ideologically balanced message while in the United States. 

That balance has been a hallmark of Francis's papacy, and stands in contrast with recent popes. But this shift has divided many Catholics. 

“With one group, it’s kind of rapturous delight: ‘He’s our guy. We love him.’ And that’s broadly the liberal wing of the Church," said Paul Griffiths, professor of Catholic Theology at Duke Divinity School. "Among another group — the conservative wing — there’s a kind of suspicion, concern, worry, trying to explain him away.”

Griffiths said Europe feels much the same way but it is quite different in Latin America and Africa. A pope coming from the global south is important to many people there.

But it's not just where the pope is from that makes him unique.

Father James Shea of St. Peter Catholic Church in Charlotte said Pope Francis’s distinction as the first priest from the Jesuit Order gives him a unique view of poverty.

“Jesuits are an order that one of the things they do is they take a vow of poverty,” he said. “This man lives very simply and poorly and sees that as a great value.“

Shea said because Pope Francis was a pastor, in contrast with Pope Benedict XVI, who was a theological scholar, he has a close relationship with the poor. This relationship shows itself in his policies even at the Vatican, like installing showers for the poor.

The pope is bringing light to issues that haven’t always been priorities in the Catholic Church, like caring for the poor and addressing ecological crises, Griffiths said. 

Earlier this year, the pope wrote Laudato Si, commonly known as the Environmental Encyclical, where he laid out arguments for why Catholics should care for the environment. 

 “We have a moral responsibility to care for the Earth because we’re stewards. We’re supposed to go forth and tend it; not go forth and destroy it, so [Pope Francis] brings an ethical and a religious and a spiritual sense that can deepen the discussion,“ Shea said. 

But the politics of Pope Francis are complicated. While liberals have taken a liking to him, especially in the wake of recent conservative popes, his position is not ideological. 

The pope's stances on issues like environmental responsibility, poverty and capital punishment lean liberal; but, he also supports religious freedom and protecting life in the womb — more conservative positions. 

“He shows that the divisions between conservatives and liberals in the U.S. don’t reflect Catholic teachings," Griffiths said

Samantha Kichman, a UNC sophomore who is a practicing Catholic, said Pope Francis is a step in the right direction.

“(He's) bridging the gap between a more liberal culture in a lot of the world and then the more traditional views that Catholicism holds," she said.

Shea said the Pope has successfully served as a peacemaker and negotiator in the past. 

“He’s worked with the Palestinians in Israel, continually trying to build bridges," he said. "The word ‘Pontifex’ is ‘bridge-builder,’ so someone who builds bridges, who reconciles."

Kichman said Francis has changed the emphasis of the Church to loving others instead of intolerant rhetoric, which was associated with the Church in the past. 

Brandon Perez, a UNC junior and former Catholic, said the Pope has fostered tolerance. 

 “We can still learn to love the person, outside of what they believe," he said. 

state@dailytarheel.com

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