Infallible: The Pope or the President

In case you missed it, Pope Francis has ramped up his criticism of President Trump in the last week.   

First, when asked about climate change deniers in the face of the storms and fires taking place around the world, he turned to Scripture: “A phrase from the Old Testament comes to mind: ‘man is stupid, a stubborn, blind man.”   He referred those confused about the issue to scientists, who “speak very clearly.” 

Second, he denounced the decision to end the DACA program, questioning the President’s pro-life and family bona fides: “I hope they will rethink it … [Trump] presents himself as pro-life, and if he is a good pro-lifer, he understands that the family is the cradle of life and its unity must be protected.”  With that said, he promised “to study the law well.” 

Of course, this is not the first time the Pope has challenged our President or his policies.  But what struck me most this time was the vitriolic rhetoric from some quarters of Catholic leadership—taking Trump’s side.   Much of this backlash accused the Pope of being a hypocrite; here’s a small sample.  Michael Hichborn of the Lepanto Institute:

Pope Francis has caused great confusion and concern for Catholics since he took office. He called Emma Bonino, an Italian abortionist, one of Italy’s ‘lost greats.’  He suggested that contraception might be justifiable in light of the Zika outbreak.  He has hosted population control enthusiasts in the Vatican. … He gutted the Pontifical Academy for Life and actually appointed a pro-abortion theologian to the academy.

That’s right—the Pope is causing “great confusion.”  I thought the point was, that if the Pope said it, there was no confusion.  Question settled.  Case closed.    Now this is admittedly not quite a fair Catholic sample; the Lepanto Institute is dedicated to defending Catholicism from threats “from without as well as within,” including from so-called “traitors.”   But they are not the only American Catholic organizations who have taken up for Trumpism, or who have remained silent. 

But all this raises the larger issue, for me, of how folks deal with conflicting moral and political identities in our current climate.  For those with strong moral convictions, this should presumably be fairly straightforward.   But, I have to say, it doesn’t seem like it has been in recent years.  

Again, abortion is probably an unfair issue to draw larger conclusions from (but, then again, can't the Pope be right about DACA, notwithstanding anything he's done on abortion?).  In any case, I have to say I get the sinking feeling these days that, for more and more Americans, moral identity IS political identity.  And that unfortunate conflation seems true on both ends of the political spectrum.  I probably don’t have to point out that when moral rightness becomes nothing more than party platform, one has abdicated the right, indeed the duty, of self-governance.  That is a steep price, to say the least.