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US Catholics expected to turn out in force for Pope Francis
Pope Francis is expected to draw huge crowds throughout his first visit to the United States this week, with the faithful and the curious straining to get a look at a man who has fascinated Americans with his humble and open tone.
While holding to Roman Catholic dogma, Francis has focused on different issues than his predecessors, raising concerns about climate change, speaking more frequently about the excesses of capitalism and urging a more forgiving Church, including telling bishops to be more welcoming to divorced couples.
In raising these concerns while maintaining Church beliefs on core issues including sex—Catholic teaching still holds that abortion and gay sex are sinful, for instance—he has attracted new support from liberal Catholics in the United States while straining relations with some conservatives, according to opinion polls.
The pope's six-day visit, which begins in Washington on Tuesday, will include addresses to a joint session of Congress as well as to the UN General Assembly in New York and continue on through an open-air Mass in Philadelphia on Sept. 27 that could draw some 1.5 million people.
"We're in for a bit of fun and some surprises. I think he's going to be a study in contrasts," said Thomas Groome, director of Boston College's Center for the Church in the 21st Century. "Instead of focusing on rigor and legalities, he is emphasizing mercy and compassion."
As head of the Vatican state, Francis will be greeted by US President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden when he flies into Washington on Tuesday after a four-day visit to Cuba.
The Argentine-born pope helped broker a detente last year between the superpower and the Communist-ruled island. Vatican officials have said they hope his visit will help bring an end to the 53-year-old US embargo on Cuba. While that would take approval by Congress, the Obama administration announced further measures on Friday to ease the trade restrictions.
White House officials said they were well aware that Francis' views do not fit easily into US political divisions between liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans.
"This pope is a very independent figure, and we know from his previous travels that we don't know what he is going to say until he says it," Charlie Kupchan, the White House senior director for European affairs, told reporters.
"We are fully expecting that there will be some messages with which we may respectfully disagree or have differences."
But the White House hopes the pope's words on fighting poverty and addressing climate change, among others, could help to advance the president's agenda, officials said.
'Cafeteria Catholics'
Francis, who became pope in 2013, is popular among Americans, with some 59 percent of respondents to a July Gallup poll saying they viewed him favorably. That is a far higher approval rating than Obama or Congress have, but down from a high of 76 percent in February 2014.
The decline in part reflects his shift in emphasis, with conservative Catholics finding more to dislike in Francis' words than in those of his predecessors, religion experts said, noting that some were upset by his words on climate change and others taken aback by his criticism of the excesses of capitalism.
Conservative Catholics are more likely to be Republicans, and a Pew Research poll released this month found sharp differences in what Democratic and Republican Catholics reported as important to their faith.
Some 40 percent of Democrats said they viewed working to address climate change as core to their religious identity, compared with 13 percent of Republicans. About 42 percent of Republicans cited opposition to abortion as core to their beliefs, compared with 30 percent of Democrats.
Conservative US Catholics had long accused liberals of picking and choosing which elements of Church teaching to follow, for instance whether to ignore the prohibition on using birth control, Groome said. Now they face similar choices.
"They always pointed the finger at liberals and said, 'You're a cafeteria Catholic, you pick and choose what you like,'" he said. "Now the shoe is on the other foot."
Abuse anger lingers
Like his predecessors, Francis is also expected to be criticized by survivors of sexual abuse and their advocates over the Church's handling of the sexual abuse of minors by priests. While sex abuse will not be a major focus of the visit, Vatican officials have said the pope will address it at some point while in the United States.
In a scandal that has deeply hurt the Catholic Church in the United States over the past 13 years, victims say Church officials continue to resist efforts to punish priests who abused minors and bishops who helped to cover their tracks. The Church has paid out more than $3 billion in settlements.
Gay, lesbian and transgender people are also expected to call for more inclusive treatment.
Conservative Catholic groups said they hoped the lengthy visit and extensive media coverage will help people develop a more nuanced sense of the pope's teaching.
"The idea of classifying papal statements, papal documents, Church teachings in political terms as liberal or conservative, that's not the point," said Rick Hinshaw, a spokesman for the Catholic League, a conservative-leaning Church group.
"The [pope's] message clearly is that we have to respect and preserve all of God's creation." — Reuters
While holding to Roman Catholic dogma, Francis has focused on different issues than his predecessors, raising concerns about climate change, speaking more frequently about the excesses of capitalism and urging a more forgiving Church, including telling bishops to be more welcoming to divorced couples.
In raising these concerns while maintaining Church beliefs on core issues including sex—Catholic teaching still holds that abortion and gay sex are sinful, for instance—he has attracted new support from liberal Catholics in the United States while straining relations with some conservatives, according to opinion polls.
The pope's six-day visit, which begins in Washington on Tuesday, will include addresses to a joint session of Congress as well as to the UN General Assembly in New York and continue on through an open-air Mass in Philadelphia on Sept. 27 that could draw some 1.5 million people.
"We're in for a bit of fun and some surprises. I think he's going to be a study in contrasts," said Thomas Groome, director of Boston College's Center for the Church in the 21st Century. "Instead of focusing on rigor and legalities, he is emphasizing mercy and compassion."
As head of the Vatican state, Francis will be greeted by US President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden when he flies into Washington on Tuesday after a four-day visit to Cuba.
The Argentine-born pope helped broker a detente last year between the superpower and the Communist-ruled island. Vatican officials have said they hope his visit will help bring an end to the 53-year-old US embargo on Cuba. While that would take approval by Congress, the Obama administration announced further measures on Friday to ease the trade restrictions.
White House officials said they were well aware that Francis' views do not fit easily into US political divisions between liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans.
"This pope is a very independent figure, and we know from his previous travels that we don't know what he is going to say until he says it," Charlie Kupchan, the White House senior director for European affairs, told reporters.
"We are fully expecting that there will be some messages with which we may respectfully disagree or have differences."
But the White House hopes the pope's words on fighting poverty and addressing climate change, among others, could help to advance the president's agenda, officials said.
'Cafeteria Catholics'
Francis, who became pope in 2013, is popular among Americans, with some 59 percent of respondents to a July Gallup poll saying they viewed him favorably. That is a far higher approval rating than Obama or Congress have, but down from a high of 76 percent in February 2014.
The decline in part reflects his shift in emphasis, with conservative Catholics finding more to dislike in Francis' words than in those of his predecessors, religion experts said, noting that some were upset by his words on climate change and others taken aback by his criticism of the excesses of capitalism.
Conservative Catholics are more likely to be Republicans, and a Pew Research poll released this month found sharp differences in what Democratic and Republican Catholics reported as important to their faith.
Some 40 percent of Democrats said they viewed working to address climate change as core to their religious identity, compared with 13 percent of Republicans. About 42 percent of Republicans cited opposition to abortion as core to their beliefs, compared with 30 percent of Democrats.
Conservative US Catholics had long accused liberals of picking and choosing which elements of Church teaching to follow, for instance whether to ignore the prohibition on using birth control, Groome said. Now they face similar choices.
"They always pointed the finger at liberals and said, 'You're a cafeteria Catholic, you pick and choose what you like,'" he said. "Now the shoe is on the other foot."
Abuse anger lingers
Like his predecessors, Francis is also expected to be criticized by survivors of sexual abuse and their advocates over the Church's handling of the sexual abuse of minors by priests. While sex abuse will not be a major focus of the visit, Vatican officials have said the pope will address it at some point while in the United States.
In a scandal that has deeply hurt the Catholic Church in the United States over the past 13 years, victims say Church officials continue to resist efforts to punish priests who abused minors and bishops who helped to cover their tracks. The Church has paid out more than $3 billion in settlements.
Gay, lesbian and transgender people are also expected to call for more inclusive treatment.
Conservative Catholic groups said they hoped the lengthy visit and extensive media coverage will help people develop a more nuanced sense of the pope's teaching.
"The idea of classifying papal statements, papal documents, Church teachings in political terms as liberal or conservative, that's not the point," said Rick Hinshaw, a spokesman for the Catholic League, a conservative-leaning Church group.
"The [pope's] message clearly is that we have to respect and preserve all of God's creation." — Reuters
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