Against the grain

Pope Francis has run afoul of US conservative Catholics when he told them to stop polluting doctrine with politics. Easier said than done of course in the highly charged and partisan arena that now exists. American Catholics are split about 50/50 Democrat and Republican which is contrary to Evangelicals for example. So in essence you have a harshly different vision among two factions in a religion with enough Bible verse choices to feed into your particular political mantra.

That Francis is a Jesuit and part of the most educated branch of the priesthood (most are teachers and scholars) bodes less well for extreme right wing views which rub up against a Jesus who cared for the poor and the down trodden.

Generally a bad idea, the mixing of religion and politics was discouraged from the outset as part of the country's foundational principles but you wouldn't know it during this era where authoritarian thinking keeps tempting those who lean right. Their losing the culture war for the hearts and mind of the electorate suddenly mattering a lot more than what their pontiff says.