• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Pope Francis greets the approximately 20,000 visitors gathered in St. Peter's Square for the recitation of the Angelus Feb. 19, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

At 10 years, Pope Francis makes Americans ‘uncomfortable’ in their political views, Cardinal Wilton Gregory says

March 1, 2023
By Kate Scanlon
OSV News
Filed Under: Feature, News, Social Justice, Vatican, World News

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — As Pope Francis prepares to mark the tenth anniversary of his pontificate in March, one hallmark of his papacy has been to make both sides of the American political aisle “uncomfortable,” panelists, including Washington’s Cardinal Wilton Gregory, said at a Feb. 28 event hosted by Georgetown University’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life.

Pope Francis, formerly Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was elected pope on March 13, 2013, after Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation. During his pontificate, Pope Francis has rejected the notion of the church as a political entity, instead stressing themes like caring for those on the peripheries and creation. But his approach to the interconnected themes of Catholic social teaching as a seamless garment does not fit seamlessly into American political ideologies, the panelists said.

Cardinal Gregory said Pope Francis has made it “totally uncomfortable to take great comfort in any one dimension of the church’s social teaching.”

Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory speaks during the Feb. 5, 2023, Mass for Black History Month at Holy Comforter-St. Cyprian Church in Washington. (OSV News photo/Mihoko Owada, Catholic Standard)

Noting that the Washington audience was likely aware of heightened political polarization in the United States, the cardinal added, “there are so many examples of how we find it difficult to talk to each other.”

“And (Pope Francis) makes it possible for us to say, if you really want to be adaptable, you’ve got to embrace the whole church’s social teaching,” Cardinal Gregory said. “So you can’t be comfortable with just the pro-life banner; you can’t be comfortable with just the progressive social (issues) — you’ve got to have them all.”

Cardinal Gregory said his four years in Washington have shown him how urgently the country must address the “challenges” associated with polarization.

“It’s clear that we’ve got to do something to allow people to speak to each other with civility, honesty, charity, and not feel that there are winners and losers, feel like either I win or you win,” Cardinal Gregory said. “Francis says, why don’t we both win by understanding the breadth of the Catholic faith and approaching complex issues with a reverential deference to the truth?”

Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley in Brownsville, Texas, praised Pope Francis for “breaking down barriers” and encouraging the church to get out of its “bubble” to meet “those who are at the margins.”

“You know, I always invite everyone to come and see; (you) need to see the families, you have to see the faces, the children and the tears, and be really close, so that you can understand what he’s talking about,” Pimentel said of her organization’s work at the border. “It’s only then that you know what you need to do. Because I think God created us in a way to care for one another. And Pope Francis knows that perfectly and he’s really inviting us to do that — that’s why he pushes us to the peripheries because that’s where those are that are left out, that are marginalized, that are really struggling — they don’t fit into the church that we’ve made.”

E.J. Dionne, a columnist at The Washington Post who has written about Pope Francis and how he affects U.S. public life, as well as a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, said that Pope Francis has forced Catholics to see the “shortcomings” of either political side.

“On abortion, for example, where there are a lot of progressive Catholics who actually don’t believe abortion should be made illegal, but I think what Francis does is force them to think about well what do you do? What is the responsibility? What is the responsibility to reduce the number of abortions if you’re not going to make it illegal?” Dionne said. “And obviously, for more conservative Christians, he challenges them on issues related to social justice, government aid to the poor. And so he forces you to think hard about how what you believe relates to church teaching and Catholic social thought.”

Gregory praised Francis for an “accessible” papacy both in his public appearances and in his writings.

“It’s hard to dislike a person who likes you,” he said.

Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on Twitter @kgscanlon.

Read More Social Justice

US bishops’ conference calls for ‘drastic changes’ in Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’

Cuban bishops urge leaders to address nation’s economic crisis

Delaware garden of plenty provides food to needy, thanks to Vincentians, parishes

With jobs disappearing, cardinal says he ‘rejoiced’ at pope’s name choice

As poor rejoice, cardinal says pope’s electors ‘weren’t dealing with world,’ but ‘with the kingdom of God’

Catholic Labor Network urges Trump to rescind order limiting collective bargaining

Copyright © 2023 OSV News

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Kate Scanlon

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • 3 North Americans named to Vatican dicasteries for ecumenism, interreligious dialogue

  • Archbishop Lori announces clergy appointments, including pastor and associate pastors

  • St. Mary’s purchases former Annapolis Area Christian School

  • DUAL ENROLLMENT Double the learning: Dual enrollment provides college credit to high school students

  • superman Movie Review: Superman

| Latest Local News |

Archbishop Lori announces clergy appointments, including pastor and associate pastors

DUAL ENROLLMENT

Double the learning: Dual enrollment provides college credit to high school students

St. Mary’s purchases former Annapolis Area Christian School

Radio Interview: Exploring the Nicene Creed – Part Two

St. Clement Mary Hofbauer adapts to times, cultures as it celebrates 100th anniversary

| Latest World News |

Judge blocks Trump birthright citizenship order as part of class action lawsuit

Ukraine religious leaders issue ‘desperate cry’ to world to end Russia’s war

care of creation

Pope Leo wears Chicago-made vestments to July 9 ‘care of creation’ Mass

sorry baby

Movie Review: Sorry, Baby

ICE

ICE deports Iowa parishioner to Guatemala homeland as supporters pray for his release

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Expert discusses serious harms of smartphones for children and how to limit their use
  • Movie Review: Superman
  • Judge blocks Trump birthright citizenship order as part of class action lawsuit
  • Ukraine religious leaders issue ‘desperate cry’ to world to end Russia’s war
  • Pope Leo wears Chicago-made vestments to July 9 ‘care of creation’ Mass
  • Movie Review: Sorry, Baby
  • ICE deports Iowa parishioner to Guatemala homeland as supporters pray for his release
  • Come away and rest awhile
  • French woman hopes sharing mystical encounter with Minnesota Benedictine helps sainthood cause

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED