A (South) American pope

Posted by hpayne on March 13, 2013

In America’s celebrity-obsessed culture, the pope has become another headliner in a nation that is only 24 percent Catholic (and declining). Who is he? Is he an Italian? Is he young? Is he old? Is he female?

But behind the tabloid coverage are interesting numbers for America’s famously rebel flock.

U.S. Catholics have seen the fastest decline among any major religion in the last generation with 24 percent of Americans calling themselves Catholic (down from 31 percent despite a growing, largely Catholic, Hispanic population). So while American Catholics rooted for one of their own – O’Malley! Dolan! – the logical choice (if not Italian) would be a Latin American or African pope where Catholic populations are booming.

“It would be electric if the next pope were an African,” wrote Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan, also a practicing Catholic. “Or a South American.”

Electric. Meet Pope Francis, aka Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina.

But the modern celebrity status of the papacy (the hats, the smoky suspense – man, these guys know marketing!) belies its very conservative politics. And the new pope is a reminder of how liberal American Catholics remain.

Take the last two presidential elections. Despite the papacy’s adamant opposition to abortion, Catholics voted 54-45 for pro-choice Barack Obama in 2008. Then in 2012 – when Obamacare flaunted the First Amendment by forcing Catholic institutions to cover contraception – Catholic voters still favored the Democrat, 50-48.

Despite the New York Catholic Church’s lawsuit against Obamacare. Despite New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s outspoken opposition to Obamacare. What does Catholicism mean in America? Something very different than what it means in the Vatican, clearly. No wonder American Catholic numbers are down.

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