The Pope chose the wrong American woman. Big time

Pope Francis is so popular he’s a favourite to win the Nobel Peace Prize, but Nathaniel Shammah isn't convinced

Is Pope Francis as liberal as he says?

Sometimes it feels like Pope Francis is as omnipresent as the man he represents. His smiley papal face is all over my TV screens, his quotes are taking up my Twitter feed, and he’s even been ridin’ dirty in his popemobile on Snapchat.

Snapchat released this cartoon of the Pope based on Chamillionaire's 'Ridin Dirty'  Photo: Snapchat

As a British Hindu I’m not used to these levels of interaction with His Holiness. Back when Benedict XVI was in charge, his face was rarely seen anywhere other than the Vatican balcony. But when Pope Francis rolled onto the scene, he didn’t just get @Pontifex’s followers up to 7.49 million - he began a charm offensive on behalf of the beleaguered Vatican.

By washing the feet of prisoners, giving a lift to schoolchildren in his popemobile, declaring the internet a ‘gift from god’ and personally asking for forgiveness for the ‘evil’ of priests who sexually abused children, he portrayed himself as a humble, open-minded leader of the Catholic church.

He was immediately labelled the ‘People’s Pope,’ and he’s just been announced as the favourite to win this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. With odds of 9/2, he’s in with a better chance than whistle-blowers Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning, as well as Raif Badawi - the Saudi blogger locked up in beastly conditions simply for daring to write about free speech.

But underneath Pope Francis’ shiny PR campaign, the cracks are starting to show.
Pope Francis washing the feet of a young offender during a mass at the church of the Casal del Marmo youth prison  Photo: AFP/GETTY
He’s still saying all the right things – on his recent trip to the US he criticised countries for selling arms for “blood money”, demanded attention to climate change and spoke up about global poverty. But it’s what he’s doing that’s the problem.
It has just come out that on his US visit he secretly met with Kim Davis, an American county clerk who has been jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
The Vatican has stressed the encounter “should not be considered a form of support of her position” but Davis has said the Pope agrees with her, and when Francis was asked by reporters about her case, he stressed that conscientious objection was a human right.
It’s unlikely we’ll ever know what Davis and Francis said to each other, but the damage has already been done.
Kim Davis, an Apostolic Christian, was sent to prison in Kentucky for her stance in refusing to follow court orders  Photo: Corbis
For so long he’s been trying to walk the tightrope between not alienating his hard-core Catholic followers, whilst simultaneously trying to engage a larger liberal audience. But after these sorts of meetings, his impressive words on equality and change are starting to ring hollow.
Pope Francis has previously implied support for LGBT people, saying “who are we to judge?”, but his meeting with Davis now suggests otherwise. Similarly he’s spoken about the need for equality, but has refused to ordain female priests in the Catholic church.
He has promised “that all those responsible of [child sex abuse] will be held accountable”, but last month he performed papal mass alongside Cardinal Justin Rigali – a former archbishop who retired amid allegations he put church interests ahead of sexual abuse victims.
Some of Pope Francis’ actions don't point to an award-worthy advocate of peace after all. In fact - he’s starting to seem like a people pleaser whose questionable actions speak louder than his populist words.
There have been hints of this for a while, but the liberal amongst us have been blinded by how on trend he is to even notice.

A few memes, emoji hashtags and well-timed photo ops have created a social media frenzy around His Holiness - just like #Milifandom where Ed Miliband’s policies were side-lined because of how ‘adorbs’ he was, or the ‘hot’ criminal whose mugshot was so well-circulated he ended up with a modelling contract.
A similar thing's happening with Pope Francis, but if we want to know the truth about his beliefs we have to look beyond his personalised emoji hashtags and powerful rhetoric to his actions: his meeting with Davis, his quiet support of Rigali and his silence on abortion and same-sex marriage.
The Pope mustn't just pay lip service to populist causes and ignore the tricky areas. Millions look to him for leadership - not someone who will preach to the choir.
So here's a bold idea for the Pontiff - instead of speaking to Davis and hanging out in his comfort zone, he’d be better off visiting people like Amelia Bonow – the abortion campaign who has been forced into hiding by hateful protestors. Now that’s a meeting worth having.