A Pope That Makes Democrats Squirm and Republicans Wriggle

In the Reagan era, conservative Republicans felt they had a powerful ally in Pope John Paul II, whose forceful anti-communism and anti-abortion stances played out in American politics.

Today’s conservatives are apprehensive about Pope Francis, who has changed the tone and culture, not the doctrines, of the Roman Catholic Church in less than two years as pontiff. He stresses, with passion and authenticity, a commitment to addressing poverty and income inequality more than the social issues that have dominated much of the Catholic debate in America.

John Carr, a former...