Fox News VP slams Pope Francis for offering refuge to the poor, scolding the rich

Pope Francis mingles
(Image credit: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images)

An article published in July by two close associates of Pope Francis in a Vatican-vetted Jesuit journal, La Civiltà Cattolica, has caused waves in the American Catholic Church. The article accuses ultraconservative Catholics — including White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon — of gradually forging a reactionary political alliance with evangelical Christians that's now supporting President Trump's agenda, including a "xenophobic and Islamophobic vision that wants walls and purifying deportations."

The Catholic right, already feeling under siege by Pope Francis, portrayed the July 13 article as a thinly veiled shot across the bow from the pope himself, and on Monday, leaders of Trump's evangelical advisory board requested a meeting with Francis to address "efforts to divide Catholics and Evangelicals." On Tuesday, an executive vice president and editor at Fox News, John Moody, jumped into the conversation. He began his op-ed by reporting that somebody brought a dog to mass last Sunday, drawing this conclusion: "Dogs may be going to church, but the universal Roman Catholic Church is going to the dogs." Then he got down to the meat of his displeasure:

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.