Pope Stokes Flames Ahead of US Trip Even As He Ends Problems

By Nicole Winfield
SFGate
May 1, 2015

http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Pope-stokes-flames-ahead-of-US-trip-even-as-he-6235592.php

FILE - In this Thursday, April 2, 2105 file photo, Pope Francis Pope holds the book of Gospels as he presides over Chrism Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican. When Pope Francis visits the United States this fall, he can expect the same rock-star adulation that greets him wherever he goes. But his positions on hot-button issues such as the death penalty and climate change could quickly set the stage for conflict. That may explain why Francis has been clearing the decks on a host of less high-profile matters of contention that could also have marred the visit.

When Pope Francis visits the United States this fall, he can expect the same rock-star adulation that greets him wherever he goes. But his positions on hot-button issues such as the death penalty and climate change could quickly set the stage for conflict. That may explain why Francis has been clearing the decks on a host of less high-profile matters of contention that could also have marred the visit.

In a matter of a few short weeks, Francis abruptly ended the Vatican's deeply contested investigation of U.S. nuns and engineered the removal of an American bishop who failed to report a suspected sex abuser. Had he left those issues to fester, they would certainly have cast a cloud over the historic trip — which will include the first papal address to the U.S. Congress.

On Saturday Francis will try to address another controversy over his planned canonization of an 18th century Franciscan missionary, Junipero Serra, accused by Native Americans of running a genocidal machine that tortured indigenous converts and spread disease. Francis will celebrate a Mass in Serra's honor at the main U.S. seminary in Rome.

While Francis' popularity ratings in the United States rival those of St. John Paul II, he is not without his detractors. Conservative Republicans privately grumble about his views on global warming and immigration, and his vehement opposition to the death penalty.