Pope Watch!

[Bolivar]

And I even specified "leadership," because there are plenty of reasonable Catholics out there who don't share those views.

Your ability to acknowledge this makes me wonder why you say such sweeping generalizations about the Church. Because when I go to hear the Archbishop of Philadelphia preach every weekend, I don't recall hearing any of the negative stuff you guys talk about. In fact, I'd say you'd fit right in, Raistlin

I didn't expect the pope of all people to be openly liberal.

It depends on your definition of liberalism. If you're talking about social justice, compassion for the poor, and harmony across all divisions, you'd be hard pressed to find someone more liberal than this guy.

Except that's what their religion is founded on.

Our religion is founded on kindness and compassion towards others. All else is small peanuts, really.