Shortly after Jose Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope, he made statements that made him a liberal darling. Perhaps the most widely quoted was a mangled statement about homosexuality (“If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge him?”) was used by the American left as proof that the Pope was endorsing homosexual conduct and, by extension, homosexual marriage. For instance, the Chicago Tribune records this lunacy in Illinois:

“As a Catholic follower of Jesus and the pope, Pope Francis, I am clear that our Catholic religious doctrine has at its core love, compassion and justice for all people,” said Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, a Democrat from Aurora who voted for the bill after spending much of the summer undecided.

House Speaker Michael Madigan also cited the pope’s comments in explaining his support for the [gay marriage] measure.

“For those that just happen to be gay—living in a very harmonious, productive relationship but illegal—who am I to judge that they should be illegal?” the speaker said.

Madigan had come under fire from some gay rights groups who argued that he wasn’t doing enough to build support in the chamber he controls, but advocates say he was critical in rounding up the final needed votes in the last several weeks.

Since then things have soured a bit. In the Philippines when he warned about the “ideological colonialism” at work attempting to destroy the family and defended Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Humanae Vitae which links sex to marriage to family rather than today’s secular standard of sex to any random orifice to carnal amusement park. He has since made it clear that he is a big believer in the idea that the purpose of marriage is to have children and to see to their religious education.These objectives are rather hard to square with homosexuality and the sham marriages of homosexuals.

Now the bloom is truly off the rose. Slovakia had a national referendum to forbid homosexual marriage, forbid adoption of children by homosexuals, and limit the ability of schools to teach sex education and euthanasia (sad to report, the referendum failed because the threshold of  50% of the voting population casting votes wasn’t reached). The butthurt is palpable. Via Huffington Post:

As Slovakia gears up for a referendum on same-sex unions this coming weekend, Pope Francis gave his blessing to the country’s efforts to block marriage and adoption rights for gay couples.

Speaking at his weekly general audience on Wednesday, the pope said: “I greet the pilgrims from Slovakia and, through them, I wish to express my appreciation to the entire Slovak church, encouraging everyone to continue their efforts in defense of the family, the vital cell of society.”

And no post on normal sex and healthy male-female relationships would be complete without a quote from Jezebel.com:

There is a reason why progressives are so fond of Pope Francis: Caring for poor people has been the hallmark of his papacy, and a year and a half ago he said the Catholic church had become too “obsessed” with gay marriage, abortion and contraception.

But now he’s marching to the beat of a different drum. Ahead of Slovakia’s referendum intended to strengthen its gay marriage ban, the pope chimed in and offered his support for the ban.

Conservatives who are looking for a full throated endorsement of unrestrained capitalism are going to remain disappointed. And we can reliably predict the upcoming environmental encyclical with be chock full of whatever the scientific mumbo-jumbo the global warming alarmists are pushing this week. Because, ultimately, Pope Francis remains a man whose experience with democracy and economics was formed and shaped by the cesspool that Argentina has managed to make of itself. This is unfortunate but not really relevant. The Popes’ writ runs to Faith and Morals. So long as he defends the sanctity of marriage and of the family he is can hold whatever leftwing politics he wants.