JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Catholics around the world are preparing for Pope Francis' funeral this Saturday in Rome. Some conservative Catholics in the United States have expressed their expectations for a new pope while offering critiques of the old one. Aleja Hertzler-McCain of Religion News Service reports.
ALEJA HERTZLER-MCCAIN: In the days since the pope's death, conservatives have revisited the pope's policies that they disagreed with.
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TAYLOR MARSHALL: I can't constantly make what Pope Francis is doing and teaching square with previous Catholic tradition.
HERTZLER-MCCAIN: That's Taylor Marshall on his podcast the day Francis died. Marshall is a podcaster known for his incendiary views on Catholicism. He has been a vocal critic of Francis, saying the pope did not uphold tradition.
New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan offered a more measured response. He told the "Today" Show he's looking for the next pope to be a blend of the last few - someone who might have the heart of Francis, but...
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TIMOTHY DOLAN: Maybe within a little bit of a blend with John Paul and Benedict when it would come to more - what would I say? - more clarity in teaching, more refinement of the church's tradition, more digging in the treasures of the past.
HERTZLER-MCCAIN: The list of conservatives' issues with Francis includes allowing the blessing of same-sex couples, lifting restrictions on divorced Catholics receiving Communion and his advocacy for the environment and thawing of relations with China. These are all concerns raised during Francis' life, and for his part, Francis accused his critics of being reactionary and substituting ideology for faith. Despite these critiques, Francis remained popular among conservatives in the U.S. In a Pew Research Center poll from February, 7 in 10 Republican-leaning Catholics in the U.S. had a favorable view of Francis. Kathryn Jean Lopez is religion editor at the National Review.
KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ: The death of Pope Francis really is the experience, for a lot of us, of the death of a spiritual father.
HERTZLER-MCCAIN: Lopez said she appreciated Francis' commitment to prayer, especially for persecuted Christians, his advocacy against abortion and concern for all human life.
LOPEZ: From almost the beginning, he was kind of seen as a progressive. Liberals supported him, conservatives opposed him was kind of the trend, right? It is more complicated than that.
HERTZLER-MCCAIN: Lopez said she hopes the selection of the next pope is a prayerful decision guided by the Holy Spirit. She also hopes Catholics won't reduce him to U.S. political terms.
For NPR News, I'm Aleja Hertzler-McCain.
SUMMERS: This story is from a collaboration between NPR and Religion News Service. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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