As the world mourned the passing of Pope Francis, Ralph Reed, the founder of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, told Newsmax on Saturday that Francis will leave behind a “twin legacy” in terms of his impact on the Catholic Church.
When asked by host Rita Cosby to assess Francis’ legacy on Catholicism over his tenure, Reed said that while the Pope placed an emphasis on “his pastoral function” he also created a “tremendous amount of Sturm and Drang" due to some of his left-of-center social policies.
“I think that will be his twin legacy, and we will now await the vote of the conclave. But here in America, Rita, it's a really big moment because the Catholic Church in the United States, particularly among the young priests who are now coming out of seminaries, tend to be to the right of the global church. And they are very strong, conservative, small-C traditionalists,” Reed said during an appearance on “America Right Now.”
Reed noted that President Donald Trump attended the funeral and showed his connection with Catholics in America. “I think it showed his commitment to the Catholic Church and to the values that we all hold in common as people of faith. And he won 59% of the Catholic vote last November 5th, the highest share of that vote ever won by a Republican presidential candidate in history. So there's a strong commitment on gender issues and on the sanctity of life in his agenda,” Reed added.
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