Trump’s evangelical advisers seek papal audience

President Donald Trump’s evangelical advisers want to meet with the pope to discuss Vatican criticism over their alliance with conservative U.S. Catholics. A recent article published in a Vatican-vetted journal blasted some American Catholics for building an alliance of “hate” with evangelicals, a partnership that has “gradually radicalized” to promote a “xenophobic and Islamophobic vision that wants walls and purifying deportations.” The article’s authors are close confidants of Pope Francis. Evangelical and Catholic leaders have denounced the piece, calling its conclusions an exaggeration to make a political point. But it highlights a growing divide between U.S. Catholics and Pope Francis, who has taken a more liberal stance on issues like marriage and religious liberty—causes that have united conservative Catholics and evangelicals. The request for a papal audience came from Johnnie Moore, a leader of Trump’s evangelical advisory group. The Archdiocese of Washington declined to comment on Moore’s letter. U.S. Catholics have joined many evangelicals in supporting Trump’s pro-life policies and his nomination of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. But Catholics are less unified over Trump’s immigration policies, in part because many immigrants are Catholic.