I dont understand why liberals started a love affair with the Pope, and now I don't understand

[el_bryanto]

13. Someone referenced identity politics above and I think that's it.

If you are a liberal Catholic or even a liberal believer in the United States it's not hard to look around and see that the loudest supporters of religion are conservative. There are plenty who argue, more or less, that to be a good and faithful believer you need to be a conservative. When someone like the Pope comes along who argues for economic liberalism, there's a strong desire to identify with that, as a prominent example of someone who is a believer but also liberal (at least on economic matters). I would imagine that the desire is even greater if you are Catholic.

On the other hand if you see no value in the Catholic Church in particular or religious belief in general, you have no interest in supporting the notion that one can be a liberal and a believer or a liberal and a Catholic. So in those cases, tearing down the Popes credentials as a liberal is a worthwhile effort. The point isn't to allow liberal Catholics or liberal believes to be comfortable where they are, but to break them away from the Catholicism or their religious belief.

Bryant