Pope Francis is, or at least should be, the intellectual leader of the Christian Democratic faction of the GOP. Will they listen to him on issues like climate change and immigration? Probably not, for two reasons:
- The handful of CDs in Congress have a reasonable and legitimate difference of opinion with him about the merits of democratic capitalism; and
- The CDs are a tiny minority within the GOP. As a result, they are so accustomed to making deals with the other factions, they are barely even aware of it when they sell out.