The Pope vs. the GOP

Congressional Republicans hope Pope Francis leaves his liberal-leaning views at the Vatican.

When he addresses a joint session of Congress Thursday during an event that will be broadcast around the world, a large number of House and Senate Republicans want the leader of the Catholic Church to keep a lid on his progressive attitudes on climate change, immigration, guns and capitalism.

In interviews with CNN, a wide array of GOP lawmakers argued that the Pope’s message should stay away from the political fights consuming Washington, and many expressed strong disapproval of the fiery views he’s espoused since taking over the papacy in 2013.

“I think it’s totally inappropriate that the Pope is weighing in on all the real sensitive, far-left issues,” said Oklahoma Republican James Inhofe, one of the most conservative senators. “I’m not a Catholic, but my Catholic friends in Oklahoma are not real pleased with it.”

Rep. Paul Gosar, a Catholic Republican from Arizona, plans to boycott the event.

“I don’t need to be lectured by the Pope about climate change,” Gosar said in an interview off the House floor. “When he wants to take a political position, I will tell you: He is free and clear to be criticized like the rest of us.”

READ: 5 key questions about the Pope’s trip to America

The comments demonstrate how the Pope’s visit is creating an awkward moment for Republicans in Washington. While Christian conservatives have long made up an influential segment of their base, and there are areas of agreement between the GOP and the Vatican, the Pope has showcased more progressive stances during his time leading one of the world’s largest religions.

When he comes to the Capitol this week, his highly anticipated address will be viewed by millions of Americans, and thousands of tourists are pouring into Washington for a chance to catch a glimpse of the pontiff. House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, both Catholics, extended the speaking invitation to Francis, who will become the first pontiff ever to address a joint session of Congress.

The huge platform gives Pope Francis a major opportunity to help drive the national conversation. What’s more, nearly six in 10 Americans have a favorable view of Francis, according to a recent Gallup poll, making him far more popular than President Barack Obama and leaders of Congress.

How aggressive Francis will be in advocating his views to a conservative Congress is an open question. But he has not been afraid to touch on thorny subjects over the last several years, drawing global attention for his stances.

In a highly controversial paper released by the Vatican this summer, Francis backed the “very consistent scientific consensus” that climate change is caused by humans, saying it was “urgent” to develop policies to bolster the environment and curtail fossil fuels.

In comments in July, Francis focused on the plight of migrant children, saying governments must move to “protect and assist them,” in line with his repeated statements for a compassionate approach to immigration.

He has also spoken more tolerantly about gays than previous pontiffs, saying famously, “Who am I to judge?” – a sharp contrast with his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI’s hardline on homosexuality.

Francis has blasted gun manufacturers, likening them to hypocrites. And in a series of tough speeches, Francis has railed against global capitalism, even calling it a “subtle dictatorship.”

Such comments make many Republicans cringe.

“I’m always concerned about those who are bringing spiritual messages that step too far over the line in terms of political issues,” said Sen. Dan Coats, an Indiana Republican and Presbyterian. “I think it can be dangerous territory because then it gives people reason to make a judgment on say, Billy Graham or the Pope or whoever, on the basis of their political leanings – not on the basis of their spirituality.”

Photos: Pope Francis

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, left, reads aloud words engraved on a pen as he meets with Pope Francis at the Vatican, Friday, December 16, 2016. The words "The bullets have written our past, education will write our future" are engraved on the pen, made from a recycled bullet once used in the civil war between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The pen was later used to sign the peace agreements between the parties earlier this year. Santos, who was awarded the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end the region's longest-running conflict, presented Pope Francis with the pen.

PHOTO: Vincenzo Pinto/AP

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Pope Francis accepts a letter from a child he visited at a pediatric hospital in Rome on Thursday, December 15, 2016.

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Pope Francis poses with members of the International Catholic Rural Association at the Vatican on Saturday, December 10, 2016.

PHOTO: L'Osservatore Romano/AP

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Pope Francis salutes the faithful upon his arrival in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican for the Special Jubilee Papal Audience on Saturday, October 22, 2016.

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Pope Francis looks on with joy as he releases a dove as a symbol of peace during a meeting with the Assyrian Chaldean community at the Catholic Chaldean Church of St. Simon Bar Sabbae in Tbilisi, Georgia, on September 30, 2016.

PHOTO: VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images

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Pope Francis passes the main entrance to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the former concentration camp in Poland, on Friday, July 29, 2016. The Pope was there to pay tribute to those who died in the Holocaust.

PHOTO: FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images

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Pope Francis looks on as Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II celebrates the Divine Liturgy at the Apostolic Cathedral in Etchmiadzin, outside Yerevan, Armenia, on June 26, 2016.

PHOTO: TIZIANA FABI/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

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Pope Francis arrives to celebrate an extraordinary Jubilee Audience as part of ongoing celebrations of the Holy Year of Mercy in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City on May 14, 2016.

PHOTO: Giuseppe Ciccia/NurPhoto/Getty Images

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Pope Francis hugs a child at the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos on Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis received an emotional welcome on the island during a visit showing solidarity with migrants fleeing war and poverty.

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Pope Francis confesses in St. Peter's Basilica during the Vatican's Penitential Celebration on Friday, March 4, 2016.

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Pope Francis tries on a traditional sombrero he received as a gift from a Mexican journalist on Friday, February 12, 2016, aboard a flight from Rome to Havana, Cuba. The voyage kicked off his weeklong trip to Mexico. With his penchant for crowd-pleasing and spontaneous acts of compassion, Pope Francis has earned high praise from fellow Catholics and others since he succeeded Pope Benedict XVI in March 2013.

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Pope Francis arrives for his visit with prisoners in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, on Friday, July 10, 2015. The Pope emphasized the plight of the poor during his eight-day tour of South America, which also included stops in Ecuador and Paraguay.

PHOTO: VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images

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Bolivian President Evo Morales presents the Pope with a gift of a crucifix carved into a wooden hammer and sickle -- the Communist symbol uniting laborers and peasants -- in La Paz, Bolivia, on Wednesday, July 8, 2015.

PHOTO: OSSERVATORE ROMANO/AFP/Getty Images

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Pope Francis greets a crowd of Italian Catholic boy scouts and girl guides at St. Peter's Square on Saturday, June 13, 2015.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, meets Pope Francis at the Vatican on Wednesday, June 10, 2015. The Pope gave Putin a medallion depicting the angel of peace, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said. The Vatican called it "an invitation to build a world of solidarity and peace founded on justice." Lombardi said the pontiff and President talked for 50 minutes about the crisis in Ukraine and violence in Iraq and Syria.

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Pope Francis meets with Cuban President Raul Castro at the Vatican on Sunday, May 10, 2015. Castro thanked the Pope for his role in brokering the rapprochement between Havana and Washington.

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The Pope prays face down on the floor of St. Peter's Basilica during Good Friday celebrations at the Vatican on Friday, April 3, 2015.

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Pope Francis touches a child's face as he arrives for a meeting at the Vatican on Friday, March 6, 2015.

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Hindu priest Kurukkal SivaSri T. Mahadeva presents a shawl to Pope Francis in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Tuesday, January 13, 2015.

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The Pope attends Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City in December 2014.

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Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I address the faithful in Istanbul on Sunday, November 30, 2014.

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Pope Francis speaks during the feast-day Mass while on a one-day trip to Italy's Calabria region in June 2014. The Pope spoke out against the Mafia's "adoration of evil and contempt for the common good," and declared that "Mafiosi are excommunicated, not in communion with God."

PHOTO: VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images

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Pope Francis prays next to a rabbi at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City in May 2014. The Pope went on a three-day trip to the Holy Land, and he was accompanied by Jewish and Muslim leaders from his home country of Argentina.

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The Pope meets the faithful as he visits the Roman Parish of San Gregorio Magno in April 2014.

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Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, have an audience with the Pope during their one-day visit to Rome in April 2014.

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Francis speaks with US President Barack Obama at the Vatican in March 2014.

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The Pope blesses the altar at Rome's Basilica of Santa Sabina as he celebrates Mass on Ash Wednesday in March 2014.

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Daniele De Sanctis, a 19-month-old dressed as the pope, is handed to Francis as the pontiff is driven through the crowd in St. Peter's Square in February 2014.

PHOTO: L'Osservatore Romano/AP

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Wind blows the papal skullcap off Pope Francis' head in February 2014.

PHOTO: FABIO FRUSTACI/EPA/LANDOV

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A lamb is placed around Francis' neck in January 2014 as he visits a living nativity scene staged at a church on the outskirts of Rome.

PHOTO: L'Osservatore Romano/AP

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Pope Francis meets with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at the Vatican in December 2013. Benedict surprised the world by resigning "because of advanced age." It was the first time a pope has stepped down in nearly 600 years.

PHOTO: L'OSSERVATORE ROMANO/AFP/Getty Images

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Pope Francis marked his 77th birthday in December 2013 by hosting homeless men at a Mass and a meal at the Vatican. One of the men brought his dog.

PHOTO: Osservatore Romano

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Pope Francis embraced Vinicio Riva, a disfigured man who suffers from a non-infectious genetic disease, during a public audience at the Vatican in November 2013. Riva then buried his head in the Pope's chest.

PHOTO: CLAUDIO PERI/EPA/LANDOV

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Pope Francis jokes in November 2013 with members of the Rainbow Association Marco Iagulli Onlus, which uses clown therapy in hospitals, nursing homes and orphanages.

PHOTO: RealyEasyStar/ Fotografia Felici /Alamy

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A young boy hugs Francis as he delivers a speech in St. Peter's Square in October 2013. The boy, part of a group of children sitting around the stage, played around the Pope as the Pope continued his speech and occasionally patted the boy's head.

PHOTO: L'Osservatore Romano/ap

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Francis has eschewed fancy cars. Here, Father Don Renzo Zocca, second from right, offers his white Renault 4L to the Pope during a meeting at the Vatican in September 2013.

PHOTO: Osservatore Romano/AFP/Getty Images

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Francis has his picture taken inside St. Peter's Basilica with youths who came to Rome for a pilgrimage in August 2013.

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During an impromptu news conference in July 2013, while on a plane from Brazil to Rome, the Pope said about gay priests, "Who am I to judge?" Many saw the move as the opening of a more tolerant era in the Catholic Church.

PHOTO: LUCA ZENNARO/REUTERS/LANDOV

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Crowds swarm the Pope as he makes his way through World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro in July 2013. According to the Vatican, 1 million people turned out to see the Pope.

PHOTO: Jorge Saenz/AP

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Francis frees a dove in May 2013 during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square.

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Francis embraces a young boy with cerebral palsy in March 2013 -- a gesture that many took as a heartwarming token of the Pope's self-stated desire to "be close to the people."

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The Pope washes the feet of juvenile offenders, including Muslim women, as part of Holy Thursday rituals in March 2013. The act commemorates Jesus' washing of the Apostles' feet during the Last Supper.

PHOTO: Osservatore Romano/AFP/Getty Images

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Francis stands at the reception desk of the Domus Internationalis Paulus VI residence on March 14, 2013, where he paid the bill for his stay during the conclave that would elect him leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.

PHOTO: str/AFP/Getty Images

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Francis, formerly known as Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was elected the Roman Catholic Church's 266th Pope in March 2013. The first pontiff from Latin America was also the first to take the name Francis.

PHOTO: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

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And Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie, a Catholic, didn’t hold back Sunday from criticizing Pope Francis on his stance on a political issue – his advocacy of closer ties between the United States and Cuba.

“I just think the Pope is wrong,” the New Jersey governor told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.” “The fact is that his infallibility is on religious matters, not on political ones.”

Still, the Pope also espouses social views that are in line with the GOP, chief among them opposition to abortion.

With his huge perch this week, some Republicans hope that Francis will reiterate the church’s objections to the procedure – an issue that is now paralyzing progress on a funding bill on Capitol Hill – though that could spark protests from congressional Democrats.

“I think he will solidly be on the side of those of us who want to restrict tax dollars going to Planned Parenthood,” said John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican.

“I have no thought that the Pope is going to be weak on the issue of protecting the unborn,” said Rep. Trent Franks, an Arizona Republican.

Some Catholic Republicans said they plan to soak in the historic visit, praising the Pope for injecting new energy into the church and pushing for a new era of inclusiveness – even if they sharply disagree with some of his views.

“I would trust him to do his best to say what’s on his mind,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, a former GOP South Dakota governor and a Roman Catholic. “We’ll thank him for what he brings to the table and at the same time, we’ll glean from him what we think will be helpful.”

But Rounds pointedly disagreed with the Pope’s views on capitalism.

“Personally, I think if you think of the quality of life that has been delivered to millions of people around the world and freedoms that we find for people around the world, most of it has happened because of innovation due to capitalism, and because the United States of America exists,” Rounds said.

Sen. Thom Tillis, a Catholic Republican from North Carolina, said the Pope is well within his rights to lay out his goals and views.

“The Pope is the leader of my church,” Tillis said. “He is doing what popes have done for hundreds of years – that does not bother me.”

But, Tillis said, the final call on how to achieve those objectives is up to lawmakers – not the church.

READ: John Boehner creates mini-army to manage papal visit

Other Catholic Republicans, however, were more reticent when asked about the Pope’s views.

“I’m going to do the right thing and not comment on this,” said Idaho Sen. Jim Risch. “I’m a conservative Catholic, and I have been all my life.”

In recent years, the House chamber has hosted its share of high-profile, tense speeches. Earlier this year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress to protest the nuclear talks with Iran, prompting sharp condemnation from the White House and liberal Democrats. In 2009, South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson yelled “You lie!” during Obama’s speech to Congress about health care. And every year, the President delivers a mostly partisan State of the Union address to the rowdy body.

Yet Francis’s speech is expected to be far more prominent than all of those, with Boehner calling it “one of the biggest events in the history of the Capitol.”

In anticipation of the much-publicized address, Boehner and other congressional leaders sent an unusual letter last week to lawmakers asking them to assist with the flow of the event by “refraining” from “lengthy” handshakes with the Pope and to avoid holding side conversations with him in order to let him progress with his schedule.

Missouri Republican Sen. Roy Blunt, a member of the GOP leadership, said he hopes the Pope “casts a fairly wide net, talking about things like religious freedom and the issues that affect families.”

But Blunt added, “I don’t think we have much control over what he says.”

Inhofe, however, thinks the Pope should restrain himself. On the issue of enacting policies to curb global warming, Inhofe, a climate skeptic who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said: “That’s not something that I think the Pope ought to be talking about.”

He added, “I have never experienced a time when a Pope would jump on (so many) very extreme issues.”