Pope Francis has created an incredible amount of enthusiasm during his young papacy.  His persistent focus on the poor and vulnerable is helping to reshape the image of the Church.  Many who had drifted away from the Church have turned their gaze back to it.  Even atheists are writing articles expressing their fondness for Francis.  And many of us in the pews are even more excited.

This enthusiasm has seemingly created a unique period of unity within the American church, which has often been heavily fractured.  The only outward displays of discontent seemed to be coming from the ‘trads’, traditional Catholics who strongly dislike Francis’ penchant for the simple rather than the baroque.  Yet the change in emphasis (if not doctrine) initiated by Francis was bound to ruffle some feathers.

And now it seems as though the whispers on the Catholic Right are starting to grow.  The critiques have begun to escape the privacy of intimate conservations and circulate more widely.  And now Archbishop Charles Chaput has confirmed that the right-wing of the Church generally has “not been really happy about his election.”

Opponents of abortion and euthanasia have an ally in Pope Francis.  But those who want to wage a culture war do not.  Francis rejects the confrontational, caustic approach favored by many right-wing Catholic culture warriors.  It was inevitable that many would turn against him for inadequate ardor in defense of their causes.

These culture warriors were used to ignoring or even contesting Pope Benedict and Pope John Paul II’s statements on the environment, economy, and other issues.  But Francis’ shift in emphasis is likely to lead to larger displays of dissent and criticism from the right.  If this happens, we can only hope that the right-wing fractures, with the ultras becoming increasingly isolated and average American conservative Catholics drifting more and more toward the Church’s communitarian vision.