Is Pope Francis Dividing American Catholics?

WASHINGTON - Wherever he visits, Pope Francis seems to be met by throngs of adoring faithful.

Catherine Kells, a Catholic from New York said she and her husband "are big fans."

"Our parish is very fond of his social justice program," Devin McGettian, another Catholic, said, adding that Pope Francis "presents a positive image for the Catholic church."

Catholic Cathy Stack likes "the openness he brings to the church."

He has spoken out against the evils of capitalism and says a revolution is needed to fight climate change. At times he has sounded soft on homosexuality and has made it easier for Catholics to get their marriages annulled.

So, when Pope Francis visits the United States, he will bring with him a lot of questions about what he really believes, and if, as reported, a schism is growing within the Roman Catholic church.

"People that like what he says about the defense of marriage and family and the baby in the womb might not be enthusiastically applauding when he offers rather pointed criticism of a market economy that leaves people behind," Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, said of the Pope.

There are reports of a schism between the pope and American conservatives. But leading Catholic commentator Dr. Robert Royal said Francis is actually quite orthodox on the core issues of the faith.

He said some of his words have been twisted by the media and that reports of a schism in the church are exaggerated.

"When you get a figure like Francis who is admittedly ambivalent; he speaks off the cuff and is not very clear, it can make it look like he's one thing or another," Dolan told CBN News. "But it's absolutely clear that he is rock solid on the hot button issues like homosexuality and abortion."

"When he was in Argentina in a private letter to some nuns he talked about gay marriage as a subterfuge of the devil, of the devil, to blow up marriage in the modern world," he said.

But it's clear there is a problem. A Gallup poll this year showed support for Francis among American Roman Catholics has fallen.

So is conservative dissent against Francis growing? Royal says, "yes and no."

"I think any Catholic is with the pope. But that does not mean at all and has never meant in the Catholic church that every Catholic agrees with the pope about every single issue," he said.

"Is there some nervousness on the part of conservatives? Yes, because they are not familiar with this social justice emphasis combined with firmness about traditional Christian teaching," he added.

Cardinal Dolan calls Francis "an equal opportunity disturber in that when we listen to some things we smile, as we listen to other things he says we bristle. But Jesus was like that."

Royal said Francis could serve as a bridge between the liberal and conservative wings of the American Roman Catholic church.

But that role means he is also likely to continue to be a lightning rod for criticism from both sides.

Dale Hurd also reported from New York and Rome for this story.