Religious double standards on the front of Thursday's New York Times: "The Pope, the Clerk and Culture Wars Revisited." During his U.S. tour, the Times celebrated Pope Francis's liberal tone on economic, environmental, and immigration issues. But when he reaffirmed his belief in religious freedom (and the Church's opposition to gay marriage) by secretly meeting with Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who went to jail instead of issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, the Times adopted a puzzled, chiding tone, fretting that the Pope was reigniting the U.S. "culture war."
Jim Yardley
After Fawning Over Pope's Economic Stands, NYT Accuses Him of Reigniting 'Culture Wars' by Meeting Kim Davis
By Clay Waters | October 1, 2015 | 11:44 PM EDT 
More Sudden Respect for Liberal Religion in NYT: 'Many Conservatives Project Their Fears Onto [Pope Francis]'
By Clay Waters | September 19, 2015 | 9:48 PM EDT More strange new respect for religion on the front page of the New York Times – at least when it comes to the economically liberal Pope Francis. Jim Yardley is the latest: "A Humble Pope, Challenging the World – First Latin American Pontiff Attracts Fans and Stirs Anxiety in Push for Change." Yardley tried to mainstream the left-wing Pope: "But he is hardly a left-winger, either -- at least in the political context of the United States," while portraying conservatives as fearful: "Many conservatives project their fears onto him."
By Scott Whitlock | March 27, 2014 | 4:22 PM EDT
New York Times journalists Jim Yardley and Michael Shear on Thursday compared Barack Obama to Pope Francis. According to the writers, the pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage Barack Obama and the pro-life, anti-gay marriage religious leader have a lot in common.
Yardley and Shear connected "an Argentine pope and an American president who each burst onto the global scene as a history-making change agent." They insisted that each arrived "promising to promote a new post-partisan ethos, each having made the cover of Rolling Stone."