Rick Santorum—a rust-belted Pittsburgher who has embraced the Petrine church ever since he stopped being pro-choice in his first congressional election—is smeared in penitence and frothy with faith, and he will show this pontiff who’s supreme.

Santorum has challenged leftist Pope Francis to stick to photo ops in the Basilica after the Bishop of Rome mouthed off about the un-Christianness of messing up Earth’s environmental health. Via HuffPo:

Santorum, a devout Catholic, told Philadelphia radio host Dom Giordano on Monday that the pope should “leave science to the scientists.”

His comments come as the pope, who earned a master’s degree in chemistry before turning to the priesthood, becomes increasingly vocal about climate change. Pope Francis is preparing a groundbreaking encyclical to be released in the coming weeks that’s expected to make the case that taking action to fight climate change is a moral and religious imperative.

Said Saint Orum: “The church has gotten it wrong a few times on science, and I think that we probably are better off leaving science to the scientists and focusing on what we’re really good at, which is theology and morality.” Which is nothing at all like the aforementioned expected papal encyclical calling environmentalism “a moral and religious imperative.”

This isn’t the first time Santorum has had it in for Francis: Back in January, a procreation-happy Santorum took the Holy Fathead to task for “cautioning Catholics against breeding ‘like rabbits.’”

“Well, I mean, it’s sometimes very difficult to listen to the pope,” Rick said:

“When he speaks as the leader of the Catholic Church, I’ll certainly pay attention. But when he speaks in interviews, he’s giving his own opinions, which I certainly will listen to, but from my perspective, that doesn’t reflect the idea that people [should] be fruitful and multiply, and that people should be open to life as something that is a core value of the faith and of the Catholic Church,” said the former Pennsylvania senator.

What kind of a pope doesn’t believe in having a quiverfull of kids? What kind of a pope tries to do science and refuses to leave the science to scientists, or at least scientists who have more degrees in science than the pope? A pope that’s probably gonna get unseated soon by a real believer, that’s who. Maybe Rick Santorum isn’t running for the White House, but for Francis’ house. Imagine: a pontiff that smutty anime porn-loving, pig-fuck-fantisizing, child-terrifying, transgender-trolling dicks can call their own.

[Photo: AP Images]

Contact the author at adam@gawker.com.
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