Will Pope Francis come to America as a healer or a divider? A bit of both, I guess. A healer, surely, by intent. But by situation, for some, a divider. This pope has a double orientation — as the first pope to have a respected predecessor, with a loyal following, living next door to him; and as the first pope from the New World, with a populist instinct and gift. I think of him as a kind of Scarlet Pimpernel operating behind enemy lines. Well, not quite enemy lines, but alien divides. For there are two Catholic churches now, and each is in some degree alien to the other. One, the Second Vatican Council church, the people of God, is people-centered. The other, the church of the hierarchy, is pope-centered.”

By Garry Wills, The Boston Globe — Click here to read the rest of this commentary.