Whether you believe that Pope Francis is pushing a liberal agenda in the Catholic Church or not, the liberal media does, and it’s clear that they will do their best to defend him from criticism. Thursday’s USA Today article deflected earnest criticisms of the pope by painting him as an innocent victim, suffering a clerical abuse scandal pushed by critics hoping to oust him.

Writer Eric Lyman began the article by stating that recent allegations of sex abuse against the Church “is shining a new light on the gap dividing the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics.” If readers were anticipating a discussion of how sex scandals and cover ups are hurting the faithful -- a massive concern, they were thrown for a loop. Lyman wrote, “And almost none of it is about the charges of widespread clerical abuse scandals.”

Oh here we go. There’s been a recent trend in the left’s coverage of these events to soften the blows of Archbishop Viganó’s allegations and other accusations thrown at Francis, aiming to deflect them as a conservative media’s attack on a pope they don’t like. But of course, they never mention Francis’ culpability, whether it’s his flirtation with heterodox teachings or remaining silent on damning allegations.

Lyman presented it as if conservatives have always despised Francis, writing, “Though he is widely popular among non-Catholics, Francis has been a polarizing figure among the faithful since he was elected five years ago.” Of course there wasn’t any mention as to why, it was just the point that critics have always wanted him out and the sex scandals are finally providing leverage.

This should be news to the general faithful who have been unsure about Francis over the allegations. If only it were so easy that this scandal was merely a profitable political tool. For many, it represents a horrific crisis for Church hierarchy including the pope himself.

Veteran Vatican analyst Robert Mickens echoed this, stating, “these two camps have existed since the start of Francis’ papacy,” and again “that the situation has very little to do with the sex scandals.” Lyman wrote that, for Vatican critics especially, this has been more about Francis being “too willing to take on the status quo in the Church, willing to embrace secular figures on issues like alleviating poverty and confronting climate change, and far to forgiving to groups including homosexuals.”

If Lyman were familiar with church teaching, he might see such how issues could be problematic for orthodox members. But no, it was just another bit of evidence for some right-wing political game.

Not to worry -- like the AP before him, Lyman lowballed the skepticism of Francis’ pontificate. Citing Mickens, he wrote, "strong critics are a minority among Catholics, albeit a loud one adept at using social media.”

And as USA Today went out of its way to make the concerned faithful look like a fringe group of Francis haters, the publication also made sure to tout the pontiff’s holiness, letting readers know how hard his job of clerical clean up has been. Lyman quoted a Floridian paralegal, who stated Francis is the man for the job. “If a man like Pope Francis can’t do it, I don’t know who can,” and one Roman food distributor, who stated that Francis “is obviously a very holy man and we have to have faith that he will take the right steps.”

While we hope this is true, it seems a little too early to affirm that things are being handled correctly, especially considering the letter from Archbishop Viganó. But right now, this is the media’s pope and USA Today will go out of its way to dismiss such allegations as “they don’t like the pope because his political views,” or label them as “attacks against the Church that are aimed at dividing it.”