Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum said this week that he was a “huge fan” of Pope Francis but that the pontiff should stop buying into the global warming debate and, instead, “leave the science to the scientists.”

During a Monday interview with WPHT, host Dom Giordano noted that Pope Francis was expected to urge lawmakers to take action on climate change when he visits the U.S. later this year.

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According to Santorum, who is Catholic, the liberal media had been misrepresenting the pope as less conservative that he really was.

“He’s someone who is as committed to the nuclear family as I am,” the former Pennsylvania senator opined. “I’m a huge fan of his and his focus on making sure that we have a healthier society.”

“I understand and I sympathize and I support completely the pope’s call for us to do more to create opportunities for people to be able to rise in society, and to care for the poor,” he continued.

But when it came to a responsibility to care for the planet, Santorum advised the church to proceed with caution.

“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,” the candidate insisted.

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Instead, Santorum encouraged the church to focus on “what we’re really good at, which is theology and morality.”

“I think when we get involved with controversial political and scientific theories, then I think the church is probably not as forceful and credible,” he remarked. “And I’ve said this to the bishops many times when they get involved in agriculture policy or things like that, that are really outside of the scope of what the church’s main message is.”

Listen to the audio below from WPHT.