Speaking at a private campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum told potential voters that he read Pope Francis’s encyclical on the environment and that he believes that with his climate message, the pontiff is trying to appeal to a broader, more secular constituency in the U.S. and abroad.
“I’m going to give him space to weave that narrative,” Santorum, a devout Catholic, said.
The former senator added that he is “not a believer” in the global climate crisis and that the issue is pressed by the left in order to “gain more power and control over what we do.”