The two occupy different intellectual parts of the Catholic Church, and the television personality has made his disdain for some of the pope's positions known.

After Francis derided then-candidate Donald Trump's proposed border wall last year as "not Christian," O'Reilly took to the airwaves to push back on the pope.

At the time, he said, "I would suggest to Pope Francis, that millions of Americans have been harmed economically by our immigration system which desperately needs reform. I think I could persuade the pope that providing protection and enforcing settled law is certainly not un-Christian."

It's unlikely that O'Reilly ever got that chance to try to persuade the pope on Wednesday when he briefly shook hands with the pontiff in Rome while on vacation.

O'Reilly's dismissal from Fox News brings an end to his 20-year helm as a de-facto champion of the Religious Right in establishment Republican politics.

During his tenure, O'Reilly helped to shepherd the once-fringe right-wing movement into the heart of the GOP by marrying a religious movement with right-wing media.

O'Reilly regularly invoked religion as a part of his show and acted as an aggressive right-wing prophet decrying the elitist secular left.

Perhaps O'Reilly imagined himself as a modern-day King David, a prophet and psalmist, who with eloquence and persistence, would protect God's people from the Goliaths of today — most notably the left.

In O'Reilly's heyday, he was a mainstream champion of the Religious Right. His annual tirade against the "War on Christmas," fueled fear that a much-beloved holy day would be culturally cast aside for a mere "Happy Holidays."

In 2012, he said the left was "tying the Christmas situation into secular progressive politics." Why? Because they wanted "a new America, and traditional Christmas isn't a part of it." Continue reading

• Christopher Hale, a contributor to Fox and a columnist for TIME on faith, is the executive director of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and the co-founder of Millennial.

O'Reilly, whose long-running show draws audiences of around four million, has been asked to leave the Fox network following numerous claims of sexual harassment.

He is presently holidaying in Italy.

Although he lined up with VIPs, the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See and the head of the Vatican press office for Fox News deny giving O'Reilly a place with those those waiting to shake hands with Francis.

It is thought Francis's secretary, Archbishop Geog Ganswein probably approved his request to greet the Pope.

It is unclear whether Francis knew who O'Reilly was, during their brief moment together.

Last year, O'Reilly challenged Francis last year on immigration.

He said in a broadcast he personally wanted to convince Francis that millions of Americans had been harmed by the immigration system.

So far, O'Reilly has not achieved this aim.

He also called Francis "left-wing" and called his warnings against climate change's impact on the planet an "opinion".

Throughout his papacy Francis has constantly expressed compassion for migrants.

He has made his views on President Donald Trump's Mexican wall clear last year after a visit to Mexico.

"A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian," he said.

"This is not in the Gospel."

Source

• The Washington Post
• The Hollywood Reporter
• Image: The New York Times