Anyone capable of becoming the Pope is by definition a bad person. I would argue this is true not just of Catholicism with its human rights record and recent history of sheltering abusers, but of any organized religion. Any Priest, Rabbi or Imam, living comfortably while taking donations from the poor and the sick, promoting chauvinism and discrimination, deserves to go against the wall when the revolution comes.

But these religious figures are also very powerful. Religion is the opiate of the masses, that does not just mean that it's dangerous and addictive, it means people find great comfort and solace in these institutions. For billions of people, these institutions are the only thing providing a restbit from the relentless grinding of capitalism and the continued atomization of the social structures around them.

We can and should highlight when these religious figures point out contradictions within the capitalist system. We can and should support them when they do true charity. When they make comments favorable to socialism, we should highlight that for their followers. While continuing to point out the absurdity of their position, and working to undermine their temporal power.

I have no problem providing conditional support to Ansarallah, or Iran, when they take actions or make statements in support of the Palestinian cause. I see no reason why a pope does not also deserve conditional support when he acknowledges the immiseration inherent in our late capitalist societies.

Yeah the pope is an asshole, and the Ayatollah is a dick. If you can praise the Ayatollah for saying nice things about the Palestinians (which to be clear you absolutely should), you should be able to praise the Pope for saying bad things about capitalism. It's called conditional support for a reason.