text: Actually, separation of church and state means both stay out of each other's venue and this is why political lobbying by religion has caused our church to get threatened in court already & if they are not careful they could lose tax exempt status if they get too pushy of their agenda in the political arena.
  
  FYI-during the time of slavery in the U.S. the church owned and sold slaves - they profited and did not condemn it.  You may look at the Georgetown Slavery issue to verify this.
  
  Pope Francis and priests can preach in church, or in the middle of any town common, which should be adequate and trust that their people will vote their consciences, but they should not be preaching at congress or in court rooms or voting booths as these are political venues and those who don't agree with Catholicism should not have to deal with being preached at when dealing with civic matters.  
  
  By the same token, Nancy Pelosi should not give political speeches during mass even though she is Catholic.