Leo XIII understood clearly where The Framers stood, and it is where every sensible person stands. The days when the Bishop of Rome could dictate his will to the sovereign in matters that belong to the polity is over, and rightly so. Governments don't derive their just powers from the phony "donations" of deathbed converts, nor by divine right. He knew that day had come and feared for his phony-baloney job.
Thus, he manufactured a "heresy." This was his stock and trade, but the market wasn't anywhere near what it used to be. The American Revolution established there would be no room for the kind of monopoly Popes were used to. [It's no accident that there was only one Romanist signer of The Declaration of Independence; only two signed the Constitution.]
If Francis wants to use his influence to change the culture or the opinions of the electorate, he has as much right and moral authority -- and not one iota more -- than anyone else with a soapbox to try. So far, his opinion on matters that were supposed to be "intrinsic moral evil" have been [at best] "mistranslated" and [at worst] well to the left of mine.
You seem to claim that every "sensible person" wants God removed from the public square. No thanks.
"Thus, he manufactured a "heresy." This was his stock and trade, but the market wasn't anywhere near what it used to be. The American Revolution established there would be no room for the kind of monopoly Popes were used to. [It's no accident that there was only one Romanist signer of The Declaration of Independence; only two signed the Constitution.]"
The removal of God from the public life of a nation is an abomination, which has lead to where we are now. Pope Leo didn't "manufacture" this truth. The Americanist system is merely an umbrella that covered specific heresies that lead towards contempt for God in the public square, and which were beginning to assert themselves. And the reason only three Catholics signed the founding documents, is maybe, just possibly, related to the fact that Catholics comprised about 1% of the population at the time, and that Catholics were forbidden to practice law, (among other things), which meant very few Catholics were able to achieve the social and professional status that would befit the signer of said documents.
Maryland was established by Catholics, and with the Toleration Act of 1649 was the only colony to permit freedom of worship to all Christians. Protestants fleeing Anglican persecution in Virginia were granted land charters by the Catholic governor of Maryland...After establishing sufficient numbers, they overthrew the Catholic governor, burned nearly every Catholic Church in the colony, and outlawed Catholicism -- but at the same time levied a double taxation rate on Catholics.
Even in the wake of the American Revolution, some of the Framers (John Jay comes immediately to mind) still called for Catholics to be suppressed -- although I don't know of a any protest he made against the guns, money, and blood of ostensibly Catholic France that aided the United States during the Revolution.
It's really no surprise that the tiny, tiny number of Catholics in the colonies weren't involved in politics (although they gave disproportionate yeoman service to the Continental Navy). They'd have taken their lives into their hands.