As a conservative Protestant who has spent much of his professional life at Catholic institutions, I can say that this statement from Mohler shows especially poor judgment on his part. https://twitter.com/albertmohler/status/1319026724563259393

Pope Francis’s full statement—consistent with his other statements on the subject—is supportive of civil unions *instead of* same-sex marriage, where the relevant alternatives include ‘marriage’ and ‘civil union’.

Here’s a detailed treatment of Francis’s statement in context: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/throughcatholiclenses/2020/10/pope-franciss-words-on-civil-unions-distorted-by-editing/

It’s also bizarre that Mohler presumes to speak on behalf of conservative Catholics.

Maybe it’s due to the company Mohler has been keeping of late: vicious personal attacks, predicated on words taken of context, purporting to defend religious conservatism. It’s vintage Founders.

More importantly, Mohler appears to misunderstand the significance of setting. When Pope Francis offers comments in an interview, he’s not speaking ex cathedra—with the full authority of his office.

This error on Mohler’s part is particularly instructive, and it cannot be overstated: rarely does the Pope speak with the full authority of his office, and only with utmost care.

I doubt it would even occur to Pope Francis to comment, e.g., on the wisdom of a particular economic policy. Nor would he presume to tell Catholics which politician to vote for. It's unthinkable that the Pope might say such things while speaking with the authority of his office.

Rev. Dr. Mohler would do well to imitate this example. He is not an expert in economics, public policy or political philosophy. So he shouldn’t offer public comment on such things in his capacity as a representative of a seminary, or the SBC, or evangelicalism broadly.

If he must offer public comment on subjects that are outside his field of expertise, he should make it clear that he’s speaking as a layperson. Otherwise he risks binding the consciences of others with his own opinions.

As we all know, personal opinions are apt to change over time. So when we conflate truth with personal opinion, we risk acting or speaking as though truth is subjective.

And what an embarrassment that would be.