Atheist Comedian Bill Maher Tells Rick Santorum: 'I Like the Pope Better Than You Do'

Well-known atheist comedian Bill Maher and 2016 presidential hopeful Rock Santorum recently engaged in a heated conversation regarding Catholicism and the pope, will Maher questioning how it could be possible that he supports the pontiff when Santorum does not.

Maher and Santorum discussed climate change on the Friday evening airing of "Real Time with Bill Maher," during which the host asked Santorum how it was possible that as an atheist, he agrees more with what the pope says than the 2016 presidential hopeful, an outspoken Catholic.

"What I want to ask is, I mean, I'm not a Catholic, I'm an atheist," Maher said. "But I like the pope better than you do. You're saying the pope should stick to what he knows, and I find that ridiculous."

Santorum previously said that he believes the pope should stick to religious issues and not offer his view on climate change, telling "Fox News Sunday" that he thinks "there are more pressing problems confronting the earth than climate change."

The pope has previously said that he believes climate change is a man-made issue, telling reporters: "I don't know if it is all [man's fault] but the majority is, for the most part, it is man who continuously slaps down nature […] We have in a sense taken over nature."

Santorum added to Maher on Friday that he believes there are many reasons as to why the climate may be changing, saying: "There was a survey done of 1,800 scientists and 57 percent said they don't buy off on the idea that CO2 is the knob that's turning the climate."

 "There's hundreds of reasons the climate's changed," Santorum added.