Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected by the conclave yesterday to become the 267th pope of the Catholic Church. The man whose middle name is Francis will succeed Pope Francis as Pope Leo XIV.
The buzz is that he’s the first American to be chosen for the position, succeeding a man who was the first pope from South America. Many conservatives were hoping for a pope from Africa, but half of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics reside in the Western Hemisphere, so perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that these two popes hail from the New World. Born in Chicago in 1955, Leo is also the first pope to speak English natively. He’s a dual citizen of Peru, where he spent much of his life serving the poor. That’s why he gave part of his mostly Italian first address in Spanish.
Everyone’s questions are: What sort of Catholic is he, and what are his politics?
Francis was a Jesuit who, in his early years, marinated in Marxist-influenced liberation theology. He was not always clear on social issues, creating a stir on same-sex unions, for example, while clearly espousing left-wing views on economics, immigration, and climate change. Given Francis’s influence on the College of Cardinals, many expected the next pope to follow in that vein. It took them only two days to choose a man made a cardinal by Francis in 2023.
The 69-year-old Prevost is the first Augustinian pope, an order generally considered more conservative than the Jesuits on liturgy, theology, and social issues. He voted in several Republican primaries, though he has made social media posts seen as critical or as outright rebukes of both President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
He holds traditional Catholic views on life at the beginning and at the end. In one homily, he said, “God’s mercy calls us to protect every life, especially those society overlooks — the child yet to be born and the elderly nearing their journey’s end — because each bears Christ’s face.” He also seems to reject the gender cult, once saying, “The promotion of gender ideology is confusing because it seeks to create genders that don’t exist.” The Federalist’s John Daniel Davidson calls Leo “more conservative on abortion and gay marriage than Trump and MAGA are.”
Likewise, Leo espouses traditional views on the role of women in the church. Asked in 2023 if he would support admitting women to the priesthood, he replied, “The apostolic tradition is something that has been spelled out very clearly. It isn’t as simple as saying that, ‘You know, at this stage we’re going to change the tradition of the Church after 2,000 years.’” Yet he also assisted Francis in opening more roles to women, saying, “Women can add a great deal to the life of the church on many different levels.”
On the other hand, Leo has expressed more left-wing opinions on gun control, climate, race relations after George Floyd, and immigration.
Concern for the poor crosses party and ideological lines, though leftists reject the idea that conservatives care at all. Unfortunately, it seems as if Leo’s dedication to the poor comes from a more left-of-center viewpoint. That extends to his views on immigration, which were typically the reason for his criticism of Trump and Vance. Mass deportation of illegal aliens, he once said, is a “disgrace.”
According to Rev. Thomas Reese, a U.S. priest and expert on the Vatican, “By picking the name Leo XIV, he shows he is committed to the social teaching of the church, which was made foundational by his predecessor Leo XIII.” Regarding immigration, it may be ironic that Pope Leo the Great (440-461) saved Rome by convincing the invading horde of Attila the Hun not to take and pillage the city. The current Leo would be wise to respect the Rule of Law and national sovereignty rather than welcome foreign invasions based on spurious interpretations of the life and teachings of Jesus.
Trump called having an American pope “a great honor,” and the Vatican and White House have already begun arranging a meeting. For a pope who spoke of “building bridges” in his first address, here’s hoping that meeting is productive.
On a lighter note, given that Leo was born in Chicago, the real question on everyone’s mind was “Cubs or Sox?” Sorry, Cubs fans, but he’s a diehard White Sox fan. Of course, given the terrible baseball played by the Sox these days, I also feel sorry for Leo.
