Religion & Spirituality

On His Holiness, Pope Leo XIV

On May 8, 2025, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected as the 267th pope of the Catholic Church and took the name Leo XIV, the first American to become pope. Long may he reign.

On His Holiness, Pope Leo XIV

I’ve gone through a variety of emotions and thoughts since his election. I wasn’t very excited or encouraged at first. Admittedly, I didn’t know much beyond a few brief profiles. In my own assessment, a Baby Boomer from Chicago who spent time in Latin America and was made a cardinal by Pope Francis was certainly bad news. However, while I still have concerns and reservations, I’ve felt cautiously more optimistic.

Since the pope is still a major figure on the world stage and sought for moral guidance and clarity, and as a practicing and fairly knowledgeable Catholic member of G@G, I’ll share my thoughts on the current state of the Church and on Pope Leo XIV and what to expect.

What I am about to say is largely opinion and speculation. I have my hopes and my fears about this pontificate and my frustrations with Pope Francis. I will nevertheless be as dispassionate and objective as I can.

What to expect

Bottom line up front: I think ultimately, we’re looking at a mixed bag in terms of ideology and practice.

Though he is (or at least appears to be for now) largely ideologically aligned with Pope Francis, he has shown himself to be more friendly to traditional disciplines, such as the Traditional Latin Mass and wearing traditional papal garments. He is also relatively more firm and clear on matters like the ordination of women, abortion, LGBT ideology, and communism, all of which he has condemned. Some of Francis’ ideology and reforms will continue, but I expect at a slower pace, to a lesser degree, and with more input from other perspectives. He has said that we must be open to new ideas, but cannot abandon our traditions and orthodoxy, which are instrumental in how we come to know and love God.

On His Holiness, Pope Leo XIV

While it would be satisfying for me to see a traditionalist whip-fashioning, table-flipping shaker-mover reactionary to Pope Francis, a hyper-modernist with a volatile temperament and was known to explode in fits of childish and foul-mouthed rage when questioned or things didn’t go his way, one reactionary would follow after another for decades. It would create more instability and rifts within the Church, which we cannot afford. Leo, being a stabilizer and peacemaker, will hopefully mitigate this.

With this being established, I doubt that the Church will continue on her current path beyond the next 50 to 100 years, if even that. Pope Leo XIV is 69 years old, as of this writing (May 2025). Assuming a 10-15 year pontificate, his successor will likely be Gen-X, but possibly even an early Millennial, both of which tend towards being more conservative and traditional; the priests and recent converts among Gen-Z are even more so. It’s for this reason, among others, why I half-wonder if Leo’s papacy will end on a more conservative note than it has started. I think that by the time I’m on my deathbed, the Church will at least begin looking and sounding more like she did in the early 20th Century.

One thing that he certainly will address is the rise of artificial intelligence and all the questions it is raising regarding how it will affect relationships, employment, the economy, power balances, mental health, the general social fabric, and most other aspects of public life. And that's not even to mention whether our hearts and minds will belong to God or to a machine. He has even said as much, as his Leonine predecessor, Pope Leo XIII (r. 1878 to 1903), reigned during the Industrial Revolution. His landmark encyclical, Rerum Novarum, addressed the rights and responsibilities of both capital and labor. He condemned the excesses and some aspects of capitalism, but also entirely condemned socialism (Our Lord Jesus Christ was NOT a socialist). Then-Cardinal Prevost saw parallels between Leo XIII’s time and ours, a time of a new industrial revolution, which he said influenced him to take the name Leo.

Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII

From a personality standpoint, I think he will probably be more reserved than his immediate predecessors and restore a sense of gravitas and dignity to the office. I sincerely hope that the era of the “rock star pope”, which started with the charismatic and extroverted Pope John Paul II, is finally over.

And lastly, there’s an elephant in the room to address: sex abuse. I honestly don’t know how he’ll address it; I’ve heard mixed things. Some of his close associations, like Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago and Father James Martin are not encouraging signs, neither is his admiration for Cardinal Joseph Bernardin (also of Chicago), also a notorious sexual predator and, allegedly, Satanist. One way or another, it’s something that he will have to address and let the facts lead where they might. As such, we will simply have to wait and see.

The United States

Though we share the same beloved homeland, I do not expect, nor do I want a glowing patriotic commendation from Leo. Some aspects do call for approval and encouragement. For instance, in 2023, Americans donated nearly $560 billion to charity. Despite rising secularism, Americans go to church more than most other nations. Visitors from other nations note Americans being warm, welcoming, outgoing, and friendly. And Catholic author Matt Fradd, originally from Australia, posted a YouTube video discussing how he often meets Catholics from other countries who greatly appreciate the Catholic faith formation and education resources from the United States; “Do not apologize for your influence on the Universal Church!”

There is also much to criticize and correct. We’re materialistic, indulgent, and demand instant gratification. We’re very distracted with noise, music, and streaming. We work too much, too hard, are incredibly stressed out, and spend very little time with our families. Men and women hate and resent each other and live in extended adolescence. And even though we go to church more, many hearts and minds are empty of God. Our gods are government, food, money, and technology and our religion is consumption. Having spent many years among the poor in Peru, Leo ought to have a unique perspective to share with the rest of the Western World, America in particular.

America has its sins, but it also has virtues, and let he who is without sin cast the first stone. Personally, all I’d want from him, if I told him of my faith life and efforts to guide and raise my family in the Catholic Faith, would be for him to give me a simple blessing and say, with a smile, “God love you, my son. You do well. Now go away.”

Ultimately, I don't expect any special treatment for the United States, positive or negative.

Donald Trump

I'm only including this section because I’ve seen a handful of hilariously desperate and pathetic comments, both here and across the internet, about how he’s going to “sTanD uP 2 TRUUUUUMMMMP!” In many cases, it’s the first thing they mentioned. Even if Leo doesn’t like Trump, he is not – IS...NOT – going to save you from the big bad Cheeto monster. In fact, I doubt he’ll even be a roadblock, let alone an effective one. There are several reasons for this.

1) The Catholic Church is the true Bride of Christ. The pope’s primary role is to guide and shepherd her, not spend his days preoccupied with micromanaging the internal affairs of one country. In her human element though, she is failing. The Vatican is broke, churches are emptying, dioceses are going bankrupt, vocations are falling, there’s widespread ignorance of or dissent from core Church teachings, and sex abuse scandals have dominated headlines since 2002 (Pope Francis’ record on such was abysmal, at best). So between addressing these issues and giving Donald Trump a hard time, what should Leo’s priorities really be?

2) Five seconds ago, these same people (many of them, at least) were saying “keep your religion out of my government! Politics and religion should be separate! Politicians listen to us and not some quack in a dopey bathrobe in some ancient ruins! Check your religion at the door, you stupid, hateful, bigoted, sexist, hypocritical, self-righteous punk! Now sit down, shut up, and hear me talk about how kind, loving, and accepting I am! And vote for Kamala Harris, she needs your support.”

They’ve claimed for years that Jesus never existed, the Bible contradicts itself, Christianity rips off other religions, it’s all a bunch of fairy tales, and so forth, as if they’ve figured something out that over 2,000 years of prayer, study, and exegesis has not. But then, it somehow magically becomes true, relevant, and binding on the conscience when they want something. Their biblical and theological expertise effectively amount to “hey, that’s in there somewhere, right?”

3) According to the Washington Post, in 2024, 56% of Catholics in America voted for Trump and 41% for Harris. I'm willing to bet that if this were broken down, we would find that a larger majority of those who know and practice their faith supported Trump over Harris. Consequently, the pope can say “I don’t like x, y, and z”, but his opinion is not binding on the Catholic conscience; a MyTake on papal infallibility is perhaps in order.

4) How much love do you think Pope Francis had for Trump?

And 5) if he were to have direct influence in American politics, some things would have to happen that you probably wouldn’t like. We’d have to be a Catholic monarchy or confessional state; Catholicism would have to be the official religion of America. Whenever you feel like writing your congressman, let me know.

Bottom line: Get a grip, get a life!

CONCLUSION

Only time will tell what Leo’s papacy will look like. For the time being, it does not appear that he will be a hardcore traditionalist, but neither will he be a hyper-progressive. I believe that if anything, he will largely be a stage-setter. There’s much I’ve said here on which I could be mistaken, or even completely wrong. I simply hope and pray that God will enlighten and prepare our hearts and minds for whatever lies ahead and that faithful of the Church can have joyful trust in their shepherd, the successor of Peter, Pope Leo XIV.

On His Holiness, Pope Leo XIV

“...thou art Peter, and upon this Rock I will build My Church, and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it…” - Matthew 16.18

Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day.

May 31, 2025 – The Queenship of Mary

On His Holiness, Pope Leo XIV
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