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Fox News
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
MORNING GLORY: Leo's launch
"And with your spirit, Pope Leo!" That is the response in the Catholic Mass to the priest-celebrant's "Peace be with you" proclamation in the liturgy, which is how the new Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV, began his public pontificate. Since that moment the new pope has been caught up in a swirl of ritual and pomp, the stuff of centuries of tradition but always new in different ways. The past few days have been marked by a long list of visitors to the Holy See, including this week by Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Rubio and scores of other leaders from around the world. I hope one of his American friends sends along everything written here about Leo to him so he grasps the great desire of American Catholics that he heal the quite deep and very obvious divide between the Vatican and American Catholics. That divide didn't develop overnight but it's real and it's deep, and for all the quiet optimism I've heard my co-religionists express in the days since the Conclave elevated the kid from Chicago turned missionary to Peru, there is caution that we not get fooled again. If Pope Leo grants even a few interviews to Catholic and non-Catholic journalists in America, the impact on the Church of a Midwestern accent and the open-handed approach of the Midwest generally would be a balm and an inspiration. Pope Francis, may he rest in peace, did not like America much and most certainly did not care for the generally traditionalist American branch of the "one true and universal Church" as we Catholics like to say. Like all popes, Leo's tenure will be an open question until its end. In hierarchical organizations, especially one as set in its ways as the Roman Catholic Church, it's very difficult for a pope to know how he is actually regarded in the very different parts of his global faithful. That only surfaces as the next conclave gathers. But it depends very much on these first few weeks and months. Leo is very obviously a man of great Christian faith, very smart and with a deep streak of emotion that is carefully controlled but which displayed itself during a few public moments since "Habemus papam!" was pronounced. It has been reassuring for American Catholics —and I hope all Catholics— to see how normal our Boomer pope's life through his college years had been. He's been doing many years in the mission field of Peru, which ought to impress on every believer that Leo has the real heart of an evangelist. Sure, I'd like to know what's in the album collection of his youth if it's sitting somewhere in one of his brothers' attics gathering dust, as well as his familiarity with new media in his old country, but thats just curiosity. We know the important thing: He believes Jesus is God and he serves the poor. Those are the key revelations in the wake of his elevation. What I pray is that he reveals even more by what he does in these early days, especially a few things on my personal short list. First, I'd like to see him pray in public for Jimmy Lai, the most prominent Catholic political prisoner on the planet, and in a way that conveys the Church's willingness to try and get along with the Chinese Communist Party which under Xi Jinping has reverted to the old Leninist mode of repression of belief in God and suppression and subversion of all churches in China. Mr. Lai —old, ill, in solitary confinement— is a symbol, not of political defiance of Xi, but of the persecuted church (small "c") around the world. A quietly delivered but very specific public call for prayers for Mr. Lai would be such an encouragement to his family, friends and millions of strangers who know his story and why he suffers in isolation, denied even the minimum comforts of his sacraments. If Leo were to ask Xi for Mr. Lai's release and exile to the United Kingdom or the Vatican, it would be a marker of Leo's heart for the political prisoners of the world and an opportunity for General Secretary Xi to reassure the world that there is no need for the "Pope's divisions" to think and act towards Xi as they did towards Stalin. A few words from Leo about the hostages in Gaza, approaching 600 days of harrowing captivity, would also right many sins of omission of the Church since 10/7. Diving into the particulars of how peace is restored in Gaza is perhaps not the best move right now, but there won't be peace, as President Trump noted in his remarks to the Gulf Cooperation Council last week, until the hostages are released. Israel will not stop fighting to get them back until they are released. Pope Francis never seemed to grasp this. I pray Leo does and speaks directly to the Arab and Muslim worlds that when Hamas releases the living hostages and the bodies of the dead, his efforts on behalf of the innocents in Gaza will be big and ongoing and that the Church will help with the rebuilding. I hope as well for some early appointments of Americans who very much lead the American Church with their words and example, but who were shunted aside by Francis for reasons no one has explained, because there is no explanation that makes sense other than personal dislike for men with whom he disagrees. Elevating three or four of these bishops to the status of Cardinal and bringing some large-hearted Americans to Rome to assist with the long, long overdue reform of the Vatican would bring a great deal of joy and reassurance to, for example, everyone who knows Archbishops José Horacio Gómez of Los Angeles and retired Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia. Their efforts to restore the American church in the wake of the abuse scandals were ignored by Francis and deepened attention on the late pope's own failing to address the ongoing effects of that scar on the worldwide church. Even a handful of appointments of serious men of deep thought and spiritual maturity as well as demonstrated experience in management would signal to every American Catholic that the new pope is genuinely committed to the internal de-politicization of the Church. So to would be a return to local bishops of full authority over the rites of the Mass their dioceses choose to use. There's a host of gestures available and for our part, I hope the American Catholic community will answer any call as best they can to help right the Vatican's finances whether or not Leo XIV begins his pontificate with such crucial gestures. The Holy Father is owed —traditional Catholic thinking alert— respect and deference by every Catholic. If he needs help with the books, we should step up when asked. And, if as I expect, Leo asks of every Catholic participation in evangelization and the support of the poor and the stranger set to wandering because of persecution, we ought to react quickly and fulsomely. No doubt some will urge Leo to go slow. That's not just "old thinking," that's "very wrong thinking." There is too much amiss in the world for any pope, cardinal, bishop or priest to pause much less vacation. To do as much as he can for as many as he can for as long as he can in the name of the risen Christ is the job of Peter's successor. Leo has begun with that never-ending mission in his early days. Pray he continues along this path. Hugh Hewitt is a Fox News contributor, and host of "The Hugh Hewitt Show" heard weekday afternoons 3 PM to 6 PM ET on the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast on Salem News Channel. Hugh wakes up America on over 400 affiliates nationwide, and on all the streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel's news roundtable hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6pm ET. A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law at Chapman University's Fowler School of Law since 1996 where he teaches Constitutional Law. Hewitt launched his eponymous radio show from Los Angeles in 1990. Hewitt has frequently appeared on every major national news television network, hosted television shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for every major American paper, has authored a dozen books and moderated a score of Republican candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and four Republican presidential debates in the 2015-16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio show and his column on the Constitution, national security, American politics and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump over his 40 years in broadcasting. This column previews the lead story that will drive his radio/tv show today.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The Fraught Relationship Between a Pope and His Home
Americans packed St. Peter's Square on Sunday to see one of their own begin his reign as pope. Vice President J. D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and U.S. Church leaders joined scores of American Catholics—many bearing U.S. flags—as the Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV celebrated the traditional Mass of Inauguration. The Americans' enthusiasm reflects a rare sense of unity in a deeply polarized national Church. Since Leo became pope, both its progressive and conservative factions have mostly celebrated him (some berserk corners of the internet notwithstanding). Vance, whose boss had a famously strained relationship with the last pope, emerged from a recent closed-door meeting with Leo seemingly committed to collaboration: 'We're going to find some very important things to work together on.' If Leo's recent predecessors are any guide, however, this American Catholic comity likely won't last. Since 1978, when John Paul II became the first non-Italian pope in some 450 years, every pontiff has had an ambivalent, often-difficult relationship with his native country. Each in his own way broke the centuries-long pattern established by a procession of Italian popes who were intimately involved in their homeland's politics and Church life: as opponents of Roman emperors, as secular rulers during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, as prominent players in modern Italy. Pope Paul VI, the last Italian pope (other than the very brief papacy of John Paul I), reportedly wept at news of the 1978 assassination of former Prime Minister Aldo Moro: The two had known each other since university. [Read: The Conclave just did the unthinkable] The last three popes each chose very different paths between Rome and home—sometimes confrontational, sometimes aloof. Together, they offer potential models for how Leo will relate to the U.S. Church, American political leadership, and the United States more broadly. After Jorge Bergoglio left his native Argentina in 2013 to attend the conclave that made him Pope Francis, he never returned. Francis visited several countries nearby and was not shy about engaging—or challenging—politicians and Church leaders around the world. But he remained effectively silent about Argentina, even as it cycled through three contrasting presidencies and underwent a period of extended political and economic instability. Francis rarely demurred at a question, but he was circumspect, even evasive, when asked why he never visited home. Perhaps Francis felt that he could not intervene in Argentina with the same moral influence he frequently sought and enjoyed elsewhere. He was widely beloved there, but he left a mixed legacy. Argentinian Catholics had long debated whether Francis did enough as a local bishop to defend priests and Church interests during the country's so-called Dirty War. Moreover, during his time as the Jesuit provincial, some critics viewed him as authoritarian. Before he became archbishop of Buenos Aires, the local hierarchy sent him far from the capital—an assignment generally considered to be a form of exile. Leo's relationship to America, by contrast, is less complicated, not least because he spent nearly his entire adult life elsewhere. His work as a missionary in Peru and his global travels as the head of the Augustinian religious order made him a 'citizen of the world,' as New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan said after the conclave. 'Where he comes from,' Dolan continued, is 'secondary.' True enough, theologically and ecclesially, but one has the sense that Dolan might have been trying to create breathing space for his countryman, to help him avoid being pulled into their home's perpetual politicking. For his part, Leo has expressed much more interest in sustaining unity than siding definitively with either the American left or right. Perhaps this will prompt him to stay out of U.S. affairs—or at least take a lighter touch than Francis did with America. But Leo's repeated emphasis on dialogue in the early days of his papacy suggests he won't be content to simply keep his distance, as Francis did with Argentina. In staying away from home, Francis took the opposite approach of his immediate predecessor, Benedict XVI, who made a concerted effort to engage with his native Germany. Benedict clashed theologically with its generally liberal Catholics, both before becoming pope in 2005—for example, in high-profile disputes with the dissident theologian Hans Kung—and also as pontiff, when the German Church began emerging as a vanguard of progressive Catholic causes. As pope, Benedict visited the country three times, most notably in 2011, when he addressed the Bundestag. Though he was well received there, his visit spurred public protests and boycotts in response to Church teachings about sexual morality and national abuse scandals, including ones that Benedict had been accused of mishandling before becoming pope. It's tempting to read into Leo's papacy the same kind of ideological divisions that framed Benedict's relationship with Germany: Whereas Benedict was more conservative than much of Catholic Germany, some observers see Leo as further left than U.S. Catholic leaders. But Leo doesn't have the doctrinaire reputation that Benedict did when he became pope. Moreover, Leo's missionary work kept him from being enmeshed in American religious affairs and politics like Benedict was in Germany's. By engaging in the public life of his native country, Benedict was following the example of his predecessor, John Paul II. No modern pope has—indeed few popes ever have—had as much of an impact on their homeland as John Paul II did on Poland. An estimated 11 million Poles came to see John Paul during his first papal trip to Poland, in 1979—roughly one-third of the population. They saw in their native son a confident Christian witness against communism and a reminder of their country's religious roots, which its atheist regime had covered up. Historians and papal biographers alike count the visit as a turning point not only for Communist Poland but also in the Cold War itself. The trip inspired the Solidarity workers' movement, one of the most successful opposition movements in the Soviet Union. Indeed, Lech Walesa signed the 1980 Gdansk Agreement, which granted Solidarity formal status as a trade union, with a pen commemorating the pope's visit the year before. Yet even someone as uniformly adored as John Paul in Poland wasn't always welcomed as a source of moral authority and guidance. His first trip to Poland after the Cold War, in 1991, received a cooler and smaller response. John Paul challenged his fellow Poles to live out their newly gained freedoms in ways consistent with the Gospel and Catholic traditions, as opposed to the free market, free love, and fast food—a message that proved not as stirring as his homilies and speeches against communism. Perhaps more divisive for Poles was his opposition to abortion, an issue he addressed in personal terms on that trip, which took place during an ongoing debate about a proposed national ban. 'I cannot be indifferent to this crisis,' he said. 'I too am a son of this land.' One ordinary Pole, interviewed by The New York Times, said that she disagreed with John Paul on the issue, but her broader view of him was unchanged: 'He's our pope, and I love him.' This pride and affection, uncoupled from obedience to papal authority, could provide the clearest analogy to the many American Catholics who will likely disagree with Leo's promulgation of Church teaching, whether about abortion or immigration, but nonetheless express enthusiasm about one of their own occupying the Chair of Saint Peter. A final model for understanding Leo's potential approach to America comes not from past popes but from his own relationship with Peru, his chosen country. There Leo witnessed several national crises firsthand, as Matthew Casey-Pariseault, a scholar of Latin American religion and public life, has observed: 'a bloody civil war, a decade-long dictatorship and an unstable post-dictatorship period that has so far led to three former presidents being handed prison sentences.' While many in the U.S. worry about an impending constitutional crisis—perhaps even civil war, a gradual descent into authoritarianism, or dictatorship—an American with experience of all of these prospects suddenly has an unrivaled platform to address them. [Read: The Pope's most revealing choice so far] But don't necessarily expect him to do so, at least not directly. Leo has shown himself to be more reserved than most of his modern predecessors. Indeed, so far as pope, he has offered only a single direct statement about his native land. When a reporter asked if he 'had any message for the United States,' he offered a standard blessing and just one more word, Whitman-like in its mysterious fullness: 'Many.' Article originally published at The Atlantic
Atlantic
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Atlantic
How Will Pope Leo Address America? Look to His Predecessors.
Americans packed St. Peter's Square on Sunday to see one of their own begin his reign as pope. Vice President J. D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and U.S. Church leaders joined scores of American Catholics—many bearing U.S. flags—as the Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV celebrated the traditional Mass of Inauguration. The Americans' enthusiasm reflects a rare sense of unity in a deeply polarized national Church. Since Leo became pope, both its progressive and conservative factions have mostly celebrated him (some berserk corners of the internet notwithstanding). Vance, whose boss had a famously strained relationship with the last pope, emerged from a recent closed-door meeting with Leo seemingly committed to collaboration: 'We're going to find some very important things to work together on.' If Leo's recent predecessors are any guide, however, this American Catholic comity likely won't last. Since 1978, when John Paul II became the first non-Italian pope in some 450 years, every pontiff has had an ambivalent, often-difficult relationship with his native country. Each in his own way broke the centuries-long pattern established by a procession of Italian popes who were intimately involved in their homeland's politics and Church life: as opponents of Roman emperors, as secular rulers during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, as prominent players in modern Italy. Pope Paul VI, the last Italian pope (other than the very brief papacy of John Paul I), reportedly wept at news of the 1978 assassination of former Prime Minister Aldo Moro: The two had known each other since university. The last three popes each chose very different paths between Rome and home—sometimes confrontational, sometimes aloof. Together, they offer potential models for how Leo will relate to the U.S. Church, American political leadership, and the United States more broadly. After Jorge Bergoglio left his native Argentina in 2013 to attend the conclave that made him Pope Francis, he never returned. Francis visited several countries nearby and was not shy about engaging—or challenging—politicians and Church leaders around the world. But he remained effectively silent about Argentina, even as it cycled through three contrasting presidencies and underwent a period of extended political and economic instability. Francis rarely demurred at a question, but he was circumspect, even evasive, when asked why he never visited home. Perhaps Francis felt that he could not intervene in Argentina with the same moral influence he frequently sought and enjoyed elsewhere. He was widely beloved there, but he left a mixed legacy. Argentinian Catholics had long debated whether Francis did enough as a local bishop to defend priests and Church interests during the country's so-called Dirty War. Moreover, during his time as the Jesuit provincial, some critics viewed him as authoritarian. Before he became archbishop of Buenos Aires, the local hierarchy sent him far from the capital—an assignment generally considered to be a form of exile. Leo's relationship to America, by contrast, is less complicated, not least because he spent nearly his entire adult life elsewhere. His work as a missionary in Peru and his global travels as the head of the Augustinian religious order made him a 'citizen of the world,' as New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan said after the conclave. 'Where he comes from,' Dolan continued, is 'secondary.' True enough, theologically and ecclesially, but one has the sense that Dolan might have been trying to create breathing space for his countryman, to help him avoid being pulled into their home's perpetual politicking. For his part, Leo has expressed much more interest in sustaining unity than siding definitively with either the American left or right. Perhaps this will prompt him to stay out of U.S. affairs—or at least take a lighter touch than Francis did with America. But Leo's repeated emphasis on dialogue in the early days of his papacy suggests he won't be content to simply keep his distance, as Francis did with Argentina. In staying away from home, Francis took the opposite approach of his immediate predecessor, Benedict XVI, who made a concerted effort to engage with his native Germany. Benedict clashed theologically with its generally liberal Catholics, both before becoming pope in 2005—for example, in high-profile disputes with the dissident theologian Hans Kung—and also as pontiff, when the German Church began emerging as a vanguard of progressive Catholic causes. As pope, Benedict visited the country three times, most notably in 2011, when he addressed the Bundestag. Though he was well received there, his visit spurred public protests and boycotts in response to Church teachings about sexual morality and national abuse scandals, including ones that Benedict had been accused of mishandling before becoming pope. It's tempting to read into Leo's papacy the same kind of ideological divisions that framed Benedict's relationship with Germany: Whereas Benedict was more conservative than much of Catholic Germany, some observers see Leo as further left than U.S. Catholic leaders. But Leo doesn't have the doctrinaire reputation that Benedict did when he became pope. Moreover, Leo's missionary work kept him from being enmeshed in American religious affairs and politics like Benedict was in Germany's. By engaging in the public life of his native country, Benedict was following the example of his predecessor, John Paul II. No modern pope has—indeed few popes ever have—had as much of an impact on their homeland as John Paul II did on Poland. An estimated 11 million Poles came to see John Paul during his first papal trip to Poland, in 1979—roughly one-third of the population. They saw in their native son a confident Christian witness against communism and a reminder of their country's religious roots, which its atheist regime had covered up. Historians and papal biographers alike count the visit as a turning point not only for Communist Poland but also in the Cold War itself. The trip inspired the Solidarity workers' movement, one of the most successful opposition movements in the Soviet Union. Indeed, Lech Walesa signed the 1980 Gdansk Agreement, which granted Solidarity formal status as a trade union, with a pen commemorating the pope's visit the year before. Yet even someone as uniformly adored as John Paul in Poland wasn't always welcomed as a source of moral authority and guidance. His first trip to Poland after the Cold War, in 1991, received a cooler and smaller response. John Paul challenged his fellow Poles to live out their newly gained freedoms in ways consistent with the Gospel and Catholic traditions, as opposed to the free market, free love, and fast food—a message that proved not as stirring as his homilies and speeches against communism. Perhaps more divisive for Poles was his opposition to abortion, an issue he addressed in personal terms on that trip, which took place during an ongoing debate about a proposed national ban. 'I cannot be indifferent to this crisis,' he said. 'I too am a son of this land.' One ordinary Pole, interviewed by The New York Times, said that she disagreed with John Paul on the issue, but her broader view of him was unchanged: 'He's our pope, and I love him.' This pride and affection, uncoupled from obedience to papal authority, could provide the clearest analogy to the many American Catholics who will likely disagree with Leo's promulgation of Church teaching, whether about abortion or immigration, but nonetheless express enthusiasm about one of their own occupying the Chair of Saint Peter. A final model for understanding Leo's potential approach to America comes not from past popes but from his own relationship with Peru, his chosen country. There Leo witnessed several national crises firsthand, as Matthew Casey-Pariseault, a scholar of Latin American religion and public life, has observed: 'a bloody civil war, a decade-long dictatorship and an unstable post-dictatorship period that has so far led to three former presidents being handed prison sentences.' While many in the U.S. worry about an impending constitutional crisis—perhaps even civil war, a gradual descent into authoritarianism, or dictatorship—an American with experience of all of these prospects suddenly has an unrivaled platform to address them. But don't necessarily expect him to do so, at least not directly. Leo has shown himself to be more reserved than most of his modern predecessors. Indeed, so far as pope, he has offered only a single direct statement about his native land. When a reporter asked if he 'had any message for the United States,' he offered a standard blessing and just one more word, Whitman-like in its mysterious fullness: 'Many.'
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
JD Vance Returns to Vatican City for Pope Leo's Inaugural Mass
Vice President JD Vance led the U.S. delegation for Pope Leo's inaugural mass this morning in Vatican City, celebrating the first American pope. Vance was joined by his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Rubio's wife, Jeanette Rubio. After Pope Leo was elected, Vance congratulated him, writing, 'I'm sure millions of American Catholics and other Christians will pray for his successful work leading the Church. May God bless him!' On Pope Leo's X account from his time as a Cardinal, the new pope shared articles criticizing Vance and Trump administration policies. When an interviewer asked Vance about their differences in politics, he replied, 'You know, people are asking, 'Is he a conservative or is he a liberal? Will he attack President Trump and JD Vance on certain things?' … And I guess my response to this is, it's very hard to fit a 2,000-year-old institution into the politics of 2025 America. I try not to do that." Vance added, 'I'm sure he'll say some things that I disagree with, but I'll continue to pray for him and the church despite it all and through it all, and that'll be the way that I handle it.' It marks a quick return to Vatican City for Vance, who is a practicing Catholic. The Vice President was at the Vatican just a few weeks ago, meeting with Pope Francis a day before the pope passed away. 'My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him,' Vance posted in tribute to the late pontiff. 'I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill. But I'll always remember him for the below homily he gave in the very early days of COVID. It was really quite beautiful. May God rest his soul.' He did not attend Pope Francis's funeral; President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were in attendance. You Might Also Like 12 Weekend Getaway Spas For Every Type of Occasion 13 Beauty Tools to Up Your At-Home Facial Game
The Guardian
18-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
The right reviled Francis. How will Pope Leo XIV confront the schism in the US church?
Rightwing Catholic Americans in positions of power – from the vice-president, JD Vance, to Leonardo Leo – may have breathed a brief sigh of relief when, after the white smoke cleared, Pope Leo XIV emerged on the balcony of St Peter's Basilica donning a traditional red mozzetta with a papal stole. It was, observers pointed out, a starkly different choice than his predecessor Pope Francis, a reviled figure among many staunch conservatives, who had worn all white on the same occasion in 2013 to symbolize his desire for simplicity and humility. In another nod to tradition, the American pope opted to sing – not recite – the Regina Caeli prayer in his first Sunday blessing, and dedicated one of his first audiences to the head of Opus Dei, the ultra-conservative religious order whose secret member list is believed to include prominent Catholics in Washington. And yet, it seems widely understood that Leo, given his background, temperament and values, will largely adhere to the vision of the church set out by Pope Francis, and not rebuke or deviate from it, says Massimo Faggioli, a professor at Villanova. While he might like traditionalist things more than his late Argentinean predecessor, Leo cannot be called a traditionalist, Faggioli adds. The deeper question for now is how the new pope will position himself vis-a-vis rightwing Catholics who hold significant power in the US church and in Washington, through their wealth and political influence. That includes men like Leonard Leo, a conservative Catholic activist who led the Republican mission to install a rightwing majority in the US supreme court, which is today mostly composed of ultra-conservative Catholics. The schism within the American Catholic church – between conservatives who rejected the legitimacy of Francis's papacy and more progressive-leaning Catholics who embraced it – is not dissimilar to the schism within the US itself. On one side, says Cathleen Kaveny, a professor of law and theology at Boston College, are conservatives who want to 'lock down' church teachings and reject changes they see as illicit, and liberals who want church teachings to develop in line with societal changes. Many experts agree that – unlike Francis – Leo won't necessarily seek out to offend or chastise the American right for the sake of it. 'I don't think he will try to upset people unnecessarily. Francis was more comfortable taking a unique stand. But Leo won't give up his own commitments, especially to the poor, just to appease his critics,' says Kaveny. Leo's history before becoming pope – serving as bishop of the poor diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, from 2014 to 2023, and leading the Augustine order from Rome – shows the new pope has the steel in his spine and strong sense of himself not to wilt under pressure, observers say. 'As pope, I don't think he'll go out of his way looking for a fight, but his gentle demeanor shouldn't fool anyone. He's got a backbone and will speak out when necessary,' says Christopher White, Vatican correspondent for National Catholic Reporter and author behind the forthcoming book Pope Leo XIV: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy. 'Unlike Francis, who was not from the United States, Leo already knows where the fault lines are and he'll be clever not getting himself tangled up with individuals or special-interest factions in the church who will seek to use him.' Steve Bannon, a Catholic far-right nationalist who has served as an adviser to Donald Trump, was one of a few commentators who saw Leo, previously known as Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, as a 'dark horse' to win the papacy, despite the church never having chosen an American pontiff. 'Cardinal Prevost was a brilliant pick by the woke globalist curia – an acolyte of Bergoglio who will implement his radical program,' Bannon says, referring to Pope Francis, 'while being an 'American' so the big donors can cozy up for access and open their checkbooks. The church has a massive liquidity problem – they need American cash uncoupled with trad-Catholic values.' Bannon also says that American donor heavyweights had already 'lined up' to get a 'pat on the head' from the pope in exchange for a check. But he did not elaborate. Kaveny does believe Leo will be an agent of change, just not in the mould of Francis. Where the previous pope represented a charismatic authority, who could move people with his words and deeds, Leo – who has been deeply ensconced in the Roman curia – has the kind of institutional authority that can move visions into action. 'It is important to understand he is trained as a canon lawyer,' she says. 'It's like the way Franklin Delano Roosevelt had the vision of the New Deal, which supported people in their old age, but it took the lawyers to write the Social Security Act.' While Francis was easily dismissed by US Catholics on the right as a Marxist pope who did not fundamentally understand Americans, it will be far more difficult for those critics to dismiss Leo or say his view of the US is that of a caricature. 'He understands the DNA of conservatism. He comes from a centrist moderate Catholic tradition and is very progressive on the issues of immigration and refugees,' says Faggioli. He will also likely disappoint some liberals around the issues of women in the church, abortion and gender. Unlike Francis, the ultra-conservatives in the church will also be forced to contend with an undeniable fact: Leo is relatively young and full of energy. 'He can outlast some of them,' Faggioli says. What observers cannot yet understand is how Leo's American nationality will ultimately color his tenure. Conclaves, Faggioli says, pick a pope in response to the times, just as choosing Bergoglio – Pope Francis – happened during Barack Obama's presidency and a 'de-whitening of the west from a certain paradigm of the white European dominance', Faggioli says. The unwritten rule that said there could never be an American pope was based on a world order in which the US was the world's superpower, and could not also claim the leader of the most global religion. But the conclave's choice seems to ask the question of where – in the second Trump administration – the US is going now. 'All this disruption has made the idea of the American pope more acceptable,' Faggioli says.
