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Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
The Other American ‘Popes'
WHEN WHITE SMOKE DRIFTED over the Sistine Chapel and the name Leo XIV was announced earlier this month, billions of Catholics and non-Catholics alike around the world raced to learn more about the new pontiff. Born Robert Francis Prevost and raised in Chicago, he is the first American to ascend to the papacy. He is a product of an American Catholic family and an alumnus of American Catholic institutions, having graduated from Villanova and the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago before joining the Order of St. Augustine and spending years in missionary service in Peru. As news of his election spread, so did Chicago-themed memes and other displays of hometown pride. A small number of Americans, though, believe we've already had an American pope. Unrecognized by the Vatican and distant from mainstream Roman Catholicism, a handful of would-be pontiffs have made claims to the throne of St. Peter, enjoying support from internet users, eliciting the curiosity of many who came across them, and attracting followings—dedicated if not large. Few of these figures ever set foot in a seminary, let alone rose through the clerical ranks; you won't find them in cathedrals or basilicas. Their holy haunts are garages, rental halls, and the occasional roadside chapel. And while they can be found at the very edge of the religious fringe, these figures personify the continuing challenges to papal authority presented by and within our postmodern age. The main thing that unites this diverse bunch of papal claimants is their shared rejection of Vatican II. Convened between 1962 and 1965, the Second Vatican Council was a landmark effort by the Roman Catholic Church to engage more directly with the modern world. Initiated by Pope John XXIII, the council introduced sweeping reforms: It permitted the Mass to be celebrated in vernacular languages rather than Latin, emphasized ecumenical dialogue with Orthodox and Protestant communities, redefined the Church's relationship with non-Christian religions (especially Judaism), and shifted the Church's tone from one of hierarchical authority to one of pastoral outreach. For many, these changes felt like an enlivening wind, in keeping with Pope John's (possibly apocryphal) call to 'open the windows of the Church' and let some fresh air into it. Chief among the council's champions was Pope John Paul II, who had attended Vatican II as a young bishop and later embodied its spirit through global outreach, interfaith dialogue, and a renewed emphasis on human dignity. He also helped modernize the papacy itself, embracing television, global travel, and media interviews to bring the Church's message to a wider, contemporary audience. Keep up with all The Bulwark's articles, newsletters, podcasts, and livestreams—and pick which ones show up in your inbox: But while some Catholics found Vatican II exhilarating, for others, it was deeply disorienting. Many Catholics felt alienated by the rapid changes, whether because they preferred the Latin Mass or were uncomfortable with various other reforms. This sense of upheaval gave rise to movements like the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1970, which flatly rejected key aspects of Vatican II and has maintained an uneasy relationship with Rome ever since while undergoing continuous institutional and communal growth. Even among conservative Catholics who don't go as far as SSPX, Vatican II remains a point of deep concern and contention, and it remains an abiding preoccupation among hyperonline Catholic commentators. The resurgence of young Catholic women wearing veils, the renewed popularity of the Latin Mass, and the proliferation of apologists defending every conceivable Church teaching all point to a growing skepticism toward, or at least a re-evaluation of, Vatican II's more open ethos. There are also those so radical as to not only reject the council but also to deny the legitimacy of the popes who have upheld it. These are the sedevacantists—those who believe 'the seat'—sedes, referring to the papal throne—is 'vacant,' which is to say, the one who currently occupies it is illegitimate. Sedevacantists hold that this has been the case since the 1958 death of Pope Pius XII on the grounds that all officially recognized popes since Vatican II have embraced its alleged heresies. In the words of Philippe Roy-Lysencourt, a scholar of Catholic traditionalism, 'For these movements, the council is like a foreign body in the life of the Church, like a cancer to be fought.' While its community of adherents is small and fragmented, sedevacantism represents the furthest extreme of traditionalist dissent—after all, who else would answer 'no' to the question, 'Is the Pope Catholic?' And way out at the furthest reaches of the sedevacantist world, we find a handful of those who, unwilling to wait for a legitimate pope to emerge, have taken matters into their own hands. These are the people who have conducted their own conclaves in living rooms and hotel conference rooms, and who claim to have found St. Peter's true successor living in their own hometowns. Share THE STORY OF OUR COUNTRY'S original homegrown papal claimant must be regarded as a prelude, because his actions took place decades before the Second Vatican Council that would unite the later generation of faux popes in opposition to it. Adam Anthony Oraczewski, a Polish-born immigrant, declared himself 'Pope Adam II' in 1927 following several years of religious mischief, fraud, and forgery, much of his behavior likely resulting from undiagnosed mental illness. At one point, he circulated a photo to newspapers that depicted him in an approximation of papal garb; a reporter at one of the papers pointed out that the young would-be pontiff had left his tennis shoes on for the picture. It would be half a century before the first of the Vatican II–rejecting American-born papal claimants would emerge. Chester Olszewski was originally an Episcopal priest in Pennsylvania. After encountering Anne Poore, a visionary claiming miraculous experiences and stigmata, Olszewski embraced a radical traditionalist Catholicism. He would eventually claim to receive his own mystical visions, and in 1977, he proclaimed himself Pope 'Chriszekiel Elias,' later adopting the name 'Peter II.' He led a small sect calling itself the True Catholic Church, rooted in apocalyptic Marian devotion; it has since faded into obscurity. A little over two decades later, in 1998, Lucian Pulvermacher, a former Capuchin friar from Wisconsin, was elected pope by a roughly fifty-member conclave of sedevacantist lay people associated with the True Catholic Church network. Taking the name 'Pius XIII,' he operated his ministry and issued papal decrees from a trailer in Kalispell, Montana, and later from Springdale, Washington. He died on November 30, 2009, at the age of 91. His followers' plans to convene a new conclave to choose a successor have so far come to naught. Another: Citing inspiration via mystical revelation, Reinaldus M. Benjamins of Malone, New York, claimed to be 'Pope Gregory XIX.' But as 'alternative popes' researcher Magnus Lundberg writes, little is known of Benjamins today. But the best-known American claimant to the papacy is the late David Bawden, known to many by his chosen papal name of 'Pope Michael I.' Born in Oklahoma in 1959 and raised in a fiercely traditionalist Catholic household, David Bawden came of age believing that the Second Vatican Council was not a reform but a rupture, one that cut the institutional Church off from its own timeless teachings and liturgical beauty. His family refused to attend the post-conciliar Mass, clung to pre-1958 catechisms, and eventually aligned with the dissenting SSPX. Bawden enrolled in an SSPX seminary but was dismissed after a brief tenure, prompting him to pursue his theological education on his own—through books, correspondence with traditionalist and sedevacantist Catholics, and fervent prayer. By the mid-1980s, he had moved on from the SSPX to embrace outright sedevacantism. Join now Convinced that the Catholic Church was in a state of emergency, Bawden took a radical step. In 1990, at the age of 30, he gathered five others (including his parents) into a makeshift conclave in a Kansas thrift store chapel. They elected him pope by unanimous vote. He took the name 'Michael I' and claimed divine sanction to restore what Rome had lost. From a farmhouse-turned-chapel in Delia, Kansas, he spent the next three decades issuing papal decrees, publishing newsletters, and maintaining a website called 'Vatican in Exile.' Toward the end of his life, he had a channel on YouTube, a platform on which his sermons, theological discussions, interviews, and explanations of his papal claim have been watched by thousands. While many dismissed him as a crank, a curiosity, a theological prank, or a person disturbed in the manner of his predecessor Oraczewski, Bawden's sincerity was difficult to deny. As documented in the 2010 film Pope Michael, he lived with monastic simplicity, took no salary, and led a quiet life of devotion alongside his elderly mother, Tickie. He prayed daily for the Church, answered emails from curious seekers, and carried out his self-imposed papal duties with unwavering conviction. In 2011, after more than two decades without the ability to celebrate the sacraments (despite claiming to be pope), Bawden was ordained a priest and consecrated a bishop by Robert Biarnesen, an independent bishop from a schismatic Old Catholic lineage (he himself had only just been consecrated a month prior by Bishop Alexander Swift Eagle Justice). Because Bawden had never been ordained by a bishop, valid or otherwise, prior to this, he had taken himself to be unable to perform even the most basic sacramental duties of the priesthood, let alone exercise the full authority of his alternative papacy. Beginning in 2011, though, Bawden at last felt authorized to celebrate Mass, hear confessions, and ordain others, a possibility that he seized with his first (and possibly only) seminarian, Phil Friedl. His movement remained minuscule, with perhaps a few dozen core followers, but the internet gave Pope Michael surprising reach, drawing adherents from as far away as India and the Philippines. One of those, a Filipino bishop named Rogelio Martínez, became his right-hand man and, after Bawden's death in 2022, Martínez was elected by his predecessor's remaining followers to become 'Pope Michael II.' He still posts to the movement's YouTube channel, but viewership remains scarce. Share LEO XIV'S PAPACY HAS NOW BEGUN. The Chicagoan begins his tenure at a time when papal authority is contested. Pope Francis, pastoral reformer that he was, was a figure of great controversy among both liberals and conservatives in the Church, and especially among hyperonline traditionalists, for whom he represented a corruption of the office. For years, such figures accused him of sowing confusion, undermining tradition, and embracing a modernist agenda. Some of his critics began to flirt openly with sedevacantist ideas, creating a cultural commotion in the Church. So it is that in our digital present, when YouTube apologists, livestreamed liturgies, and anonymous Twitter accounts shape the Catholic imagination, the claims of figures like Bawden no longer feel quite so radical or strange. This is part of what Leo XIV has inherited from Francis: a Church that is struggling, along with every other societal institution, to find its way in an increasingly chaotic information environment—a virtual world in which, it seems, everyone gets to be their very own pope. Zap this article over to a friend or zip it up onto social media: Share
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
I shook hands with Pope Leo. Believe me, the Papacy is back
Credit: Vatican Media This week I met the Pope. Get used to hearing this: I'll probably mention it in every column. It happened on Monday, when His freshly-elected Holiness addressed journalists in the modernist Paul VI Audience Hall (a horror of its kind: think two star Trump hotel). After some remarks on the importance of press freedom, he walked down the central aisle and, by gently elbowing a priest in the ribs, I was able to reach out and shake his hand. The moment went viral. As he stepped towards me, Leo appeared to dodge a gay pride flag, and Right-wingers leapt on the video as evidence that the Vatican is being made great again. In fact, I got lucky: the Pope weaved from one side to another in a choreographed arc. Also, it wasn't a pride flag but an Italian peace flag – waved by locals since the 1960s. Nevertheless, the brief and ill-informed controversy is a reminder of the mine-field Leo will be crossing. Thus far, his movement is towards restoration. His predecessor, Francis, disliked ritual and, upon his election, wore ever-so 'umble white. Leo appeared on the papal balcony in a red mozzetta and the gold pectoral cross. When Francis met the press, he declined to bless the crowd verbally as it likely contained non-Catholics – a gesture journalists loved because it validated their non-belief. Leo, on the other hand, blessed us in Latin. He has a classics master's diction – Francis sounded like Fidel Castro ordering Cannelloni – and enjoys singing the Regina Caeli, prompting a series of videos by the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music called 'Let's sing with the Pope', an act of educated levity unimaginable under Francis. Old misery-guts practically slapped any Catholic who tried to kiss his hand. Leo seems more open to it. Why should this matter? Imagine being a soldier who finally gets to meet the top general: you salute but the general doesn't salute back, because he thinks it's dumb. You'd feel insulted. You might question why you'd bothered signing-up. Ritual is the language by which human beings honour each other. When a lower rank dishonours custom, we instinctively call that insubordination – but when a higher rank does the same, it's every bit as rude and unjust. Imagine the King attending a garden party for veterans in T-shirt and jeans. We'd be debating a republic. Francis, I'm told, would wheel about the Vatican, demand to speak with a random cleric and, depending on his mood, sack or promote them; men discovered they'd been made a cardinal by surprise. By contrast, Leo has re-hired his dependable former secretary, a young Peruvian, and there's talk of replacing the disconnected Vatican administration with a cabinet system. While Francis' personality eclipsed the papacy, the coolness and humility of Leo XIV suggests the office should be considered bigger than whoever inhabits it. As for his views on the future of the Latin Mass, the ancient rite that Francis persecuted as an affront to modernity, we await Leo's next steps with nerves and hope. In an audience with Eastern Catholics, who use a rite so inscrutable that it often takes place behind a painted screen, Leo said 'we need to recover the sense of mystery that remains alive in your liturgies… Your traditions of spirituality, ancient yet ever new, are medicinal.' Blimey! From this, one dares imagine a revitalisation of the Roman Church's rather pedestrian liturgy. Compare Francis's meeting with the Easterners in 2013, when he offered only incomprehensible praise for their 'authentic synodal praxis'. It's been noticed that Leo quotes the Bible a lot. Francis tended to over-quote himself. I returned from Rome on Thursday full of hope. At the moment when church attendance is rising and the young are exploring Christianity, the Vatican seems to have aligned itself with history – in time, God willing, for a renewal of faith and tradition. In a Kentish cafe, I told some ladies that I'd touched the Pope and they asked if they could touch my hand in turn, as if everything medieval were new again. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Epoch Times
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Flags to Fly at Half-Mast in Australia for Pope Francis
Flags across Australia will be lowered on April 22 as a mark of respect following the death of Pope Francis at the age of 88. Soon after the news broke, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had directed the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to ensure all flags outside of Commonwealth government building were at half-mast a day after Easter Monday. More than 5 million Australian Catholics—around 20 per cent of the population—are mourning the death of the spiritual leader. Albanese expressed his sympathy, stating, 'Australian Catholics and faithful around the world give thanks for the life of their Holy Father, Pope Francis, Bishop of Rome.' 'And my sincere condolences to everyone for whom tonight, it will be a very difficult evening.' The prime minister praised Pope Francis for his universal compassion, saying it 'embraced all humanity,' and noted the pontiff would be 'mourned by Catholics and non-Catholics alike.' Related Stories 4/21/2025 4/21/2025 Albanese also spoke of the Pope's deep connection to Australia, 'The first pope from the Southern Hemisphere was close to the people of Australia. For Australian Catholics, he was a devoted champion and loving father.' Dutton Reflects on Pope's Legacy Opposition Leader Peter Dutton also extended condolences on behalf of the Coalition, saying, 'His Holiness, Pope Francis, served God with the utmost devotion throughout his life. He was the first Pope from the Jesuit order and the first Latin American Pope. He lived frugally and simply.' Dutton said the Pope was guided foremost by Christ's teachings of mercy and forgiveness. He highlighted the pontiff's focus on these values in his final Christmas message, 'God's mercy can do all things. It unties every knot; it tears down every wall of division; God's mercy dispels hatred and the spirit of revenge.' Governor-General Sam Mostyn also honoured the Pope, calling his September 2024 visit to the region a testament to his global commitment. 'As millions of Australian Catholics mourn a spiritual guide, father and friend, we can all reflect on His Holiness' message of peace; of respect for the rights and dignity of every member of our human family; and care for the Earth, our common home,' she said. A Papacy That Touched Many Lives Jorge Mario Bergoglio became the 266th pontiff in 2013. Born in Buenos Aires on Dec. 17, 1936, to Italian immigrants Mario and Regina, he initially trained as a chemical technician before choosing the priesthood. Throughout his 12-year papacy, Pope Francis was noted for his humility, simplicity, and deep concern for the poor and marginalised. AAP contributed to this article.
Indian Express
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Pope Leo XIV speaks of cherished values in a polarised world
The question that loomed over the papal conclave as it began on May 7 — indeed, the question that had preoccupied Catholics everywhere (and many non-Catholics) since the death of Pope Francis on April 21 — was what the Church under the next pontiff would look like. Would the new occupant of the throne of St Peter walk through the door opened by Pope Francis, and continue along the path of reform he had laid out? Or would he turn back towards the idea of the institution as envisioned by his predecessor's conservative critics? On Thursday, the white smoke announcing a new pope cleared to reveal the election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost to the papacy. Prevost, who has taken the name Leo XIV, was born in Chicago, and is the first pontiff from the US. His election marks the end of the longstanding wariness towards having a pope from the superpower. It also marks a continuation with the reformist agenda of the last pope, one that prized the notion of a 'missionary' and 'synodal' (collaborative) Church — in his first address from the balcony of St Peter's Basilica, this is the very idea that Pope Leo XIV underlined. For progressives, indeed, there is a promise of a people-centric institution in the new Pope's choice of name: In his historic 1891 encyclical, the last pope named Leo — Leo XIII — had provided the outline for modern Catholic social justice teaching, by championing the rights of the working class. Many challenges lie before Pope Leo XIV, particularly ensuring that the centuries-old Catholic Church stays in step with the times. He will have to navigate the divides within the institution, and among the faithful, on issues like queer rights and the position of women. As he spoke to the crowd gathered in St Peter's Square in the Vatican, the Pope spoke of the need to build bridges. In an increasingly polarised world, his words are a much-needed beacon.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
'Enthusiasm and joy' in new Pope's hometown of Chicago
The church where Pope Leo XIV attended mass as a child and served as an altar boy is now an empty shell. Only the stained glass windows remain intact inside the sturdy facade of St Mary's of the Assumption on the far edge of Chicago's South Side. The disrepair is one indication of how the Catholic Church's power and influence has been ebbing away in America's big cities. And yet, around this city there's palpable excitement, particularly among Catholics, that the new pontiff is not only American - he's a South Side Chicagoan. "When they said the new Pope was an American, I flipped out, I said 'no way'!" said Mary Simons, a French teacher and nearby resident who brought her mother to see St Mary's. "The Church seems like it's getting smaller and smaller in this country," said Ms Simons. "I'm hoping that this will rejuvenate the church and make it bigger and better." A small trickle of Catholics, along with a few non-Catholics, made their way to St Mary's on Thursday afternoon as the news spread that Pope Leo XIV – until recently, Cardinal Robert Prevost – had been elected by his fellow cardinals in Rome. While some lamented over the poor state of the neighbourhood church – "It's shocking to see this" remarked one visitor - several were close to tears as they considered the humble roots of their new leader. Natalie Payne attended the church and the school associated with it. She hadn't heard the news but just happened to be driving by when she saw the small crowd outside and stopped to take in the moment. "We loved this school. It was a very family oriented place and very accepting of difference," she said. "I was one of the very few black people who attended this school, but I always felt part of the community. It was just a beautiful place." Catholics make up about 20% of the US population, according to Pew Research, a number that dropped from 24% at the start of the century. Attendance has fallen and the decline is noticeable in the big industrial cities of the Midwest, in closed schools and shuttered houses of worship like St Mary's. Leo XIV grew up in a modest home just a few streets away from here. The Chicago Sun-Times reported his parents – his father was a school administrator and his mother a librarian - bought their home in 1949, paying a mortgage of $42 a month. His father was of French and Italian decent and his mother had Spanish heritage, according to a Vatican news release. Who is Robert Prevost, the new Pope? Watch Pope Leo XIV being unveiled as new pontiff Pope Leo's first public address from the Vatican balcony - watch in full US President Donald Trump calls election of first American pope a 'great honour' Charleen Burnette, one of the Pope's former classmates, told the BBC she remembers him as a "quiet, kind, gentle, wicked-smart kid". "He was always the top of our class, all the time," she said, recalling how he always knew he wanted to be a priest and would stay late to sweep and dust St Mary's as a boy. "He vocalised it. He lived it. He exemplified it," she said. In recent years, the Catholic Church has not only weathered declining attendance but also child abuse scandals that continue to resonate today. The Midwest Augustinians, a religious order in Chicago which Pope Leo once led, only published a list of priests credibly accused of sexual abuse in 2024, after years of public pressure. As a cardinal, Prevost was criticised after being accused of allowing a priest facing sex abuse allegations to live in an Augustinian building near an elementary school. The priest was later moved and the religious order says it has tried to be transparent. There is a common feeling here that the church has not fully reckoned with the past but despite that, many Catholics here expressed hope for the new Pope's reign. Outside Holy Name Cathedral, the centre of the Catholic Church in downtown Chicago, workers were hanging bunting to prepare for a special mass on Friday morning. Father Gregory Sakowicz, rector of Holy Name, said he was just about to preside over mass at the cathedral when the news broke. "When I saw the white smoke on TV, I looked out the window and the sun came out here in Chicago," he said. "Later, during holy communion someone told me, 'Father, the new Pope is Father Robert Prevost from Chicago.' I was shocked." Fr Sakowicz said Pope Leo XIV "will be his own man" but added that he was confident that he would follow in the footsteps of his predecessor and be "a voice for human rights, a voice for the voiceless, concerned with the poor, and concerned for our mother Earth". And in this sport-mad city, there's one question that might nearly match the importance of the new Pope's theological direction – which of the city's baseball teams does he root for? Although there were some reports that he backs the Chicago Cubs, in interviews the new pope's brother has said he cheers for the White Sox – the team with a passionate South Side fan base. Both teams on X, however, have claimed the new Pope's support. "Go White Sox - and go Cubs," said Fr Sakowicz. "There's just a lot of enthusiasm and joy around here. "He might be from Chicago, but he will be a pope for the whole world, not just Chicago, not just the US, not just North America - but the entire world." With reporting from Nadine Yousif
