Habemus Papam!

[Anonymous]

My exposure to end times thinking as a child has me wondering if he will align with Trump who is the antichrist. As I recall, the antichrist aligned with the pope. Though I know it's just traditional snti-pspacy stuff that goes way back, the part of me that worries about the rapture has me worried about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Robert Barron, Bishop of Winona-Rochester, mentioned Cardinal George's viewpoint that an American pope would be unlikely as long as the U.S. is a political, cultural, and economic powerhouse....I wonder if the conclave decided that America is on the decline so not as big deal to have an American pope.

Interesting. Is there a link to this?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-pope-could-it-be-american-cardinal-robert-prevost/

A first U.S. pope: Cardinal Robert Prevost chosen as successor to Pope Francis
By
Updated on: May 8, 2025 / 1:42 PM EDT / CBS News

Vatican City — Of the 266 popes who have led the Catholic Church, not one of them had been from the United States. Until Thursday. The cardinal electors gathered for the papal conclave elected an American from among their own ranks on Thursday to serve as the new pontiff. Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected and accepted his fate as the next Bishop of Rome, leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics. He chose Leo XIV as his papal name.

While the relative youth of the nation, fewer than 20 of the church's previous popes had served after the U.S. Declaration of Independence in 1776, one prominent U.S. bishop offered possible explanation for the lack of an American leader of the world's Catholics a day before his election.

Robert Barron, bishop of the Diocese of Winona–Rochester in Minnesota, was appointed less than a week ago by President Trump to the new White House Commission on Religious Liberty. This week, however, he was at the Vatican with hundreds of other prelates as the cardinal electors gather for the conclave to choose a new pontiff.

Barron spent days speaking with the cardinals — including the 133 cardinal electors tasked with electing the new pope — as they tried to figure out among themselves who would be best to lead the church.

"Cardinal George of Chicago, of happy memory, was one of my great mentors, and he said: 'Look, until America goes into political decline, there won't be an American pope.' And his point was, if America is kind of running the world politically, culturally, economically, they don't want America running the world religiously. So, I think there's some truth to that, that we're such a superpower and so dominant, they don't wanna give us, also, control over the church."

That's one person's opinion, not Church doctrine. And the person who said it is no longer with us.

I do think Pope Leo's selection may have political reasoning and undertones, but I don't think they are that clunky. It think the Church continues to choose popes who they believe will deliver an expansive message to both Catholics and people who might become Catholics, and that another "New World" Pope is a way of signaling that the Church is going to continue Francis's open armed approach to delivering the teachings of the Church. He is not as radical a choice as Tagle would have been, but he's a more expansive choice than any of the African contenders in terms of approach, and choosing a European pope, especially an Italian one, would have sent a more closed off message than I think the Church wants to convey. They are very committed to the idea of being a global Church right now and Leo is right in keeping with that.

I do not think they are commenting directly on America's political standing, nor do I think they even view Leo as an "American Pope." They probably liked that he has US ties, given the importance of the US church, but also that he spent so much time in South American and that he was so closely connected to Francis and the Vatican in the last decade. It makes him a politically savvy choice, but not a major political statement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trump is no longer the most powerful American in the world. That was the message and point from the Vatican.

Lmao. Love that.

How so? I don't understand how it means that. Genuinely curious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My exposure to end times thinking as a child has me wondering if he will align with Trump who is the antichrist. As I recall, the antichrist aligned with the pope. Though I know it's just traditional snti-pspacy stuff that goes way back, the part of me that worries about the rapture has me worried about this.

NO, he is not aligning with Trump. He's leans in favor of social justice and climate justice, has repudiated JD Vance's janky Christianity ideas on Twitter, and was close to Francis.

This is not an endorsement of Trump. The Church is doing its own thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Robert Barron, Bishop of Winona-Rochester, mentioned Cardinal George's viewpoint that an American pope would be unlikely as long as the U.S. is a political, cultural, and economic powerhouse....I wonder if the conclave decided that America is on the decline so not as big deal to have an American pope.

Interesting. Is there a link to this?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-pope-could-it-be-american-cardinal-robert-prevost/

A first U.S. pope: Cardinal Robert Prevost chosen as successor to Pope Francis
By
Updated on: May 8, 2025 / 1:42 PM EDT / CBS News

Vatican City — Of the 266 popes who have led the Catholic Church, not one of them had been from the United States. Until Thursday. The cardinal electors gathered for the papal conclave elected an American from among their own ranks on Thursday to serve as the new pontiff. Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected and accepted his fate as the next Bishop of Rome, leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics. He chose Leo XIV as his papal name.

While the relative youth of the nation, fewer than 20 of the church's previous popes had served after the U.S. Declaration of Independence in 1776, one prominent U.S. bishop offered possible explanation for the lack of an American leader of the world's Catholics a day before his election.

Robert Barron, bishop of the Diocese of Winona–Rochester in Minnesota, was appointed less than a week ago by President Trump to the new White House Commission on Religious Liberty. This week, however, he was at the Vatican with hundreds of other prelates as the cardinal electors gather for the conclave to choose a new pontiff.

Barron spent days speaking with the cardinals — including the 133 cardinal electors tasked with electing the new pope — as they tried to figure out among themselves who would be best to lead the church.

"Cardinal George of Chicago, of happy memory, was one of my great mentors, and he said: 'Look, until America goes into political decline, there won't be an American pope.' And his point was, if America is kind of running the world politically, culturally, economically, they don't want America running the world religiously. So, I think there's some truth to that, that we're such a superpower and so dominant, they don't wanna give us, also, control over the church."

That's one person's opinion, not Church doctrine. And the person who said it is no longer with us.

I do think Pope Leo's selection may have political reasoning and undertones, but I don't think they are that clunky. It think the Church continues to choose popes who they believe will deliver an expansive message to both Catholics and people who might become Catholics, and that another "New World" Pope is a way of signaling that the Church is going to continue Francis's open armed approach to delivering the teachings of the Church. He is not as radical a choice as Tagle would have been, but he's a more expansive choice than any of the African contenders in terms of approach, and choosing a European pope, especially an Italian one, would have sent a more closed off message than I think the Church wants to convey. They are very committed to the idea of being a global Church right now and Leo is right in keeping with that.

I do not think they are commenting directly on America's political standing, nor do I think they even view Leo as an "American Pope." They probably liked that he has US ties, given the importance of the US church, but also that he spent so much time in South American and that he was so closely connected to Francis and the Vatican in the last decade. It makes him a politically savvy choice, but not a major political statement.

This sounds reasonable. Expansive, not rsdicsl, and also he has ties to South America as well as the US so he's something of a global citizen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My exposure to end times thinking as a child has me wondering if he will align with Trump who is the antichrist. As I recall, the antichrist aligned with the pope. Though I know it's just traditional snti-pspacy stuff that goes way back, the part of me that worries about the rapture has me worried about this.

NO, he is not aligning with Trump. He's leans in favor of social justice and climate justice, has repudiated JD Vance's janky Christianity ideas on Twitter, and was close to Francis.

This is not an endorsement of Trump. The Church is doing its own thing.

I hope so. Also, he's going to live in Rome, not here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So to those who say he’s a liberal, what about this?

https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/05/08/pope-robert-prevost-lgbt/

Liberal in the Catholic Church still means pretty right wing on many issues.

The child sexual abuse scandal should have toppled the whole thing. It's disgusting and egregious they try to lecture ANYONE about how to live a pious life while harboring such villains. Pass on all of it.

They just won't deal with it. They won't really ever. And it happened all over the world. It's a huge stain on the church.

Let me start by saying that I think every priest (Catholic and other religions - Catholic priests have received the most media attention but the crimes have been widespread) who abused children, protected an abuser, or moved an abuser to a different parish should be in jail. All of them.

I had never heard of Pope Leo before today. I asked Gemini about this and here's the answer:

Past Allegations: Questions were raised about his handling of abuse allegations in his former Diocese of Chiclayo, where two priests were accused of molesting young girls. Some accusers claimed he failed to properly investigate and covered up for the accused, but the diocese denies this, stating he followed proper procedures. He reportedly opened an initial canonical investigation and encouraged the victims to go to civil authorities.

Earlier Case: During his time as provincial of the Augustinian Province of Chicago (1999-2001), a priest convicted of sexual abuse of minors was allowed to stay at an Augustinian priory near an elementary school. Supporters say Prevost never authorized that situation, the priest was not an Augustinian, and it occurred before the Dallas Charter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Robert Barron, Bishop of Winona-Rochester, mentioned Cardinal George's viewpoint that an American pope would be unlikely as long as the U.S. is a political, cultural, and economic powerhouse....I wonder if the conclave decided that America is on the decline so not as big deal to have an American pope.

Interesting. Is there a link to this?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-pope-could-it-be-american-cardinal-robert-prevost/

A first U.S. pope: Cardinal Robert Prevost chosen as successor to Pope Francis
By
Updated on: May 8, 2025 / 1:42 PM EDT / CBS News

Vatican City — Of the 266 popes who have led the Catholic Church, not one of them had been from the United States. Until Thursday. The cardinal electors gathered for the papal conclave elected an American from among their own ranks on Thursday to serve as the new pontiff. Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected and accepted his fate as the next Bishop of Rome, leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics. He chose Leo XIV as his papal name.

While the relative youth of the nation, fewer than 20 of the church's previous popes had served after the U.S. Declaration of Independence in 1776, one prominent U.S. bishop offered possible explanation for the lack of an American leader of the world's Catholics a day before his election.

Robert Barron, bishop of the Diocese of Winona–Rochester in Minnesota, was appointed less than a week ago by President Trump to the new White House Commission on Religious Liberty. This week, however, he was at the Vatican with hundreds of other prelates as the cardinal electors gather for the conclave to choose a new pontiff.

Barron spent days speaking with the cardinals — including the 133 cardinal electors tasked with electing the new pope — as they tried to figure out among themselves who would be best to lead the church.

"Cardinal George of Chicago, of happy memory, was one of my great mentors, and he said: 'Look, until America goes into political decline, there won't be an American pope.' And his point was, if America is kind of running the world politically, culturally, economically, they don't want America running the world religiously. So, I think there's some truth to that, that we're such a superpower and so dominant, they don't wanna give us, also, control over the church."

That's one person's opinion, not Church doctrine. And the person who said it is no longer with us.

I do think Pope Leo's selection may have political reasoning and undertones, but I don't think they are that clunky. It think the Church continues to choose popes who they believe will deliver an expansive message to both Catholics and people who might become Catholics, and that another "New World" Pope is a way of signaling that the Church is going to continue Francis's open armed approach to delivering the teachings of the Church. He is not as radical a choice as Tagle would have been, but he's a more expansive choice than any of the African contenders in terms of approach, and choosing a European pope, especially an Italian one, would have sent a more closed off message than I think the Church wants to convey. They are very committed to the idea of being a global Church right now and Leo is right in keeping with that.

I do not think they are commenting directly on America's political standing, nor do I think they even view Leo as an "American Pope." They probably liked that he has US ties, given the importance of the US church, but also that he spent so much time in South American and that he was so closely connected to Francis and the Vatican in the last decade. It makes him a politically savvy choice, but not a major political statement.

Agree.

Also note that in his speech, Pope Leo gave a special shot out in Spanish to the people of Peru. No shout out to the US, nor anything stated in English. I am not saying he is distancing himself, but to say his is the "American Pope" isn't really true.

[Anonymous]

What does the name Leo symbolize? The names are supposed to be symbolic, like Francis for Francis of Assisi.

[Anonymous]

The second American pope!!! (Francis was the first ... Argentina is in the Americas)

[Anonymous]

I had hoped for Aveline.

Pope Leo's words were encouraging, we will see what he does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Robert Barron, Bishop of Winona-Rochester, mentioned Cardinal George's viewpoint that an American pope would be unlikely as long as the U.S. is a political, cultural, and economic powerhouse....I wonder if the conclave decided that America is on the decline so not as big deal to have an American pope.

Interesting. Is there a link to this?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-pope-could-it-be-american-cardinal-robert-prevost/

A first U.S. pope: Cardinal Robert Prevost chosen as successor to Pope Francis
By
Updated on: May 8, 2025 / 1:42 PM EDT / CBS News

Vatican City — Of the 266 popes who have led the Catholic Church, not one of them had been from the United States. Until Thursday. The cardinal electors gathered for the papal conclave elected an American from among their own ranks on Thursday to serve as the new pontiff. Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected and accepted his fate as the next Bishop of Rome, leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics. He chose Leo XIV as his papal name.

While the relative youth of the nation, fewer than 20 of the church's previous popes had served after the U.S. Declaration of Independence in 1776, one prominent U.S. bishop offered possible explanation for the lack of an American leader of the world's Catholics a day before his election.

Robert Barron, bishop of the Diocese of Winona–Rochester in Minnesota, was appointed less than a week ago by President Trump to the new White House Commission on Religious Liberty. This week, however, he was at the Vatican with hundreds of other prelates as the cardinal electors gather for the conclave to choose a new pontiff.

Barron spent days speaking with the cardinals — including the 133 cardinal electors tasked with electing the new pope — as they tried to figure out among themselves who would be best to lead the church.

"Cardinal George of Chicago, of happy memory, was one of my great mentors, and he said: 'Look, until America goes into political decline, there won't be an American pope.' And his point was, if America is kind of running the world politically, culturally, economically, they don't want America running the world religiously. So, I think there's some truth to that, that we're such a superpower and so dominant, they don't wanna give us, also, control over the church."

That's one person's opinion, not Church doctrine. And the person who said it is no longer with us.

I do think Pope Leo's selection may have political reasoning and undertones, but I don't think they are that clunky. It think the Church continues to choose popes who they believe will deliver an expansive message to both Catholics and people who might become Catholics, and that another "New World" Pope is a way of signaling that the Church is going to continue Francis's open armed approach to delivering the teachings of the Church. He is not as radical a choice as Tagle would have been, but he's a more expansive choice than any of the African contenders in terms of approach, and choosing a European pope, especially an Italian one, would have sent a more closed off message than I think the Church wants to convey. They are very committed to the idea of being a global Church right now and Leo is right in keeping with that.

I do not think they are commenting directly on America's political standing, nor do I think they even view Leo as an "American Pope." They probably liked that he has US ties, given the importance of the US church, but also that he spent so much time in South American and that he was so closely connected to Francis and the Vatican in the last decade. It makes him a politically savvy choice, but not a major political statement.

Agree.

Also note that in his speech, Pope Leo gave a special shot out in Spanish to the people of Peru. No shout out to the US, nor anything stated in English. I am not saying he is distancing himself, but to say his is the "American Pope" isn't really true.

He will only ever be known as the American Pope in the US, I bet. He's also a citizen of Peru.

He will visit the US at some point though. That will be interesting. His background will feel familiar to so many American Catholics -- grew up in Chicago, altar boy in a Southside church, went to a Catholic university.

His mom was hispanic (maiden name Martinez) and his dad's background was French and Italian. So his is an immigrant story as well, especially as he then immigrated to Peru and later Italy.

I'm really interested to see what his papacy looks like. Cautiously optimistic. He definitely won't be a hardliner, which is a relief to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My exposure to end times thinking as a child has me wondering if he will align with Trump who is the antichrist. As I recall, the antichrist aligned with the pope. Though I know it's just traditional snti-pspacy stuff that goes way back, the part of me that worries about the rapture has me worried about this.

NO, he is not aligning with Trump. He's leans in favor of social justice and climate justice, has repudiated JD Vance's janky Christianity ideas on Twitter, and was close to Francis.

This is not an endorsement of Trump. The Church is doing its own thing.

I hope so. Also, he's going to live in Rome, not here.

He hasn’t lived here in 40+ years!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What does the name Leo symbolize? The names are supposed to be symbolic, like Francis for Francis of Assisi.

It has some social justice leanings but the truth is that when you've had 13 prior popes with the same name, it waters down any specific association. It's tied with Innocent as the 5th most common name for popes. So less overtly symbolic than Francis was.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What does the name Leo symbolize? The names are supposed to be symbolic, like Francis for Francis of Assisi.

The last Pope Leo was an advocate for the poor and the workers.