Habemus Papam

[Scooter]

Robert Prevost, Leo XIV

I'm sure that Trump will say the election was fixed, and he is the real pope.

[Crackpot]

Any info on the guy?

[BoSoxGal]

He's an Augustinian, so a religious order Pope like Francis and not a parish priest. He's a fairly progressive missionary from what I can discern - liberation theologist? - who spent many years in Peru and is a citizen there as well I believe.

Leo XIII wrote a famous encyclical called the Rerum Novarum about the plight of the working class during the industrial revolution (influencing the development of liberation theology) and he also wrote encyclicals on the problem of excessive individualism and on living one's faith in the works of one's life - so this seems to be Leo XIV's signal re: his priorites, all of which align with Francis's tradition and which are sorely needed in these times.

I have high hopes. There will never be another Francis, but this guy looks good and he's young enough to do some serious damage to the bad aspects of the Church while he's in the chair.

He was born in Chicago and educated at Villanova.

[Sue U]

He was born in Chicago and educated at Villanova.

Great, we're in for a week of "the new Pope's local roots."

[BoSoxGal]

Maybe the Cardinals were all feeling sorry for USA so they gave us a Pope to cheer us up in the face of our fall to fascism.

[Joe Guy]

Pope Bob from Chicago!

[Scooter]

I was about to post a lot of what BSG already wrote, so I won't repeat it.

I think that the cardinals electing him were sending a message - while an American, he is really the least American of the U.S. cardinals, with a theology and a philosophy likely to put him at odds with the current U.S. administration.

[BoSoxGal]

He has already (before today) tweeted multiple times criticizing this administration. Yay!

https://www.ncronline.org/opinion/prevo ... ncis-began

[Scooter]

He already directly clocked JD Vance:

[BoSoxGal]

He was born in Chicago and educated at Villanova.

Great, we're in for a week of "the new Pope's local roots."

I wanna know which cheese steak he preferred - Pat's or Geno's???

[BoSoxGal]

Okay saw this funny tweet - don't know how to capture it so I'm just sharing the text:

Deedy
@deedydas

The new Pope has a degree in mathematics from Villanova University.

This guy doesn’t just understand sin. He understands cos.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Hola!

[BoSoxGal]

I just read an article in the Catholic Register about how American Catholics voted for Trump by a wide margin in 2024.

And now I totally get why the cardinals did what they did. The battle of not so evil against evil is ON.

[datsunaholic]

I just read an article in the Catholic Register about how American Catholics voted for Trump by a wide margin in 2024.

And now I totally get why the cardinals did what they did. The battle of not so evil against evil is ON.

Interesting, because almost all the Catholics I know, and I know a LOT of them having been one and 13 years of Catholic schooling, were adamantly anti-Trump. Of course, Seattle itself is anti-Trump. The few ones that are MAGA tend to be "do as I say not as I do" Catholics with divorces and rampant cheating.

[Crackpot]

I think that has a lot to do with location. A lot of people underestimate the animosity between protestants and catholics. (almost entirely on the Protestant side) The reality of living in an area of an area where You are at best considered misguided and at worst are considered the agent of the anti-christ and an area where you are considered equivalent to the former group can result in largely different behaviors

[Big RR]

Perhaps, but then i think there are a number of RCs who supprt Trump because of his position on abortion, and ignore pretty much anything else. I also wouldn't be surprised if some support him because of his ort Trump because of his position on abortion, and ignore pretty much anything else. I also wouldn't be surprised if some support him because of his support for school choice. But just as with protestants, there are some who think for themselves and follow their own consciences, and others who just fall in line because of what some church leader or opinion/issue leader says. Face it, many Catholics and Protestants enthusiastically supported some of the worst depots in history.

And FWIW, the view that the "others" are in league with the antichrist/horribly misguided runs both ways. I grew up in an Irish and Italian neighborhood of primarily RCs (albeit in different RC churches), and was routinely told that I was going to hell because I wasn't a catholic (Like Jesus was--talk about misinformation), but i heard the same from some protestants about the RCs in league with the antichrist who calls himself popr and worshiped and were destined for eternal torment. It's silly, since they have a lot more in common than not, but when the rhetoric starts with kids, feelings run deep.

Personally, I was in a pretty progressive church at the time (evangelical Danish Lutheran) which urged us to get along, but the feeling was not universal.

[Scooter]

[BoSoxGal]

https://www.boston.com/news/world-news/ ... aturestack

[Scooter]

Waiting for the usual suspects to say he got the job due to DEI.

[BoSoxGal]

I am beyond thrilled to read this CNN article discussing holy father Leo’s first conversation with the cardinals - it seems we may be looking forward to a couple more decades of Church reforms in the same direction as Francis across the board.

It seems the Holy Spirit truly visited upon the conclave.

Okay all sentimentality aside, well played Francis. A masterful 3D chess game over a dozen years to remake the college of cardinals in his image and set up the Church for generations of further reform.

Amen!

https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/10/europe/p ... gence-intl