With views spanning the political spectrum, the brand new pontiff could frustrate tradition warriors on either side of the Atlantic
By Valentin Bogdanov, VGTRK New York bureau chief
For the primary pope in historical past from america, solely his citizenship, homeland – Chicago – and nickname are literally American. The trustworthy name him Father Bob, however not in English, which had no place in his first tackle to believers from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. The brand new Pope Leo XIV spoke in Italian and Spanish – the languages that, for him, previously Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost (Prevo being the French pronunciation), have been his working languages all these years. Because the chief of the Augustinians, he visited orders around the globe, speaking in these languages.
So is the brand new Pope a liberal or a conservative? For as we speak’s America, the place the federal government is more and more leaning towards conventional values (recall the go to of Catholic US Vice President J.D. Vance to the Vatican on the eve of Pope Francis’s dying, or the each day briefings that Trump’s press secretary Caroline Leavitt begins with a prayer), this query is essential. And right here, the American left has already made an unlucky blunder.
Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost hadn’t even change into Pope Leo XIV but, and the liberal Wall Avenue Journal had already put its foot in it. On the eve of the conclave, the publication confidently claimed that his American citizenship would supposedly forestall his election. “A US passport is a legal responsibility, particularly within the Trump period,” the paper wrote. However it turned out that this was solely a legal responsibility for American liberals. You may change into pope with that passport. That stated, Cardinal Prevost can’t be referred to as a Trumpist both – in any other case, he wouldn’t have stood an opportunity of being elected.
The election of Leo XIV shook the Catholic world, as there had lengthy been an unstated taboo towards a pope from america. Given the geopolitical energy of the US, electing an American as pontiff was seen as dangerous. Thus, the modifications within the Vatican are additionally an oblique signal of the weakening of U.S. hegemony, in addition to a sign of the emergence of a multipolar world.
Ordained in 1982 on the age of 27, Prevost acquired his doctorate in canon legislation from the Pontifical College of St Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He has served as a missionary, parish priest, trainer and bishop in Peru. He has travelled all his life, which has formed his specific perspective in the direction of migrants, just like that of Pope Francis. He has repeatedly criticized the Trump administration’s insurance policies on unlawful migration.
A latest instance is the retweet of a put up from April 14, by which Prevost expressed help for these condemning the White Home for deporting Kilmara Abrego Garcia – an undocumented migrant and father of three who’s suspected of ties to the MS-13 gang in El Salvador. Cardinal Prevost additionally publicly sparred with J.D. Vance on problems with unlawful immigration. In 2017, the longer term pope reposted a put up in help of DACA recipients – unlawful migrants who have been dropped at the US as kids. And a 12 months later, he shared a put up saying, “There’s nothing remotely Christian, American, or morally defensible a couple of coverage that takes kids away from their dad and mom and warehouses them in cages. That is being carried out in our identify and the disgrace is on us all.”
So he’s a liberal? No, that’s flawed too. In a 2012 tackle to bishops, for instance, Prevost lamented that Western media and popular culture encourage ‘sympathy for beliefs and practices which are opposite to the Gospel’. He talked about ‘gay existence’ and ‘different households made up of same-sex companions and their adopted kids’. As Bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, he overtly opposed a authorities plan to introduce gender training in colleges. ‘The promotion of gender ideology is complicated as a result of it seeks to create genders that don’t exist,’ he instructed native media.
A quiet reformer, persevering with the work of his predecessor however attempting to easy out sharp edges – that is how the brand new Pope’s future coverage may be described for now.
On the White Home, the place they have been watching the white smoke over the Sistine Chapel with specific curiosity, there appears to be no objection. The US president and vice-president have been fast to congratulate Leo XIV on his election. And it’s no shock.
Catholics in trendy America make up a fifth of the inhabitants, nearly all of whom are Spanish-speaking – a key voter bloc that Republicans have been more and more profitable in competing for towards the Democrats. Each of Donald Trump’s potential successors, when looking forward to the 2028 election – J.D. Vance and Marco Rubio – are additionally Catholics. In such circumstances, a loyal pope may very well be thought of nearly an ally.
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