Gratitude Monday: Habemus papam

Well, Catholics had a turnup for the books last week when the conclave of cardinals elected a man from Chicago as Pope. Robert Prevost (who’d only been a cardinal for 19 months) succeeded Argentine Francis I, taking the nom de pontiff Leo XIV.

This is so interesting—and heartening—for a number of reasons.

Francis was generally seen as on the radical side, because he fostered outreach to the poor and marginalized. In reality, he was pretty centrist, but in an organization as hide-bound, hierarchical and committed to maintaining status quo as the Roman Catholic Church, this can be taken for radicalism.

He was also a Jesuit. Jesuits are the wildcards of the Church; it was interesting that Francis was elected in 2013.

Leo is an Augustinian, which is also interesting. Founded in 1244 in Tuscany by followers of the Rule of Augustine, 4^th and 5^th Century Bishop of Hippo, Augustinians focus on education, evangelism and community. They are bridge builders and upholders of justice. The cardinals clearly know this, and they know how closely Francis drew the American to him in recent years. It took them barely 24 hours to elect him as Francis’s successor. They clearly expect him to carry forward Francis’s work.

In his first address as Pope on Thursday, Leo used the words “peace” and “justice” multiple times, and he talked repeatedly about welcoming all, with a special shoutout (in Spanish) for his former parishioners in Peru. I also think it's not for nothing that he picked "Leo" as his moniker: the last one, Leo XIII, was huge in the social justice fight. XIV's history would indicate that he's of the same persuasion.

It remains to be seen how much success Leo will have. The Vatican is a huge ship, and it takes a long time to change course. But the fact that MAGAts have gone ballistic in their criticism of him (“WOKE MARXIST POPE” tweet-shrieked that noted theologian Laura Loomer) is a definite plus. (As "Robert Prevost", Leo's only tweets this year opposed Kleptocrat administration policies and one even flat out called JD Vance's notion that Christians need to rank their love of humanity wrong.

Also—the memes about a Chicagoan being Pope are absolutely cherce, and we can expect them to continue throughout his papacy.

And I am grateful that all those old men in medieval robes creaked their way to what may be one of the boldest choices possible for the future of a vast number of Christians. I am heartened.

 

©2025 Bas Bleu