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Help[Opinions] Pope Leo XIV
The new Pope is Robert Prevost - the first American Pope. He's taken the papal name of Leo. What are your thoughts on this?
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The first Pope Leo met with Attila the Hun and persuaded him not to invade Italy. Maybe Pope Leo XIV wants to channel those diplomatic skills?
According to his Wiki page, the 13th Pope Leo wrote a document that outlined the rights of workers to a fair wage, safe working conditions, and the formation of trade unions, while affirming the rights to property and free enterprise, opposing both socialism and laissez-faire capitalism. So, advocating for workers without falling into political camps?
According to his Wiki page, the 13th Pope Leo wrote a document that outlined the rights of workers to a fair wage, safe working conditions, and the formation of trade unions, while affirming the rights to property and free enterprise, opposing both socialism and laissez-faire capitalism. So, advocating for workers without falling into political camps?
This message was edited 5/9/2025, 6:42 AM
I’m not Catholic, so I’m just glad we didn’t get a super conservative one. I think Leo is a cute name.
It’s funny how in Italian Leone sounds so solemn and old fashioned, Pope Leo sounds funnily familiar, though I know it’s the actual Latin form of the name. I wonder if Leo will go up in popularity especially as it fits the short and sweet naming trend?
I’m not Catholic so the quote seems to fit here: “I don’t know what the Pope is….It’s nothing to me when he’s no customer of mine.”
However I like the name Leo! One of my favorite names that are adopted by Popes.
However I like the name Leo! One of my favorite names that are adopted by Popes.
My family is going nuts with the news. He’s from my mom’s hometown, he went to a church my mom used to attend before it closed, he graduated from my brother’s college, and he had a degree not unlike my brother’s. Small world much?
Leo is an okay name for a pope, though it was surprising that he picked it (I was expecting the name to be something like Paul).
Leo is an okay name for a pope, though it was surprising that he picked it (I was expecting the name to be something like Paul).
My grandmother and him are the same age, and grew up 3 miles apart!
One of my best friends works for the Archdiocese of Chicago, and while she's not met him, apparently she works with MANY who have known him.
It's a small world.
It's a small world.
Small world indeed! I was saying to my husband "Chicago must be going insane" when we read he was from there.
“Chicago must be going insane” is the understatement of the year right now lolz.
I had to smile when they were interviewing people who knew him and they referred to him as Bob. It just kind of seems endearing, but I shouldn't be surprised; I'm sure he's always going to be Father Bob or Uncle Bob or Cousin Bob to a lot of people.
On the new pope himself? Deeply and profoundly skeptical. I'm a deeply religious person, but I think being religious in 2025 requires a ruthless skepticism about the religious leaders who claim any kind of leadership role. This man is substantially better than many of the alternatives that could've been considered (the other American whose name was bandied about, Cardinal Dolan, is an enraging human being), but I have a feeling I'm going to be raging against him for the next two decades. I do find his public slaps towards J. D. Vance to be encouraging, but his role in shuffling around accused sex offenders in the Roman Catholic hierarchy is upsetting, if unsurprising. (Is there anyone at the highest levels of the Catholic Church who wasn't explicitly complicit in those scandals?)
As far as the name: he appears to have chosen Leo after Leo XIII, who had some solid perspectives that are perhaps hopeful as to where this man's priorities will lie.
And I do like the name Leo.
As far as the name: he appears to have chosen Leo after Leo XIII, who had some solid perspectives that are perhaps hopeful as to where this man's priorities will lie.
And I do like the name Leo.
It seems a “could be worse, could be better situation.” At least he’s on Francis’ page concerning social and immigration issues.
I might have officially apostasized if Peter Erdo had become pope.
I might have officially apostasized if Peter Erdo had become pope.
I follow a lot of religion-related social media accounts for two reasons: (1) my faith is important to me, and that also includes a genuine academic-ish fascination with different religious traditions; moreover, within the loose confederation that might called the "religious left," robust interfaith dialogue is exceedingly important, so it's interesting to see where communities will find common ground to fight for common causes (ex: LGBTQIA+ inclusion in religious spaces; immigration; abortion access; etc.); (2) I find some of the more extreme subsects of religious groups to be incredibly interesting even if I find their views revolting. To that last part, I follow a lot of traditionalist-minded Catholic pages, including some young arch-traditional priests. Based on their (surprisingly robust) social media activity, a lot of that group had coalesced around Cardinal Robert Sarah of Guinea. I know the broader narrative was that traditionalist groups had coalesced around Erdő, but that wasn't what I saw in my corner of the internet.
So I did some digging into Robert Sarah.
Robert Sarah's activities as cardinal include:
- Being something akin to a condom truther: it seems to have been removed from his Wikipedia page (perhaps understandably) but at one point he talked about how condoms don't actually do anything and it would make more sense to spend money treating people diagnosed with HIV than to try and prevent transmission through contraception.
- Comparing transgender people to ISIS, calling them essentially two sides of the same coin.
- Opposing immigration.
- Intense Islamophobia (Erdő looks like a happy-go-lucky fella by comparison).
- ...and his primary theological activity seems to revolve around the physical position of a priest while saying mass. (Actual theology is one area where, social positions aside, I think Francis made a demonstrably positive impact; specifically, his writings and speeches actually seemed to encompass climate activism/preservation of the world as something of a sacrament. The transition from that kind of thinking about the world and faith and such, to something that seems so trivial to me....)
So I did some digging into Robert Sarah.
Robert Sarah's activities as cardinal include:
- Being something akin to a condom truther: it seems to have been removed from his Wikipedia page (perhaps understandably) but at one point he talked about how condoms don't actually do anything and it would make more sense to spend money treating people diagnosed with HIV than to try and prevent transmission through contraception.
- Comparing transgender people to ISIS, calling them essentially two sides of the same coin.
- Opposing immigration.
- Intense Islamophobia (Erdő looks like a happy-go-lucky fella by comparison).
- ...and his primary theological activity seems to revolve around the physical position of a priest while saying mass. (Actual theology is one area where, social positions aside, I think Francis made a demonstrably positive impact; specifically, his writings and speeches actually seemed to encompass climate activism/preservation of the world as something of a sacrament. The transition from that kind of thinking about the world and faith and such, to something that seems so trivial to me....)
Do you know his stance on LGBTQ? I couldn’t really find any definitive answers anywhere.
It's on wikipedia.
Thank you!
Erdo is definitely too conservative. I’m not Catholic but some of my Catholic friends were hoping it wouldn’t be him.
I’m surprised they elected an American. I thought the Italian Parolin was the one. But Cardinal Prevost seems like a pretty good pick. I think he will continue on with the policies of Francis and not move too far in either direction.
I like the name Leo.
I’m surprised they elected an American. I thought the Italian Parolin was the one. But Cardinal Prevost seems like a pretty good pick. I think he will continue on with the policies of Francis and not move too far in either direction.
I like the name Leo.
Apparently, he has dual American-Peruvian citizenship and has Spanish, Italian, and French ancestry and is fluent in multiple languages. I wonder if his ability to communicate with just about everyone in the conclave had a role in getting picked.
Assuming the new Pope is taking his inspiration from Leo I, he plans to make an impact.
This message was edited 5/8/2025, 12:39 PM
ChatGPT is basically predictive text on steroids and entirely based on plagiarised content, as well as using enormous amounts of electricity. It also frequently provides incorrect information, so using it is a complete waste of time.
If I could scream "Amen!" over the Internet to this comment, I would.
I admire the name Leo and like that this pope is seen as more progressive leaning and not an ultra conservative which is something I was worried about. I hope all the positive things being reported about him remain true and that he does a good job similar to that of Pope Francis.
It's nice that it's the first pope ever from the U.S, but at the same time weird that it happened this year. It's been a very weird and eventful year for us Americans I must say.
It's nice that it's the first pope ever from the U.S, but at the same time weird that it happened this year. It's been a very weird and eventful year for us Americans I must say.
I think it's definitely going to get into the top ten. It might replace Liam as #1. I think Leo XIII could have influenced the popularity of Leo in the US in the late 1800s / early 1900s; it rose when he was pope.
This message was edited 5/8/2025, 7:13 PM
I also wonder the same thing. It will certainly be interesting to see. Leo is currently ranked at #18 within the U.S, so just within the top 20. It's been trending for a while now and I'm sure in other places as well. I'll be looking to see where the name ends up on the charts next year on the 2025 list. 🙂
This message was edited 5/8/2025, 11:41 AM
Leo VIII was fairly progressive, big on workers’ rights, so that’s hopeful.
What I’ve just read about the new Pope is that he progressive and shared the same views as late Pope Francis. That is very hopeful in this world that wants to extradite people for being “different” or for being a refugee. He seems to embrace the story of the Good Samaritan.
Ps. Although he is American born, he has lived most of his life in Peru and he has a Peruvian passport.
Ps. Although he is American born, he has lived most of his life in Peru and he has a Peruvian passport.
Someone I follow online said that they think he's going to aim to be a moderate "compromise" pope, the way Leo XIII tried to handle the end of the 19th century and the transition into the 20th. Embracing some progressive ideas while still reassuring people of tradition. I think that's probably pretty good...?
I don't know, Chloe! Being a progressive traditionalist can't be easy. I'd like to see his track record (in Peru?!) on, to name a few, women priests, second marriages for divorcees, gay marriages/homosexuality in general and, hardest of all, abortion. And I'd like to feel much more optimistic than I do. I'm afraid he'll end up like those sad circus lions that jump through hoops and sit on upturned barrels on command.
Honestly I think not even the most progressive candidates would have okayed women priests, second marriages and same -sex marriages and abortion. It’s kind of naive to expect that, especially as big parts of the Catholic Church, especially in Africa, are extremely conservative. At least he’s big on social issues, clearly dislikes Trump and Vance and… seems to have a nice smile?
He's against all those things. It mainly looks like they went with someone who had strong (progressive aligned) opinions on climate change, and he seems sympathetic to migrants and poverty.
Yeah, I'm not wildly optimistic either. I guess we'll have to wait and see!