My Hot Take on the Holy Father
Ten Things I Love About Leo
There’s a new Pope on the global stage. You can read all about his background here from the horse’s mouth (The Vatican being the “horse”). In the meantime, I’ve formed my own personal hot-take on Pope Leo XIV (the Friar-Formerly-Known-as-Robert-Prevost). The short version is that he’s a beacon of light in really dark times!
If you want to hear why, below are my highlights…
NUMBER 1: He’s got a heart for the poor
Based on his extensive missionary experience in Peru, there are widespread expectations that he will be an especially effective leader of the global church by emphasizing the importance of serving the poor and the marginalized. The Augustinian Order, of which he is a member, is also devoted to serving the poor.
NUMBER 2: His siblings love and tease him
This is not the case for many American men in current leadership positions.
NUMBER 3: He will carry on Pope Francis’s legacy
If you’ve read my Vocation Story, you’ll know that I absolutely loved the late Pope Francis. While I’ll miss him on the global stage, when he died on Easter Monday I actually felt elated that he was finally free to rest in glory! Now, while I was happy for him, I was also downright panicky for us poor bastards left here!
Francis was tending to some of the weightiest global predicaments in human history before he passed: care of creation, peace and preservation of human dignity and rights, among others. Pope Leo was made a Cardinal by Francis and worked closely with him at the Vatican during his last few years as the Holy Father. He is widely expected to carry on the legacy of Pope Francis on the most important issues.
NUMBER 4: He’s a man of peace
La pace sia con tutti voi! (Peace be with you!) were Leo's first words in public. The new pope said he wanted to share God's peace, calling it a “disarmed peace and a disarming peace" that is "humble and persevering."
Our world is a hot mess of violence and injustice—I mean everywhere! I used to think the military industrial complex was out-of-control?! Really, I can only come up with two coherent responses to the wars (and war crimes) taking place globally: WTF and God Help Us.
My dear friend Marie Dennis has been slogging through the layers of bureaucracy in Vatican for more than a decade. She has worked with Pax Christi International1 to highlight the foundations of non-violence that Jesus was teaching and demonstrate real, tangible, theologically rooted approaches that have been successfully applied in conflict zones throughout history.2 They were finally was able to catch Pope Francis’s attention in the past five years or so. Their work was fed into concepts of the latest encyclical Fratelli Tucci and they’ve established an international Catholic Institute for Nonviolence with the support of the Vatican. That is some pretty critical work that was at stake, hinging on the newly elected Pope. Phew!!
NUMBER 5: He’s Creole with New Orleans roots
This fills me with delight. Again, if you’ve read my Vocation Story I have a deep love for New Orleans and the complicated beacon of light that it represents in our country. It is one of the most complex (and fascinating!) places in the United States. I believe that anyone with parents from New Orleans is automatically a more interesting person.
NUMBER 6: He’s got good theology
What does that mean? How does Leos’ understanding and image of God shape his perspectives on inclusion, justice, and humanity. Some people talk about Catholic theology like it’s politics (RIGHT vs. LEFT, progressivism vs. traditionalism) but it goes much deeper than that. It’s more than politics—although they are admittedly tangled-up in the U.S.—and it drives how the Church carries out Her mission. One early indicator was back when Pope Leo was still Bishop Bob and he criticized Vice President JD Vance’s views on Christian doctrine when he said that Love = Family First (spoiler alert, that’s wrong).
Another indicator is that he studied at Catholic Theological Union, where my Sr. Laurie teaches Scripture Studies. While I know I’m biased, CTU is also a top-notch academic institution for seminary/theology studies.3 If you listen to Pope Leo’s preaching, that will offer the clearest indicators about how he believes God accompanies humanity in these times.
NUMBER 7: He’s from a religious order
There is nothing like living in community to (ahem) smooth out one’s edges, increase one’s patience, improve one’s communication and fine-tune one’s humility. Generally speaking4, priests from religious orders are more well-rounded people as they get older. Diocesan priests that serve a parish and live alone often narrow—rather than widen—their perspectives as they age. In my mind, it’s the difference between growing wiser instead of just growing older.
NUMBER 8: He chose Leo as his pope name
The name that new popes choose is a big deal. Leo is the namesake of Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903), who wrote the outline for modern Catholic social justice teaching. That’s a clear indicator that he deeply believes in Catholic Social Teaching!5
Not familiar? It’s good stuff. Here’s a 2 minute video breaking it down.
NUMBER 9: He’s a poetic counterbalance to Trump
This may seem odd, but there’s a je ne sais pas about our new Pope being an American within the current political context. In fact, there hasn’t been an American pope before because the U.S. loomed so large on the global political stage that the papacy offered a counterbalance of power (at least in theory). Back in the day, Roman emperors and popes were often in cahoots and, shocker, it didn’t go well. Since then there’s been a norm in the Church of separation among global power brokers. (NOTE: I like to interpret this as an indicator that America’s global influence has been bumped down a notch with Trump’s presidency.) Aside from that, the contrast writes itself:
Pope Leo has African roots (and Spanish-Italian-French) and was born in the hard knocks southside of Chicago (SHOUT OUT!). Trump was born into the glamourous lifestyle of NYC and is of German and Scottish descent.
Pope Leo was raised by a librarian and a school superintendent. Trump was “raised” by a rich, alcoholic real estate developer and a socialite.
Pope Leo is known to be a man of humility. Here’s Trump…
This image was shared by the official White House account on social media.
Pope Leo is celibate. Trump is a convicted rapist.
At 78, Trump is the oldest inaugurated U.S. President in history. At 69, Leo is considerably younger than predicted for a new pope—he may live for decades.
They both prioritize the immigrant, but in opposite ways.
Pope Leo can read seven languages and is fluent in five of them. Trump speaks social media English in short, repetitive soundbites.
It feels so good to have counter example of what an American leader on the global stage can look like. Especially one who is fundamentally opposed to the idea that “America is #1”. I also particularly appreciate an American who is able to articulate the spiritual nature of what is happening with humankind right now. Maybe you’ve noticed that good, reasonable Americans aren’t generally comfortable at calling out evil forces and God’s work to overcome them. It’s just awkward for our intellectual pride and rationalism—greed, racism, injustice within the political context is much more comfortable. 6
NUMBER 10: He’s a Cubs White Sox fan
I’m not a baseball fan—or football for that matter—but I have some sisters who just died and went to heaven when they heard a rumor about him being a Cubs fan. Perhaps it is yet another indicator of Leo’s solidarity with the underdog.
Thanks to the almost immediate blowback from my readers, I quickly learned that was FAKE NEWS. He is, in fact, a White Sox fan. The good news is that there is still a whole other cohort of my sisters who are delighted about his stance on Chicago baseball. The bad news is that I still have no idea who the guy in the pope garb below is…
In all seriousness, please pray with me for the well-being of our new Pope Leo XIV. He will need the support, well-wishes, and prayers from across the globe. You should join in celebration with all people of good-will whether you are a person of faith or not.
An 80 year old institution that grew out of the end of World War II
Think of the amazing successes that grew out of Apartheid South Africa, Northern Ireland, Central America, Syria, Communist Russia…and there are many others!!
Aside from his stellar theological education, he also majored in mathematics as an undergrad, just like me!
Admittedly this is a HUGE stereotype, but as is often the case, there is some basis to it.
In the United States, CST has been branded by the political right as “Socialism”.
Spoiler Alert: There is global spiritual warfare happening.
Love this so much, Q!! But I think he may be a White Sox fan? Good South Side boy…🤣
Super, Quincy! Thanks!