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Woke pope versus Maga: Leo’s culture war clashes have only just begun
The Observer ^ | Wednesday 24 December 2025 | Hannah Roberts

Posted on 04/13/2026 4:49:08 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican

Hours after Leo XIV became pope in May, Trump confidant and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer posted a brief message on social media. It said: “WOKE MARXIST POPE.”

She was not the only member of the American right to immediately cast Leo as a culture war villain. Steve Bannon, a Catholic and former altar boy, called him the “worst pick for Maga Catholics” and described his election as a victory for “the globalists that run the Curia”.

You might expect Donald Trump’s Maga base to embrace the first American pope. His administration is stacked with officials who speak proudly of their faith, including vice-president JD Vance. But the criticism of Leo only intensified as he took up the mantle of his predecessor, Pope Francis, on the climate crisis, inequality and migration.

(Excerpt) Read more at observer.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Heated Discussion
KEYWORDS: antipope; chicaco; frank2; illinois; maga; popebob; romancatholic; splintersectinrome; whatsleosfrnick; whatwouldpopebobdo; wwpbd
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To: CondoleezzaProtege
I see your omission, this isn't a new sneak attack war. Iran declared war on us and the rest of the Great Satans 47 years ago. They've killed and sponsored killing and terrorism of said Great Satans for all those years since then. The United States had finally decided to end the conflict and neutralize the threat after decades of posturing.

As to the evangelical opportunity in Iran, you are not incorrect about the opportunity beginning to present itself, but you are mistaken about what it will need for a chance to spread. It will need the end of the Islamic regime. God is fighting for his people there, through the present might and influence of the United States. God uses all things to fulfill his plan...

...for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

41 posted on 04/13/2026 5:33:44 PM PDT by Frank Drebin (And don't ever let me catch you guys in America!)
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To: MinorityRepublican

The current Pope is a Chicago hippie.


42 posted on 04/13/2026 5:37:50 PM PDT by servo1969
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To: butterdezillion

the President swore on oath to defend the Constitution. Not to Free Iran…
So the argument is that going now addresses our imminent and immediate national interest. That’s fine but that’s not the Gospel. It’s a political decision.

The Pope wanted to correct the bringing Christianity into it foremost. But in general he is speaking on behalf of civilians in multiple countries who end up as inevitable collateral.


43 posted on 04/13/2026 5:40:34 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

Try to postulate that the Battles of Tours, Malta, Lepanto and Vienna were geo-political affairs devoid of religous and cultural significance. Tell that to any Catholic scholar or any credible historian. You would probably not exist if these bloody, horrible battles were lost. BTW the Pope when he speaks of political matters can be criticized even by the Faithful and should explain himself fully.


44 posted on 04/13/2026 5:41:23 PM PDT by allendale
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To: MinorityRepublican

There is no “climate crisis.”

Life was never “equal.”

Migration = illegal alien invasion.


45 posted on 04/13/2026 5:42:53 PM PDT by july4thfreedomfoundation (Charlie Kirk's assassination / murder was our Fort Sumter moment. But only one side is fighting.)
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To: Frank Drebin

And God can work through this pope - regardless of how flawed he is - for His good purpose too.


46 posted on 04/13/2026 5:45:43 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

In October, he blessed a slab of ice from Greenland that signified melting glaciers, and criticised climate denial as a failure of consciousness. This was read as an indirect rebuke of Trump, who has claimed climate change is a “con”.

.....

That’s your leader blessing ice
/s

Enjoy the ride!


47 posted on 04/13/2026 5:45:51 PM PDT by delchiante
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

None of that is contradicted by Hegseth, Trump, or me. I grieve that the terrorists Jesus died for never came to saving faith.

Solomon was a man of peace - very focused on achieving worldly wealth, and he accommodated and was led astray by his wives who sacrificed to Baal & Asherah.

As to this war, even after all the bombings there are still people saying this was a fool’s errand - that Iran is untouchable, having too many missiles to ever be defeated. They were ramping up production greatly and if we had not struck when we did they WOULD HAVE been untouchable, able to develop nukes to their hearts’ content. They would have given nukes to Hezbollah, Hamas, & the Houthis. And they would use them to create Armageddon, to force the 12th Imam to return.

Islam follows the doctrine of abrogation, which means that whatever was spoken last is binding over anything that came before. Mohammad started out peaceful, under the influence of his favorite wife who was part of a semi-Christian sect. That was when he said some decent things. But later on, when the religion was not winning converts, Omar convinced him to say that they need to “convert” everybody at the tip of the sword. That’s when he said stuff like requiring Muslims to kill or enslave all the non-Muslims, set up a worldwide caliphate under sharia, etc. Sharia will always trump any civil government. A Muslim can’t in good conscience swear to protect & defend the US Constitution because the Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and sharia forbids it. However they can LIE when they make an oath they don’t mean; in fact they are COMMANDED to do so because taqiyya (lying for the sake of Islam) is part of the conquest methods.

All of this is why these people can’t even live in peace with each other, much less with any freedom-loving people. It’s why the regime killed over 40,000 of its own people simply for peacefully protesting.

This isn’t a religious war. We just want to be able to live in peace. But the religion of the Islamic regime and its supporters is incompatible with freedom of religion, of justice, and of peace. They want a nuke so they can end the world and everybody in it, no matter how innocent. And they were building a fortress of missile/drone capabilities so that they could do whatever they wanted in pursuit of those nukes, knowing that nobody had enough ammo to ever finish them off.

It still remains to be seen whether that is the case even now. But in another year (or when nukes were “imminent”, as leftists use as a tipping point for justification) it would absolutely be too late.

If somebody had protected us on 9-10-2001 the country would be b!tching about how stupid it was to think there was any threat. We only prove there was a threat when we let it destroy us first.

What does the Pope think he knows about all that? What access does he have, to the whole body of evidence that Trump has? He has wandered WAY outside of his lane, and Trump is totally justified to tell him to go back to what he’s SUPPOSED to be doing.


48 posted on 04/13/2026 5:49:50 PM PDT by butterdezillion
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To: CondoleezzaProtege
Being used by God doesn't mean one is good or an ally of God...

"What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction"

"Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits."

49 posted on 04/13/2026 5:51:52 PM PDT by Frank Drebin (And don't ever let me catch you guys in America!)
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To: allendale

No pope, no leader, even great ones - should be able to make war and decide the fate of millions unabated and unchallenged. Checks & Balances are a gift from Heaven. The US is blessed because despite its empire, it has practiced self-restraint relative to others...

The pope’s power is checked by centuries of history and Reformation —- and today the President of US’s power was checked by the pope and people are annoyed … but as Trump’s own AI meme reminded us: Trump is not God. Checks on power are healthy.


50 posted on 04/13/2026 5:52:47 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
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To: delchiante

This is the “endless war” that Trump said he would try to end, and he’s making good on that promise.

There can be no peace as long as Iran is giving terrorists military arms to be used on innocent civilians - always in pursuit of killing every Jew and every non-Muslim. When people say “Free Palestine”, are they willing to do what it takes to free them? Cuz they can never be free to have peace as long as these thugs are always there to sabotage any peace that doesn’t end up with all non-Muslims dead or enslaved.

Trump’s hallmark is getting to the crux of things. We’ve been putting bandaids on this deadly cancer for far too long. Time to do surgery and bring healing. Trump is giving them all fair warning and a chance to turn around. We’ll see what happens. But this was always going to be the cost of ultimately having peace.


51 posted on 04/13/2026 5:54:32 PM PDT by butterdezillion
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To: Frank Drebin

He can use bad people for good purposes. The pope has inspired a lot of Americans to revisit faith, understand church history, and step into the Gospel for themselves. Even Trump has helped with that — despite not being a devout believer himself.


52 posted on 04/13/2026 5:56:04 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

And this alters my statement about him not being an ally of God how?


53 posted on 04/13/2026 5:58:47 PM PDT by Frank Drebin (And don't ever let me catch you guys in America!)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

This isn’t about advancing Christ’s kingdom. It’s about carrying out the civic responsibility that a President and a military has: to protect its people.

People can always claim that lines are blurred. I understood Hegseth to be asking for prayers of safety and success in that civic responsibility. Why do you understand it to be saying we’re advancing Christ’s kingdom by the sword? I posted a Grok analysis of what Hegseth actually said and how 2 different political sides see totally different things there. What do you use as the justification for claiming that his words - which clearly don’t say this is a quest to spread Christianity by the sword - actually say that?


54 posted on 04/13/2026 5:59:04 PM PDT by butterdezillion
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

and today the President of US’s power was checked by the pope and people are annoyed
......

Boy are you delusional.

Seditious Conspirator Barrio Obama’s David Axelrod visits the Pope and the Pope gets Democrat Deep State Swamp religion about President Trump.

And you actually think the Pope is looking strong?

Yikes


55 posted on 04/13/2026 6:02:52 PM PDT by delchiante
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

Why does the Pope not recognize that “that’s fine” because Trump’s job is not to be the world’s pastor but to faithfully carry out his duties - one of which is Commander in Chief of the military that is to protect our country and her people?

Why did the Pope assume that Hegseth wasn’t personally praying for safety to the God he knows to be real? Why did he assume that this was a religious war, and not just a civic duty being carried out by people who happen to be Christian?

Why does he not recognize that the people of Iran are ALREADY collateral? 40,000 of them killed in a couple weeks’ time simply for peacefully protesting? The people of Iran WANT this regime taken out, even if it means that some innocents will die. They celebrated in the streets their people shot down for the sake of freedom - rejoiced that they bravely held to their beliefs and hopes right to the end. The Persians are an amazing people.

How many will die at the hands of the IRGC if we abandon them? Has the Pope thought about that? Or is he just shooting off whatever seems “nice”, regardless of the real consequences?

For all his faults, Trump takes human life seriously. Why doesn’t the Pope?


56 posted on 04/13/2026 6:05:58 PM PDT by butterdezillion
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To: allendale

He doesn’t seem too interested in explaining himself or his rationale. He’s been asked honest questions and he just ignores them.

Not very pastoral.


57 posted on 04/13/2026 6:07:02 PM PDT by butterdezillion
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To: delchiante

Many key and swing voters who voted for Trump voted with “no new wars” in mind. Especially in the Middle East. So the Pope looks strong to them right now. Yes.


58 posted on 04/13/2026 6:07:05 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
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To: delchiante

Many key and swing voters who voted for Trump voted with “no new wars” in mind. Especially in the Middle East. So the Pope looks strong to them right now. Yes.


59 posted on 04/13/2026 6:07:13 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

Those voters should have voted for Kamala.

Ending the endless was part of Trump’s platform

This isn’t a new war.
It’s 47 years old

And we’re just really starting to fight it on our America First terms instead of Swamp and Deep State First and America last terms that have been the Bush-Clinton-Bush-Obama era...


60 posted on 04/13/2026 6:09:14 PM PDT by delchiante
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