Posted on 05/09/2025 8:27:31 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
For Catholics, the new pope’s disposition toward the Latin Mass will tell us far more about his pontificate than his views on immigration.
It didn’t take long after Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, emerged onto the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica on Thursday as the new leader of the Catholic Church for social media commentators on the right to begin decrying him as “Francis 2.0.”
This snap judgment was based largely on his social media history of reposting criticisms of President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance on immigration policy, as well as a few reposts of left-wing claptrap on climate change and race relations.
So does this mean the 69-year-old Chicago-born Pope Leo is going to be the next Pope Francis? The short answer is: probably not.
Setting aside the obvious fact that Pope Leo is far more conservative on issues like abortion and gay marriage than most MAGA influencers, I hazard this guess not because I’ve discovered a trove of old X posts where he praises Trump, owns the libs, and defends the Second Amendment. I say it because in his very first decisions as Supreme Pontiff, Pope Leo appears to be far more traditional and liturgically orthodox than his predecessor. In particular, he seems to have a special devotion to the Traditional Latin Mass.
This matters a great deal more than whether he has policy disagreements with Trump over things like immigration or gun control, and is a far better predictor of what kind of papacy he will have.
Pope Francis was infamously hostile toward the Latin Mass despite its growing popularity around world, especially among young people, converts, and Catholics committed to conforming their lives to the orthodox Catholic faith. His motu proprio Traditionis Custodes restricted the celebration of the...
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One thing that Francis had was the creepy factor, he seemed oily, creepy, shadowy, sinister.
Francis was to the left of Stalin.
Hopeful news
Good article.
It’s infuriating to see the sheer amount of damage Francis did to Christendom.
💯.
Very.
Well, now he’s satan’s problem.
If you follow it, Pope Francis actually could have cared less about the Latin Mass. He didn't do anything to stifle it for the majority of his papacy.
But certain cardinals pressured him to release Traditionis Custodes, which, yes, he did, so he deserves the blame for allowing it, but it wasn't his baby.
He was actually surprised and stung by the backlash. He was supposed to release a further crackdown, but I guess he didn't. I think the backlash caused him to start disliking traditionalists and calling them "too rigid." But, remember, that motu proprio came out over eight years after he was pope.
I never hope that things went that far.
My dad was a dismissive person. If he had to choose between A and B he could never say “A has it’s good points but B is better.” He’d always have to start by saying highly dismissive things about A. I recognized this trait in Francis within days of his election. I don’t think it has any theological implications, but it is a poor personality trait.
I don't know what happened when he was pope, but because the Jesuits basically kicked him out for being "too conservative."
Why would Pope Francis grant Cardinal Prevost and indult. And why would he give him a prime position, if he knew this?
Will be Francis lite, though?
Cardinal Prevost, privately celebrated the Latin Mass for years, including at the Vatican.
Time will tell.
Read your post and thought it said “left of Satan” at first
Stalin was Satan.
Despite some negative articles suggesting that the new pope opposes Trump and J D Vance, the most important data point is that he is a Republican who voted in the 2024 election. A Republican who voted in 2024 is 90%+ likely to have voted Trump. So I think he is putting on a moderate front to keep the liberals at bay.
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