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Make no mistake: a Pope from Chicago terrifies me. But I have cause for some hope, which I will share. Pope Francis was, in the surprisingly well-chosen words of the New York Times, "ostentatiously humble." Fully recognizing the irony of a Catholic critiquing the Pope for lacking humility, I also mean to acknowledge that from that humility it took me a long time to give up on Pope Francis. For the longest while, I tried to learn what I could from him, becoming frustrated only after he made it stunningly care that his flock was not the billion and a...

So the world’s got a new pope. Because Catholicism is the largest Christian denomination in the United States – and perhaps the world – and because Catholics live in almost every nation, and certainly on every continent, the world can claim Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, as “the world’s pope,” as I’ve already heard on the news. From what I can tell, so far, he’s a lot like the old pope, Pope Francis. This is frightening. The new pope is billed in the press as a U.S. American, but he’s legally a citizen of Peru, where he spent...

Why pick the first American Pope now? Robert Prevost was made Pope Leo XIV as a counterweight to President Trump. There’s been little ambiguity about the new pope’s politics and less about the overall agenda. Pope Francis had all but rigged the process to assure another radical successor.

Prevost is a vocal critic of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration and has consistently used his X account to promote material hostile to Trump’s immigration policies. In one instance from February 3, Prevost reposted an article by NCROnline titled “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.” The article criticizes the U.S. vice president for correctly arguing that we owe more immediate responsibility to our own family members and country than to those overseas – a position taught by St. Thomas Aquinas and reiterated in the “social encyclicals” of the nineteenth- and twentieth-century popes....

Robert Francis Prevost, now Leo XIV, was named the first American pope of the Catholic Church on Thursday — and his lineage traces back to New Orleans, according to Jari Honora, a local genealogist and historian. When Honora heard the last name "Prevost," he started digging, on the odd chance Leo XIV's paternal line might be French Canadian or Acadian with Louisiana ties. What he found, to his surprise, was that Prevost's mother, Mildred Martinez, was the one with familial cords to the city. In less than an hour, Honora — who works as a historian for The Historic New...

Before Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost became pope, a social media account under his name shared criticisms of the Trump administration’s positions on immigration.Months before Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost became the first American pope, a social media account under his name expressed criticism of Vice President JD Vance, sharing an article that called the vice president’s interpretation of Christian doctrine “wrong.” The piece, published in The National Catholic Reporter, was a rebuttal to Mr. Vance’s interpretation of a Catholic teaching that he had used to defend the Trump administration’s deportation policies. The post on X, which the account shared in February,...

Former President Obama congratulated Pope Leo XIV, a Chicago native, on his selection as the next pontiff for the Roman Catholic Church. “Michelle and I send our congratulations to a fellow Chicagoan, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV,’ Obama wrote in a Thursday post on X. “This is a historic day for the United States, and we will pray for him as he begins the sacred work of leading the Catholic Church and setting an example for so many, regardless of faith,” he added. Leo, formerly known as Cardinal Robert Prevost, holds dual citizenship in the U.S. and Peru. He is...

Could Cardinal Prevost be the first American pope?Seemingly out of nowhere, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost is being discussed as a serious candidate in the upcoming conclave.Why this piece is important: Prevost is being seriously considered as a papal candidate—but questions surround his silence and his actions as Prefect for the Dicastery of Bishops. The big picture: Prevost has cooperated in advancing Francis’ agenda, facilitated the appointment of heterodox bishops throughout the world, and tacitly denied the traditional teaching on the episcopate. Flashpoint: He oversaw the deposition of the most conservative U.S. bishop (Strickland) and the appointment of a notorious liberal...

A new pope has been named, and for Villanova University and Philadelphia, the pope might be a familiar face and name. Pope Leo XIV, formerly known as Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, is a class of 1977 Villanova University graduate, earning his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. The new pope, a 69-year-old Augustinian friar, was one of the 21 new cardinals selected by Pope Francis. According to Villanova University, Pope Leo XIV was born in Chicago, Illinois, and joined the Order of St. Augustine in 1977. Following his undergraduate studies at Villanova, Pope Leo XIV earned a Master of Divinity degree...

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