Pope Leo XIV is a surprising but likely necessary and indeed inspiring choice for pontiff.
My favorite pontiff was Pope John Paul II. He was Polish Catholic, like most of my family, looked exactly like my grandfather but most importantly was orthodox, meaning as close to Catholicism on the issues of the day. He hated communism and spoke against secular humanism after the events of 1989 made Marxism less of an issue in the public mind.
John Paul II became pope a week before I was born and until shortly after I returned from Iraq. He had always been there. I had almost always agreed with him on political issues and he got the big ones right (perhaps even the War in Iraq).
Now that Pope Leo XIV is pontiff, I compare him to John Paul II, to Benedict XVI (who was very friendly to the Tridentine Mass), and most recently, Pope Francis (who was not as friendly to the Latin Mass and other orthodox positions). Most of all, Pope Leo’s views should be compared to Scripture, and while I am not Catholic, and do not believe I am related to the now former Cardinal Robert Prevost (the last name being how my family name was spelled a couple of generations ago), God may have given him to us for some very powerful reasons.
Pope Leo XIV will be sufficiently conservative as to not change traditional Catholic teaching on major issues. He has pronounced this already regarding marriage. More so, Pope Leo’s Christian character is a gift to the world, coming from a young man known as Rob who always wanted to serve God and be a priest.
Even if conservatives in the age of MAGA get everything we want against the woke and self-defeating left, then it serves all the more biblical purpose to have a man like Pope Leo heading the world’s largest Christian denomination to serve as a voice of conscience and reason, causing us to search inward as to our motives and to remind us that we will all stand in judgment before a just God for what we have done…and what we have failed to do.
Pope Leo is much more than the first American pontiff; a title that many Americans justifiably are proud of. Yet, he transcends being an American for he is also a dual citizen (three if you count Vatican citizenship) and has spent as much time, if not more, in the Global South, than in America. Yet citizenship in Heaven is greater than even American citizenship.
Pope Leo serves as an important check on our spirit. His presence most assuredly reminds people of God and that the Lord is bigger than man. God is bigger than Rob, God is bigger than former President Biden, and God is bigger than President Trump.
There are issues Pope Leo has discussed that we may not agree with and will even vehemently disagree with. But his voice, in an age of shouting, is worth listening to; for even if his content might be wrong at times, his message is done with humility and devotion to Jesus Christ. That is a voice and example that is needed in today’s world as many (even in the conservative movement) are willing to dispense with their time-honored principles when it comes to talking points against their ideological enemies.
Pope Leo’s commitment to being pro-life in matters of birth is unwavering, as it is to biblical marriage in the church and the rejection of the gender ideologies. He calls the Russian invasion of Ukraine for what it is. I disagree with him on other issues, both spiritual and political. Caring for an environment we can conserve is one thing, yet climatism is one of many failed religions of the left. The Vatican has closed doors and, justifiably, tight security for the pope, yet pontiffs such as Francis have often seemed to call for nearly open borders.
Because of spiritual differences, I do not call the Pope the Holy Father. But I am praying for Pope Leo. There is something simple and profound about a man who kept his childlike faith, nearly crying when elected pope on the balcony facing his flock, decades after he used to play priest as a kid, and his brother would playfully tease him about it. All he ever wanted to do was serve God and he did so giving up human marriage and children to be fully devoted to his vocation. In doing so, he has gained a global family of Christians.
In this family, he serves the most famous and the least of these, and prayerfully he will not be afraid to speak conscience, whether it is popular or not, so that all may approach life not with rage but with the clarity, compassion, and love of Jesus Christ. I am praying for Pope Leo, for I know he is praying for us.
Views expressed in this article are those of the author and not any government agency.