Pope Leo XIV
Pope Leo XIV (born Robert Francis Prevost, September 14, 1955) is the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State. He is the first pope to have been born in the United States, the first from North America, the first to hold either U.S. or Peruvian citizenships (or both), the first born after World War II, the first from the Order of Saint Augustine, and the second (after his predecessor Pope Francis) from the Americas. Prevost was born in Chicago and raised in the nearby suburb of Dolton, Illinois. He became a friar in the Order of Saint Augustine in 1977 and was ordained as a priest in 1982. He earned a Doctor of Canon Law (JCD) degree in 1987 from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome. His service includes extensive missionary work in Peru in the 1980s and 1990s—he worked there as a parish pastor, diocesan official, seminary teacher, and administrator. Elected prior general of the Order of Saint Augustine, he was based in Rome from 2001 to 2013, and traveled extensively as part of this work, including to the order's many provinces and missions around the world. He then returned to Peru as Bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023. In 2023, Pope Francis appointed him prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops in Rome, and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. Upon his return to Rome in 2023, Prevost was made a cardinal by Pope Francis. As Cardinal Prevost, he emphasized synodality, missionary dialogue, and engagement with social and technological challenges. He has also addressed issues such as climate change, global migration, church governance, and human rights, and expressed alignment with the reforms of the Second Vatican Council and the direction set for the Church by Francis. Prevost's election in the 2025 conclave was unexpected by observers; he was a dark horse candidate, with Vatican insiders believing the prospect of a pope from the United States to be unrealistic given its status as a superpower. In honor of Pope Leo XIII, who developed modern Catholic social teaching amid the tumult of the Second Industrial Revolution, Prevost chose the papal name Leo XIV — both to echo Leo XIII's concern for workers and fairness, and as a response to the challenges of a new industrial revolution and artificial intelligence.
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Opinion: Donald Trump, Roman Catholics and white evangelicals I offer these anecdotes not as a gratuitous jaunt down memory lane but to provide perspective on the war of words between Donald Trump and Leo XIV. After the pontiff questioned the morality of the war in Iran, Trump responded that Leo was “weak on crime,” adding, “I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do, setting Record Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Greatest Stock Market in History.” J.D. Vance, a recent convert to Catholicism, chimed in by admonishing the pope “to be careful when he talks about matters of theology.” Hmm. If the pope can’t talk theology, who can? (Concord Monitor 5.2.26)READMORE>>>>> Trump DOJ Report on “Anti-Christian Bias” Is Abominably Hypocritical Interfaith Alliance, a leading national advocate for religious freedom and civil rights, today denounced a new report by the Trump Department of Justice’s “anti-Christian bias task force,” which absurdly accused the Biden Administration of “radical efforts to punish Christians.” Interfaith Alliance has consistently opposed the work of this “task force,” making clear that it is part of a “Christian nationalist crusade to undermine Americans’ religious freedom and First Amendment rights.” In May 2025, Interfaith Alliance organized a letter from over two dozen Christian leaders and scholars rejecting the idea that there is widespread persecution of Christians in the United States. Together with Democracy Forward, Interfaith Alliance submitted a series of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests related to its work. “Trump’s radical DOJ’s new report is abominably hypocritical. To find anti-Christian bias, the Trump administration should look in the mirror at its own targeting of Christian communities and leaders who dare to oppose its extreme agenda. From attacking Pope Leo to Bishop Budde to so many others, this president has repeatedly threatened and clashed with many of the most prominent Christian denominations in our country. (Interfaith Alliance 5.1.26)READMORE>>>>> “Not Overtly Confessional” — Pope Leo XIV’s Indictment of Christian Political Performance On Saturday, the U.S-born pontiff warned Europe’s centre-right party against using Christianity as a performative act — and against the “digital triumph” that has replaced authentic governance.Pope Leo XIV welcomed parliamentarians from the European People’s Party to the Clementine Hall on Saturday morning and laid out a vision of Christian political engagement aimed squarely at the temptations of the moment. The EPP is the center-right group that traces its lineage to Konrad Adenauer, Alcide De Gasperi, and Robert Schuman — the Christian-democratic architects of the postwar European project. Pope Leo blessed that inheritance, then warned what could become of it. (Letters From Leo 4.25.26)READMORE>>>>> Vance tells Pope Leo to ‘be careful,’ Homan says ‘leave politics alone’ Senior Trump administration officials escalated criticism of the Vatican on Tuesday, with Vice President Vance warning Pope Leo XIV to “be careful” when speaking about theology and White House border czar Tom Homan telling him to “leave politics alone.” Vance, a Catholic, issued the warning during a Turning Point USA event in Athens, Ga., while addressing the pope’s opposition to the conflict with Iran and his recent comment that Jesus’s followers are “never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.” (The Hill 4.15.26)READMORE>>>>>> If Trump’s AI Jesus depiction isn’t a red line for his Christian supporters, is anything? Before he depicted himself as Jesus Christ healing the sick, Donald Trump assailed Pope Leo XIV as “weak” and told him to “get his act together.” Months earlier, the White House posted an AI-generated image of Trump as the head of the Catholic church before the president declared, “I’d like to be pope.” Trump’s latest posts were immediately met with a wave of criticism from Christian allies who have thus far aligned with the president’s volatile agenda. The comments were swift and explicit: “grotesquely wrong,” “dangerous,” “rank blasphemy.” But the already-fragile right-wing Christian alliance among Catholics and evangelicals has been gradually fracturing over Trump’s increasing hostility towards Catholic leadership and the administration’s characterization of war with Iran as divinely ordained. (The Independent; 4.12.26)READMORE>>>>>> ‘Theology serves to proclaim the Gospel,’ Pope tells theologians Pope Leo XIV received the members of two Italian theological faculties on March 2 and emphasized that “theology serves to proclaim the Gospel, hence it is an integral and fundamental part of the Church’s mission.” “Theological formation is not destined for a few specialists, but is a call addressed to everyone, so that every person may explore the mystery of faith and receive useful tools to carry out with passion the persevering commitment to a social and cultural meditation on the Gospel,” Pope Leo said to members of the Theological Faculty of Puglia and of the Theological Institute of Calabria. The Pontiff also called on the theologians to “do theology together,” by “leaving our safe harbor, going beyond our territorial and ecclesial boundaries, in encounter, in mutual listening and dialogue, in the communion between Churches that brings together resources, skills and charisms.” (Catholic Culture; 3.8.26)READMORE>>>>>> Senators craft legislation to prioritize protecting Christians globally Pope Leo XIV, who was born in the U.S. and leads the Catholic Church, said last week that threats to religious freedom are on the rise across the world, including discrimination against Christians. But he advocated for peace through diplomacy and dialogue, rather than through threats of force. (Hastings Tribune; 1.16.26) READMORE>>>>> Christians must resist allure of power, serve humanity The powerful and violent cannot control, suppress or commodify God’s grace, friendship and will to usher in a new dawn, Pope Leo XIV said. “Around us, a distorted economy tries to profit from everything. We see how the marketplace can turn human yearnings of seeking, traveling and beginning again into a mere business,” he said, celebrating Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Jan. 6, the feast of the Epiphany, and officially closing the celebration of the Holy Year dedicated to hope. “Let us ask ourselves: Has the Jubilee taught us to flee from this type of efficiency that reduces everything to a product and human beings to consumers?” he asked. “After this year, will we be better able to recognize a pilgrim in the visitor, a seeker in the stranger, a neighbor in the foreigner and fellow travelers in those who are different?” (St Louis Review; 1.9.26) READMORE>>>>> How Christian Leaders Are Challenging the AI Boom The wariness of some Christians towards AI starts at the very top of the Catholic Church. In May, Pope Leo XIV chose his name as a reference to a previous technological revolution that upended society. In the months since, he has used his platform to talk about AI’s potential to help spread the Gospel, but also to manipulate children and serve “antihuman ideologies.” The following month, a group of influential bishops wrote a letter to the U.S. Congress with policy recommendations on AI. Many other Christian leaders have likewise followed his lead. “Leo XIV made it quite clear that he thinks this is something that the church should be speaking to: not just in terms of defining what it is, but also how it should be used,” says Michael Toscano, a Catholic and the director of the Family First Technology Initiative for the Institute for Family Studies.(Time; 12.23.25)READMORE>>>>>> |
July 30, 2025: Vatican News reported: In the wake of the deadly attack on a church in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pope Leo XIV launches an impassioned appeal for all efforts to be made to prevent such tragedies, and reassures all Christians suffering violence and persecution that he is praying for them. "I renew my deep sorrow for the brutal terrorist attack that took place during the night of July 26 to 27 in Komanda, in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where more than forty Christians were killed in church during a prayer vigil and in their own homes." Pope Leo XIV made the remarks during his Wednesday General Audience in St. Peter's Square, the Pope's first General Audience since his summer break. In his appeal, he decried the deadly attack on the Parish of Blessed Anuarite in Komanda, in the country's Ituri province.
October 6, 2025: The Economist reported: On October 25th Raymond Burke, an American cardinal, celebrated an ornate Latin-rite mass at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, thick with incense and nostalgia. A year ago the spectacle would have been unthinkable: the late Pope Francis, who died in April, tightly restricted mass in Latin. Cardinal Burke, who headed a traditionalist revolt against Francis’s liberal reforms, was stripped of any significant position.
October 26, 2025: USA Today reported: In early October, Pope Leo directly questioned if Trump's immigration enforcement actions were in line with the Catholic Church's pro-life teachings. "Someone who says I am against abortion but I am in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States, I don't know if that's pro-life," he told reporters.
November 11, 2025: Daily Maverick reported: The Catholic Church in the United States today is facing a crucial test. How will the church lead under what the New York Times columnist Ross Douthat calls an “imperial presidency,” marked by daily attacks on human dignity, religious liberty and the republican constitutional order? Will Catholic leadership accommodate and adapt itself to authoritarian power? Or will it offer leadership to give hope, oppose authoritarian abuses and defend human freedom? One of the first U.S. bishops appointed by Pope Leo XIV highlights the stakes and possibilities for the church’s response to these challenges. Michael Pham came to the United States as a 13-year-old refugee from Vietnam. Bishop Pham has led interfaith clergy delegations to bear witness and minister at immigration hearings in San Diego. Their presence has caused masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to scatter. Courageous Catholic actions, including pointed denunciations of ICE activities by many bishops and lawsuits challenging federal abuses of power, have intensified over the past several months. Driven less by ideological or policy commitments, and more by a deep love for neighbor, these actions have brought priests, nuns and laity into the streets, courtrooms and picket lines. If history is a guide, this type of faithful action will be necessary to fight encroaching authoritarianism. Broad-based movements, employing a wide range of geographically dispersed nonviolent tactics like protests, boycotts and strikes, have historically been the strongest bulwark against authoritarianism. When large numbers of people from diverse sectors of society come together across divisions, engage in organized defiance and withdraw support from authoritarian regimes—when workers withhold their labor, businesses apply financial pressure, police and military refuse orders to repress protestors, and priests, sisters and lay leaders are in the forefront—they strip autocrats of their power.
December 9, 2025: Politico reported: President Donald Trump told POLITICO he would be open to meeting with the pope, despite the faith leader’s mounting pushback against his aggressive migration policies. Pope Leo XIV — a Chicago native who was inaugurated in May as the first pontiff from North America — has condemned the Trump administration’s treatment of migrants, calling it “inhuman” and not “pro-life.” Trump said he had been unaware of the criticism, when asked about the pope’s remarks. “I haven’t seen that. I mean … I mean, he … maybe he has. I mean, he also didn’t like the wall. You know, they didn’t like the wall,” Trump said in an interview with POLITICO’s Dasha Burns for a special episode of The Conversation, which aired Tuesday. “The wall turned out to be great. |
November 16, 2025: Raw Story reported: Pope Leo XIV doesn't want to be the anti-Donald Trump but he is, according to a conservative Sunday. New York Times columnist David French, a former writer for the conservative National Review, wrote an article on Sunday called, "Pope Leo Doesn’t Want to Be the Anti-Trump. But He Is," in which he argues that "the path past Trumpism is beginning to emerge." Clarifying that statement, the columnist argued, "I did not and do not mean that the pope will somehow enable the defeat of any particular politician or program at the ballot box."
November 23, 2025: The Guardian reported: Step forward Leo XIV, the “American pope”, backed by the US conference of Catholic bishops and the clergy and grassroots activists of the Catholic church – unexpected, newly emerging standard-bearers for country-wide resistance to the Trumpist scourge. The bishops threw down the gauntlet in a “special message” this month. Inequality, immigration and civil rights are the battlegrounds on which the church, and some other Christian denominations, have begun to fight.“We oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people. We pray for an end to dehumanising rhetoric and violence,” the statement said. Citing the brutal tactics of immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) agents, the bishops deplored the “climate of fear” created by Trump’s policies, the profiling of vulnerable citizens, shocking conditions in detention centres and lack of access to pastoral care.
November 24, 2025: Faith On View reported: The rapid growth of artificial intelligence in education and online platforms demands urgent action to protect young people, according to Pope Leo XIV. Speaking at a Vatican-hosted conference on November 13, the pope emphasized the need for stronger AI safeguards for children, including updated laws, parental engagement, and ethical development of technology. Addressing experts in AI and child protection, Pope Leo warned that children and adolescents are “particularly vulnerable” to manipulation through AI-driven algorithms. These systems can significantly influence young users’ choices and preferences. He urged adults to stay informed, as awareness is essential to help guide youth in navigating digital environments.
October 9, 2024: America: The Jesuit View reported: “I often wonder, even though the teaching of Sacred Scripture is so clear about the poor, why many people continue to think that they can safely disregard the poor,” Pope Leo XIV states in his first magisterial document, known by its Latin title, “Dilexi Te” (“I have loved you”), released today by the Vatican. The document confirms his continuity with his Argentine predecessor, Pope Francis, on this fundamentally important subject. “For Christians, the problem of the poor leads to the very heart of our faith,” Pope Leo says, because “the poor are not a sociological category, but the very ‘flesh’ of Christ.” He adds, “No Christian can regard the poor simply as a societal problem; they are part of our ‘family.’ They are ‘one of us.’” He describes “love for the poor—whatever the form their poverty may take” as “the evangelical hallmark of a Church faithful to the heart of God. Indeed, one of the priorities of every movement of renewal within the Church has always been a preferential concern for the poor.”