Considering 2 Potential Paths for Pope Leo XIV
Will the Church's new leader follow the direction of his predecessor or St. John Paul II?
I use a very basic math for political and religious leaders: adding to or subtracting from Western civilization. Will the West continue to be powered by Judeo-Christianity and Greco-Roman art and philosophy, or will the tribal emotions of Marxism prevail?
The West’s greatest supporters in the twentieth century were Winston Churchill and St. John Paul II. Soviet Communism fell by the joint effort of Pope John Paul, Ronald Reagan, and Margaret Thatcher. Churchill’s push to get England to fight sooner than later turned the military tables on the Germans and the Japanese, especially with America’s entry into the war.
Unlike St. John Paul, Pope Francis exasperated church divisions with critical remarks on the Latin Mass and blessings for gay couples. The Latin Mass was seen as a threat to church cohesion, and opposition to the “progress” of Vatican II. The difficult path forward will be for continued with honest debate on the Latin Mass and Vatican II changes made over sixty years ago. Also, I recently learned that Pope Francis had given permission to our new pope, Pope Leo XIV, to celebrate the Latin Mass during his time as Cardinal in Rome.
The blessings of gay couples appeared murky when first announced. All individuals are imperfect, holy, and sovereign, and deserve the blessing. Yet the backtracking by Pope Francis and his supporters—attempting to distinguish their view of gay marriage and same sex couples—showed they were either never forthright on their direction or simply lacked clarity on the matter.
Pope Francis was a product of a post-World War II surge in socialism throughout Latin America. Birthed by Marxism, this pre-modern belief system delivered political instability and poverty throughout South America during the Cold War. Whether Pope Leo follows that premodern clarion call, which Victor Davis Hanson has labeled de-civilization in a recent article, “The De-Civilizing of America,” remains to be seen.
Communism indoctrinates at a very early age by usurping parental authority. One of the worst but telling comments of Pope Francis was his encouragement for young people to mess things up, to get in the faces of adults. Terrible advice, since rebellion and obnoxiousness are the hallmarks of youth. The young step into the world ready to rebel, trumpeting their half-baked ideas. I know all too well, since at 75 I still feel the sting of my leftist madness from my early twenties.
We will soon see if Pope Leo follows Francis’s need for the lite version of Mao’s rude teens of the Cultural Revolution, or whether he mentors young people in their Christian formation and love of the Creator.
In Pope Leo XIV, I’m hopeful that he adds to Western civilization. May God bless him.
See the previous reflections on the new Pope from other Catholic GOTD contributors:
