Pope Leo is preparing to be officially inaugurated as the first American pope, making history in the process.
Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, hailing from Chicago, assumed his new role on May 8 and chose the name Pope Leo XIV. Ten days later, he is set to be inaugurated as the 267th pope.
Similar to his predecessor, Pope Francis, who died at 88 last month, Pope Leo has not avoided engaging in political matters.
During his initial Sunday noon blessing on May 11 from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, he addressed the crowd with a strong message: “Never again war.”
He advocated for a fair and enduring peace in Ukraine, called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of hostages, and the provision of humanitarian aid. He also praised the ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan.
On the domestic front, the 69-year-old has previously expressed his views on President Donald Trump’s policies, both during Trump’s first term and now in his second.
In 2018, Pope Leo retweeted a series of posts by Cardinal Blase Cupich, the longtime Archbishop of Chicago, which critiqued the Trump administration’s practices.
The initial post in the thread stated, “There is nothing remotely Christian, American, or morally defensible about a policy that takes children away from their parents and warehouses them in cages. This is being carried out in our name and the shame is on us all.”
In 2015, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York since 2009, penned an article for The Washington Post titled “Why Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric is so problematic.” Pope Leo shared this article with his followers.
More recently, he reposted a tweet from Philadelphia-based Catholic commentator Rocco Palmo. It read: “As Trump & Bukele use Oval to Feds’ illicit deportation of a US resident, once an undoc-ed Salvadorean himself, now-DC Aux +Evelio asks, ‘Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?'”
In 2017, Palmo also tweeted a screenshot of an article by Cardinal Cupich, captioning it: “Calling refugee bans ‘a dark hour of US history,’ Card Blase says ‘the world is watching as we abandon our commitment to American values’. Pope Leo also retweeted this post.
In the same year, Jesuit priest James Martin tweeted a photo of a young Syrian child covered in blood and dirt, with the caption, “We’re banning all Syrian refugees? The men, women and children who *most* need help? What an immoral nation we are becoming. Jesus weeps.” The new pontiff shared this post as well.
Later in 2017, Pope Leo responded to a post by Palmo, stating, “Saying Trump’s ‘bad hombres’ line fuels ‘racism and nativism,’ Cali bishops send preemptive blast on DACA repeal.”
The new pope has also criticized Trump’s vice president, JD Vance, by sharing an opinion piece from the National Catholic Reporter titled, “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.”
This article followed Vance’s comments to Fox News in February, where he stated, “There is a Christian concept that you love your family and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that, prioritize the rest of the world. A lot of the far left has completely inverted that.”
Shortly after the announcement of the newly appointed pope, Trump took to Truth Social to share his reaction.
On Truth Social, Trump posted: “Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was just named Pope. It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope. What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!”
While on Air Force One, Trump also spoke with Fox News reporter Sean Hannity. When asked about the first American pope’s differing views on immigration, Trump said, “Sure. I would. He was really a surprise choice.”