34 Comments
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Elizabeth's avatar

SSPX is my lifeboat. I’m not optimistic but I’ll keep praying for the Holy Father as usual.

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AmericanCardigan's avatar

Guess I’ll lean towards the Society of Saint Pius X.

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Tristam's avatar

Say what you will, at least Prevost has more pertinent education & experience to do his job than Trump or ANY White House resident in last 50 years has had for that job.

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Joe's avatar

.

Reported Historically and --- perhaps Most Importantly ---- about the ' New ' Pope:

As of the date of his election on May 8, 2025, there is no direct evidence in the provided data or broader public records that Cardinal Prevost, prior to becoming Pope, made a specific statement addressing the situation in Palestine or labeling it as a “plausible genocide.”

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Lynn's avatar

So, what is that supposed to mean?

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AmericanCardigan's avatar

6 more weeks of winter.

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NFO's avatar

A "Robert Francis" with that Peruvian connection and Liberation Theology vibe...Pope Beto? 😊

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Lynn's avatar

Let's face it. No POPE is going to be Conservative.

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Lynn's avatar

Not totally...

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NFO's avatar

With the Conclave as presently constituted, sure, I wasn't expecting much. There were far better choices, though, for edifying the Church as a spiritual realm.

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Lynn's avatar

Like who? I think all the clergy everywhere are not conservatives.

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NFO's avatar

Erdo, Sarah and Burke to name a few. In context here, "conservative" means adherent to the traditional, foundational Church, does not have anything to do with the political realm.

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Lynn's avatar

Erdo was too conservative. He would've been great. We are Hungarian. It was time for an American Pope. That's the key.

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Lynn's avatar

How do you know that it doesn't? Just because you read something these days doesn't make it true.

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Mark Hazard's avatar

"Pope Donald I? Hey, Why Not? Mark Wauck, May 03, 2025"

Trump as Pope meme... coincidence?

#TheChicagoWay

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Jeff Cook-Coyle's avatar

What is an Augustinian? Mark, aren't you an expert on St Augustine's writings?

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Jeff Cook-Coyle's avatar

Very interesting. It also explains why the new pope spent so much time in Peru. "In 1962, Pope John XXIII asked for religious orders in the United States to send 10% of their members to evangelize Latin America. He later specifically invited the Augustinians of the Midwest Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel, headquartered near Chicago, to care for missionary territory in Northern Peru. The Augustinians accepted the invitation and began their missionary service in 1964. Their primary assignment was to the newly created Prelature of Chulucanas, which was later erected to become the Diocese of Chulucanas. The Augustinians also began new service in the nation's capital of Lima.[42] As of May 2016, the Midwest Province of Augustinians had 76[41] Augustinians."

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Tristam's avatar

Martin Luther was an Augustinian.

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AmericanCardigan's avatar

Vatican II outreach expectations.

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Jeff Martineau's avatar

Just looking at the most obvious…

Interesting: he is an Augustinian (generally more conservative views within the Church); and he took Leo XIV. Might mean he sees himself/the times, as taking up from Leo XIII. Rerum Novarum. XIII dealt with the impact of “modernity” which meant the electrification of the West (how the telegraph radically changed things and the “speed of life.”) Young priests such as Romano Guardini came of age during that time (he a critic of technology particularly its psychological impacts and concern for the West leaving its “ground” behind in the modern world.) Leo XIII also brought St. Thomas Aquinas back into prominence…and we see quite the expansion of Thomistic scholarship in the last couple of decades.

We are now undergoing the most radical technological/psycho context change in human history with Digital (ubiquitous, effects of AI and Robots reshaping humans). This roils everything everywhere.

By taking Leo’s name, does he see our time, and challenges, akin to this prior era?

Also, a mathematician and Canon Law…interesting combination. Might give him insight into the challenges and limitations of Digital. We shall see.

Something no one in the US talks about: Francis gutted and “fired” the Curia. Leo XIV is well aware of this.

Interesting times…

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Jeff Martineau's avatar

Leo XIII offered a “third” or “middle” way relative to capitalism and communism of the day. This greatly influenced Chesterton, Belloc and Guardini among others. Subsidiarity.

Why an American?

Something to consider: recognition that the West has been in decline for a long time, that the Church is the “ground” of the pre-modern West, which is utterly lost at this point with a lack of elites/leaders. The US is the best possibility for regeneration of the West in the Digital Paradigm and is in the forefront of the tech…the US is also more “conservative” in some respects regarding theology and the magisterium. He went to Villanova undergrad.

Digital is driving a rapid retrieval of the spiritual and religious worldwide. Most discussions going forward will have a strong spiritual undercurrent.

Without knowing him…it’s an interesting choice.

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AmericanCardigan's avatar

Yep Cardinals on holiday last 12 years.

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Tamsin's avatar

Thanks. It's a good name. I will allow myself a little hope that, whatever his other commitments are, Prevost may understand that the world is living in a time of bold claims by men that man can create agentic intelligence with just a few more GPUs. I think it is a scam. I think we need a Catholic voice that can oppose the Alex Karps and Sam Altmans and their financiers.

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Greg C's avatar

I don't think you take Leo XIV without knowing that you're invoking the St. Michael prayer and all that surrounds it.

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Greg C's avatar

Today is the feast day of the St. Michael apparition to Leo XIII, incidentally.

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Mark Wauck's avatar

Yeah, my wife and I were tossing that around.

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Richard C. Cook's avatar

OMG--too young!!! I'm outa' here.

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Mark Wauck's avatar

I will say, I'm mildly amazed that an American was elected. They must have been hoping for a big cash infusion from America, given that the Vatican is on the verge of bankruptcy.

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Lynn's avatar

A point to think about?

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NFO's avatar

Was just discussing this with my wife this morning when the news mentioned Cardinal Burke. I said that the only reason an American would be selected would be as a cash-grab tactic. Sadly, the wrong American.

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Lynn's avatar

Who would have been your choice? He's much better than Pope Communist Francis

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Mark Wauck's avatar

Yes.

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BRK7_2's avatar

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer ?

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