Nice speech by the new pope. He seemed very moved, tears in his eyes. Norwegian commentators have been hunting Norwegian Catholic priests who know who he is (not easy it seemed).
Thankfully, he appears not to have connections to MAGA and the vile US part of Catholicism, as far as I understand and he also spoke as if he wanted to continue Francis work.
Having been a missionary priest in Peru, he speaks of social issues. Seems ok. Of course, when I at first heard he was an American, I feared the very worst. The very worst indeed. Trump + MAGA alligned pope would just kill the world.
I saw one LGBT Catholic group that seems quietly hopeful about him:
Itās rather sad that I now see someone American and just assume that they are going to be a lunatic.
https://x.com/NoLieWithBTC/status/1920534516231278814
https://x.com/patriottakes/status/1920531460265509038
https://x.com/ArtCandee/status/1920532913231126669
Perhaps a counterweight has been chosen here. A courageous voice, hopefully
A Pope with a Twitter account is certainly something new.
Heās been gonna fucked if he fancies a deep dish, though.
Some pundit on my TV..
The new Pope has lived in Peru longer than in the United States. He also holds Peruvian citizenship.
And he speaks five languages. Most Americans donāt even know there are so many languages.
https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1920551881937740278
https://x.com/RealAlexJones/status/1920546532480463248
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https://x.com/WojPawelczyk/status/1920540145045942436
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https://x.com/ElieNYC/status/1920623277048758657
Edit
Itās odd how few mentions I can find from him. I expect that the AI bots are currently dredging the more obscure depths of the theological journals searching for references.
In 2012, he was probably responding to Benedict XVI in terms of LGBT issues. Itās difficult to determine what his actual views are without seeing the whole speech. Quite often they take a ācondemn the sin, but love the sinnerā approach, which is roughly saying, āyeah, the old testament is full of lots of old rubbish. Letās acknowledge it and move on.ā
That is exactly what I expect: a lunatic, at best ill-informed, at worst malevolent prick. Hopefully heāll prove me wrong.
Also, the name he has chosen is suspect. There have been malevolent Leos in the past.
Well, I suspect a lot of people hope that.
From what I have been reading, it looks like the church themselves are looking for someone who will not alienate anyone (Fiducia Supplicans, which is the doctrine that allows Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples, seems to be a bit of a dividing issue). Given that I can find so little about this guy, Iām wondering if they were looking for someone who can talk a great deal whilst saying very little.
From what Iām seeing, he isnāt a MAGA type at all. Has a history of condemning Trumpās actions. Theyāre already crying about him being the woke pope or whatever. Usually a positive sign of a personās character coming from that crowd.
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Iāve now read that he has publicly criticized Vance recently, which is good to know. It also seems that the name Leo refers to pope Leo XIII, who according to the BBC website:
"was the head of the Catholic Church between 1878 and 1903. He is known for writing the Rerum Novarum - considered the foundational document of modern Catholic social teaching, touching on issues of labour and workersā rights.
Because of this history, Natalia Imperatori-Lee, the chair of religious studies at Manhattan University, told The Associated Press that the name Leo āis a deep sign of commitment to social issuesā for the new Pope.
Edit: also, this here, taken from the Daily Beast:
His digital footprint reveals a disapproval of some of President Donald Trumpās policies during his first term as well, retweeting a post from Cardinal Cupich in 2018 that read: āThere 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.ā
From Humanists UK:
"New Pope Leo blasts non-religious people around the world, saying (quite shockingly) that ālack of faithā is linked to āthe loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity.ā
Weāll remain composed in the face of such abject nastiness, but itās untrue to say the least.
For humanists, knowing that this is the only life we have doesnāt create a lack of meaning. It says the opposite: everything we do matters, all our decisions count.
It doesnāt cause a lack of mercy. If you believe that the only justice in life is found in this world while you are alive, then it follows that you should treat others as you would like to be treated, with kindness, dignity, and compassion.
Appalling violations of human dignity are typically associated with the worst crimes against humanity - historically by dictators, religious wars, and sectarian conflict.
By contrast, typically highly secularised advanced societies such as Iceland and Scandinavia are the least violent, most pro-social, and happiest countries on Earth. Meanwhile in highly religious states like Saudi Arabia lives are blighted by violence and oppression due to ideas of sin, blasphemy, authoritarianism, oppression of women, and the denial of science."