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- For a Divided Church, Pope Leo’s First Mass is an Echo of Francis
For a Divided Church, Pope Leo’s First Mass is an Echo of Francis
Pontiff may provide contrast to Trump on U.S. values; pledge to align with “ordinary people” and to heal
Matt Davis
May 10, 2025
In partnership with
Morning. My accomplished wife has a story in the New York Times this morning which you should totally read. I’m very proud of her! The subject? How people are losing track of how much they’re spending on newsletter subscriptions! Hey, speaking of which…
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Today’s front page story in the New York Times is about how the new pope’s ascension “marks an extraordinary moment for American leadership on the world stage at a time when President Trump has has transformed the country’s reputation abroad and fueled distrust among longtime allies.”
In other words one of them is a complete bastard. The other is the Pope.
While two Americans now sit in positions of enormous global influence, Pope Leo XIV may “offer the world a different view of U.S. values from Mr. Trump’s America First approach, which he has executed through stiff tariffs, imperialist musings and vast cuts to foreign aid,” the story reports.
When he was introduced to the world, the new pope — who speaks five languages and is a naturalized citizen of Peru — emphasized his pluralistic background, making a point of speaking in Italian (representing his new constituency) and Spanish (his old one). He spoke no English and made no reference to the United States, even as some Catholics in St. Peter’s Square excitedly waved U.S. flags.
Admittedly on Friday, he spoke briefly in English when he delivered his first homily.
The Times also reports that “there are indications” that the first American pontiff disapproves of some of the Trump administration’s hard-line stances. Those “indications” are pretty strong, too.
A social media account under his name has reposted messages critical of the president’s positions on issues including immigration, gun control and climate change. In February, the account shared a link to an article in The National Catholic Reporter titled “JD Vance Is Wrong: Jesus Doesn’t Ask Us to Rank Our Love for Others.”
And here’s a nice quote.
“We have this powerful moral voice that is going to be able to potentially confront the other most powerful American voice,” said Charlie Sykes, an anti-Trump conservative who is Catholic. “Donald Trump bestrides the world as the ugly American, and now we have another prominent American who is able to confront him.”
Mr. Sykes said Pope Leo’s advocacy on behalf of migrants, in particular, could challenge Mr. Trump, who has pursued an aggressive campaign to deport them as quickly as possible. The pope’s brother also told The New York Times in an interview that he did not think his brother would shy away from voicing his disagreements with the president.
“I know he’s not happy with what’s going on with immigration,” he said. “I know that for a fact. How far he’ll go with it is only one’s guess, but he won’t just sit back. I don’t think he’ll be the silent one.”
On the other hand the new Pope is also an anti-abortion advocate and has opposed teaching on gender in Peruvian schools, so some rightwing Catholics are pausing before tweeting about him being the “woke Pope.” Trump and JD Vance have both congratulated him. Still:
“He is anti-Trump, anti-MAGA, pro-open Borders, and a total Marxist like Pope Francis,” Laura Loomer, the far-right activist who has persuaded Mr. Trump to fire some of his aides for not being loyal enough, wrote on X. “Catholics don’t have anything good to look forward to. Just another Marxist puppet in the Vatican.”
I really wish that were true, honestly, but Marx had some pretty strong anti-religious views. I think, indeed, that he was the one who coined the phrase “opiate of the people” to describe organized religion. Not that it matters to Laura Loomer, a dangerous sociopath for whom details and facts are just things to be torched alongside crosses at a Klu Klux Klan rally.
Representative Nancy Pelosi, a devout Catholic, praised Pope Leo’s commitment to the poor and said she hoped he could unite American Catholics across partisan divides.
“His values-based vision for the church is quite different from what we’re seeing from some leaders, if you call them that, in our country, but I don’t expect him to be engaged in a political debate with the president of the United States,” she said in an interview.
“If you call them that.”
You see what she did there?
She said Donald Trump is a poopy.
I also love this detail:
Some analysts have posited that the cardinals selected Pope Leo precisely because of Mr. Trump. The president agitated many Catholics, even some of his allies, when he posted an A.I.-generated image of himself dressed as the pope after Pope Francis died.
“The president might well be right to claim credit for the selection, at least in part, given the photo he posted on social media,” said Rocco Palmo, a Catholic church analyst. “The choice of Leo is the cardinals’ way of saying, ‘This is our process and we decide what is Catholic, not the White House.’”
Mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-haaaaa. Well done, Cardinals. And it sucks to be you, Donald!
Say, is there a story that might cheer me up a bit?
Oh, sure. Read my wife’s story in the New York Times about people who are spending too much on newsletters these days 👇🏻 It’s well-reported and amusing. I’m very very very proud of her for getting it published! Congratulations, Logan!
Matt Davis lives in Manhattan with his wife and kid.
Standard disclaimer: I read the top story in the New York Times every morning so that you don’t have to. If you were forwarded this, you can subscribe here. I’m also doing a five-minute video version of this, each weekday morning at around 9 a.m. (depending on how long it takes me to read the newspaper). If you’d like to follow me on LinkedIn (you can always watch the recording later). If you subscribe to my Youtube channel it’ll also send you a notification when I’m “going live.”