The Vatican has just named its first American pontiff: Cardinal Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV. The internet is going wild over the announcement.
On May 8, voting cardinals of the Catholic Church selected the Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV with a two-thirds consensus, People reported.
What do congregants think of Pope Leo XIV?
Many Americans post celebratory messages on X. One user exclaims, “THE FIRST AMERICAN POPE,” with a gif of an American eagle brandishing two machine guns.
“AMERICAN POPE RAHHHH. WHAT THE [expletive] IS A KILOMETER,” another posts.
Some progressive congregants aren’t happy with the Vatican’s pick. The previous pontiff, the late Pope Francis, had a more tolerant view on LGBTQ+ families. However, Pope Leo XIV’s opposing views have garnered criticism.
In 2012, the then-Cardinal Prevost bashed Western media for encouraging “beliefs and practices at odds with the gospel,” referencing LGBTQ+ people and their families.
In response to his decade-old statement, one X user writes, “someone get JD Vance and his rancid breath near Pope Robert IMMEDIATELY.” They’re referencing that Pope Francis died shortly after meeting with the United States’ Vice President.
“We got an American pope and not the woke Filipino,” another X user laments, referring to Luis Antonio Tagle. The Manila native had a liberal reputation largely associated with progressive causes.
What issues do congregants hope the Pope addresses?
However, some congregants wonder if his viewpoint has changed, pointing to his address today, where he petitioned the Catholic Church to “build bridges.”
“We have to seek together to be a missionary church. A church that builds bridges and dialogue,” the Pope said, as reported by CNN. Many hope that this urge for bridge building will include expanding the role of women in the Catholic Church and accepting LGBTQ+ congregants.
Pope Leo XIV previously blasted Vance, reposting an article on X titled, “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.”
“Uh oh. New Pope is anti-MAGA!” an X user exclaims.
“The new pope appears to not have tweeted in 2024, returning only to pray for Pope Francis’s health and criticize JD Vance,” another pointed out.
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