Although Pope Leo
Five months after taking office, the Chicago-born leader of the Catholic Church has drawn the ire of MAGA-aligned conservatives on multiple fronts, including intensifying his criticism of the Trump administration over deportations.
“The fact that he is American means, among other things, that people can’t say, as they did with Francis, ‘he doesn’t understand America, he just doesn’t see what’s happening,’” Leo said in a recent interview.
He named himself after Pope Leo XIII, who led the Catholic Church from 1878 to 1903, and was known as “The Workers’ Pope,” with a mission to confront the ruthless liberal economy of the time.
Pope Leo XIV reaffirms openness to the LGBT+ community in audience with priest
During an interview with Cruxa Catholic news website, Leo XIV focused on “some issues happening in America that are concerning” in our current era. And he suggested that “sometimes decisions are made more based on economics than on human dignity and human support.”
He was more specific in his homily on October 5, during the Holy Mass for the Jubilee of Missions and Migrants. León told a crowd of more than 10,000 people in St. Peter’s Basilica that “in communities of ancient Christian tradition, such as those in the West, the presence of many brothers and sisters from the South of the world must be welcomed as an opportunity, through an exchange that renews the face of the Church and sustains a more open, more alive and more dynamic Christianity.”
And he published in
Before being named, Leo republished an article titled, “JD Vance Is Wrong: Jesus Doesn’t Ask Us to Prioritize Our Love for Others.”
In January, the vice president invoked St. Augustine to justify the Trump Administration’s decision to cut international aid and impose a brutal immigration repression.
Vance, a converted Catholic, told Fox News: “There’s a Christian concept that you love your family, then your neighbors, then your community, then your fellow citizens, and then you prioritize the rest of the world. A lot of the far left has completely turned that on its head.”
“Jesus does not ask us to prioritize our love for others,” responded future Pope Leo, calling the vice president “wrong.”
Calling his selection “shocking,” former White House strategist Steve Bannon said Leo was the “worst choice for MAGA Catholics.”
Right-wing firebrand Laura Loomer immediately labeled Leo “anti-Trump, anti-MAGA, pro-open borders and a total Marxist like Pope Francis.”
