White smoke emerged over the Sistine Chapel this afternoon, notifying the world that the College of Cardinals has elected a new pope. While many Catholics are still mourning Francis, among best beloved and most complicated popes in recent history, the elevation of Augustinian Cardinal Robert Prevost to Pope Leo XIV sends some clear signals (and more than a few unclear ones) about the Church’s goals for the twenty-first century.
Prevost is, of course, the first US pope in the millennia-long history of the Holy See. He’s an alumnus of Villanova and the Chicago Theological Union, which—as “demi-Catholic leftist feminist” Kaya Oakes warns—means both schools and Philadelphia and Chicago’s respective sizable Catholic populations are about to become absolutely insufferable. (I have friends on the groupchat doing shots of Malört about this as we speak, and Bluesky is already excited about the possibility of a deep dish Eucharist option. Our Catholic Worker buddies are hoping this Leo is as pro-union as the last one.)
Of course, not everyone is celebrating Prevost’s election. The Right is in a tizzy because the newest pope has tweeted critically about the Trump administration and Vice President JD Vance (sigh) in the past year and expressed support for George Floyd a few years back. It’s fair to assume this Conclave intends Leo XIV’s election to signal a deep concern about the global spread of fascist authoritarianism broadly and the US’s financial and ideological support for that rising threat specifically. His first public address since the Conclave called repeatedly for work toward peace.
Prevost is also a Peruvian citizen, making him the second Latin American pope and—we can hope—an indication of the Church’s increasing acceptance of liberation theology (a social justice movement first popularized by another Peruvian priest, Gustavo Gutiérrez). Like Francis, Leo XIV is a fierce advocate for climate justice.
And like Francis, Prevost opposes women’s ordination and has a troubling record of insufficiently responding to clergy sex abuse. Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) filed a complaint against Prevost in March of this year. LGBTQ folks are also expressing some concerns about his elevation, though Outreach leader Michael O’Loughlin says he’s “hopeful for the church and offering prayers for the new pope.”
Hope is in short supply right now and it’s too soon to know how Leo XIV’s election will shape the Church’s trajectory. But if this new pope can foster real action to slow the spread of climate catastrophe and global fascism? Maybe, just maybe, dayenu.
