In other words, we have a Pope! To the surprise of all, the man selected for the office is Robert Francis Prevost, an American, making him the first American Pope ever. He has taken the papal title Pope Leo XIV. Here is a brief bio, courtesy of Google AI:
Cardinal Robert Prevost, a Chicago-born American citizen and naturalized Peruvian, has been elected as the new Pope, taking the name Pope Leo XIV. He is the first American to lead the Catholic Church. He is the 267th pope.
Let’s put on our ecumenical hats and share some thoughts on this momentous event. Here are some quick thoughts from me to get us started.
- He gave his first address to the crowd in Rome in Italian, Latin, and Spanish.
- Here is the first paragraph of his first speech, delivered earlier today: “Peace be with you. Dearest brothers and sisters, this was the first greeting of the risen Christ, the good shepherd who gave his life for the flock of God. I, too, would like this greeting of peace to enter your hearts, to reach your families and all people, wherever they are; and all the peoples, and all the earth: Peace be with you.”
- I’m not well informed about the niceties of papal ceremony, but the robes he wore as he delivered his speech certainly appeared quite modest by papal standards. LDS apostles uniformly wear standard American business suits.
- There were 133 cardinals who voted in the conclave. Two-thirds are required to select a Pope, which happened on the second day of the conclave. Contrast that with the LDS practice of generally 14 apostles, who unanimously ratify the longest-serving apostle to be the next President. It’s not really an election.
- Like LDS apostles, the Pope serves until death. Except that a Pope can actually resign the position, as Benedict XVI did in the year 2013, succeeded by Pope Francis. By all accounts, that was a positive step for the Catholic Church. I see nothing wrong with the LDS President or an aging LDS apostle likewise resigning because of ill health or some other good reason. It’s a bit of a puzzle why this is not an option for LDS leaders.
“Peace be with you” is certainly the right note to strike, what with missiles flying in both directions daily between Russia and Ukraine, Indian and Pakistani jet fighters shooting missiles at each other, and Trump regularly threatening neighboring countries right here in the USA. Let’s hope Leo XIV’s pontificate is long and peaceful.
Your thoughts and comments?
Wheat & Tares 
I’m encouraged by what I read about the new Pope, within the context of reasonable expectations and possibilities. I will admit that I most encouraged by his detractors—an “enemy of my enemies” kind of thing.
In relation to the LDS church, the key difference I see is the lock-step presidency. What some have called selection by death certificate. I think that practice is the reason men who step on the escalator can’t (don’t) resign or retire. In practical effect, they lose a lot of personal autonomy and agency in those assignments.
The new pope is 69, so older than 3 lds apostles. I have more confidence that the Lord had some involvement in his selection than that oaks or trump are the next lds prophet
I find the “election” of a pope, and particularly this pope, to be very inspiring. First of all, there is a discussion by a lot of people, the 133 Cardinals, who then cast their vote in secret. This discussion is about the direction of the church, the issues it faces, and a host of other topics, with people taking sides but still voting in secret. Eventually, they settle on someone who gets 2/3s of the votes, which is looked at as “the will of the Lord.” Contrast this with the LDS church, where the apostles meet, supposedly talk, but vote to confirm someone called to be an apostle 30-40 years ago is the manifest will of the Lord. It’s not what is happening today or the issues we face. Maybe they talk about them,s but the person chosen is the one who lived the longest. I’m sure God, knowing all things, can call that person 40 years ago, and that if he finally becomes the prophet at age 95 will do the Lord’s will. I feel better, though, about 133 cardinals coming together, talking, and voting in secret on what they feel is the will of the Lord than I do about 12 men with common consent agreeing on someone who has outlived everyone else.
Geoff, The new pope, at 69, is older than two of our junior apostles, the same age as one junior apostles, and younger than all the rest of the Twelve and the First Presidency.
So while I think technically every Catholic priest is eligible to become Pope, the modern reality is you have to be a Cardinal to be considered. Still, being able to chose from 133 men and needing to have 2/3rds agree seems like a much better approach to discern God’s will than selection by death certificate. Even if the LDS church opened it up eligibility to the full Q14 that would be better (although I suppose that is already technically true, so suspect if adopted now, it would just end up being the most senior apostle still unless you make it anonymous and require that people don’t vote for themselves.) More helpful to at least open voting and eligibility to all 70s and general officers (if that is what we are calling RS, YM, and Primary presidencies now) and then make the restriction that apostles can’t become the President, so there is no obvious default. Then we might see actual discernment taking place. I think that would be a good thing
Oh, how I wish my devoutly Catholic, second generation Italian-American, born and raised in Chicago, Papa Frank (he married my devoutly LDS, widowed grandmother and they spent 28 years together) had lived a few more years to see this day! I’m sure he and every other Chicago-born Catholic in heaven are heartily congratulating each other and toasting Pope Leo XIV!
MAGA is losing their minds over this selection because of past criticisms that the new pope made of Dear Leader Chairman Trump in the past. Much of MAGA is Catholic. Apparently Trump is more sacred to them than the pope.
Before he became a priest, the future Pope Leo XIV was a jazz trombone player in Chicago night clubs. He reportedly still keeps a trombone in his Vatican apartment. Plays Wordle with his brother back in Chicago almost every day. He’s a fan of the Chicago White Sox, who may be beyond help even from the pope.
Perhaps even more importantly, his choice of a papal name most likely honors a personal hero, Pope Leo XIII, who in 1891 issued a papal encyclical that has served as the basis for Catholic social justice teaching ever since (including the Catholic Social Worker Movement). Caesar Chavez (California farm workers organizer/leader) was also profoundly influenced by teachings of Leo XIII. Leo XIII’s papacy was during the so-called Gilded Age, which many people now compare to today’s USA.
The new Pope was a close friend and associate of Pope Francis, and one of his responsibilities was to vet bishop candidates for Francis.
I wonder if Russel M Nelson (“world religion leader”) will have any kind of relationship with Pope Leo given that they are both American and English speakers. Does Pope Leo even know who RMN is? I wonder if at some level RMN is jealous of all the attention Pope Leo is getting in the US right now? Or maybe he is satisfied that the LDS MAGA hatred of Pope Leo is somehow stronger than their hatred of RMN.
josh h,
1. I wonder… No.
2. Does… No.
3. I wonder… I don’t think Pres. Nelson is functioning at that cognitive level.
I know MAGA is losing their minds (mind?) over this pope selection, as Brad D pointed out, so that’s a really good sign in my book. Rich Brown, I didn’t know Pope Leo the XIII was connected to the social gospel movement in the Catholic Church, and the activists you mentioned. That is also a good sign. A conservative-leaning Catholic you-tuber and priest I was listening to was quite fixated on the fact that Pope Leo the XIII had mandated that a prayer to st. Michael the archangel be recited at every mass, in response to a vision he had received in 1903 where Satan would be allowed an extra level of power in the 20th century. So… Ya. I guess we all see who we want to see in our leaders.
Another commentary I heard theorized that the selection of the first pope from the U.S. suggests that the cardinals see the United States’ role as a global power decreasing significantly. Before this moment, the cardinals were never going to allow themselves to take orders from an American pope. Can’t blame them. I’m just waiting for Trump to take credit for this pope selection as a sign that the world finally respects the United States. 😆.
Also, how long before someone born outside the United States becomes LDS president? With the current makeup of the q12 it’s a possibility in the near future, right? I don’t keep track of their seniority and ages.
I agree with “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” And at least the man is smart enough to see the truth of Trump and has the guts to say it. He dares say that JD Vance is wrong. Our church leader either can’t see that Trump is set on being a dictator or doesn’t care or hates LGBT enough to think that Trump being an enemy to LGBT is a friend of Mormon hatred of LGBT. But funny thing about hatred of people with no power, you can’t say “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Because people like Trump have the loyalty of a rattle snake. It would be like saying that because a rattle snake eats ice and you hate mice that the rattle snake will never bite you. So, go ahead and get a pet rattle snake and turn it lose in your barn to eat your mice. He will rejoice in your hatred of everyone he hates, but still hate you as soon as you have served his purpose.
But there are so many other things that I like about this pope. Including that he was a jazz musician. That says something about his not being a slave to convention. I mean, can you imagine an LDS leader who loves any kind of music enough to play an instrument of the unstuffy kind not allowed in sacrament meeting. Packer, Oaks, Nelson are such stuffed shirts who seem to hate or barely tolerate music. They can’t tell good music from a toilet seat.
But back to the new pope. He believes in treating the poor and immigrants as if they are still God’s children. And while not being willing to change his church’s definition of sin, he still thinks LGBT have rights and human dignity, which is a position I can respect.
I also agree with others that we would do a lot better if we humans selected the best candidate instead of playing Russian Roulette with prophet selection. We would never advocate people do this with other decisions. Say play a game with God about the next girl to walk through that door is the one I will marry. Yeah, stupid turning such decisions over to God to control instead of using our own brains God gave us to figure out who will be the best choice.
But then see how elections turned out in the US, maybe I don’t trust my fellow Americans to vote, and maybe we should have gone with some other system to select a POTUS. Say, the oldest surviving member of the senate. So, maybe voting for a new prophet isn’t such a good idea. We could get Bednar. (I am just Joking, I think…maybe serious)
I’m just waiting for Trump to take credit for this pope selection as a sign that the world finally respects the United States.
To the extent that this selection is about the United States and not the qualities of Robert Prevost himself, I think an apt analogy would be as follows:
Pope Leo XIV is to the President of the United States as Pope John Paul II was to the communist leaders of Poland.
One take I read is that the selection of an American Pope is evidence that the US is seen as sufficiently in decline that it’s not the threat it would have been seen when we were viewed as the undeniable world power. I think there’s something to that, in that the rest of the world is seeing Trump’s actions as undermining our global supremacy (turning on allies, reducing the value of the dollar, eroding our moral superiority, and making our economic situation more isolationist). The MAGA US Catholics are in some cases losing their minds over this Pope, but we’ll see if they are led by him or not. There were quite a few of them who were very critical of Pope Francis, but Pope Leo probably understands the American Catholics better than Francis did and may be able to lead them in a way that Francis could not. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if he could remind them why their Christianity should come before their politics? To add faith to their politics instead of the other way around? We’ll see what happens.
I just returned from Peru which is one of the most Catholic countries in the world, where Pope Leo spent 20 years. 75% of the country is Catholic (but 30% practice a mix of Incan & Catholic rites and 15% of Peru are strictly practicing Incan rites). Their free public education system is tied to Catholicism, including gender-segregated classes for young students (like Catholic schools in the US have been). The country is not very forward thinking on LGBTQ issues and gay marriage is not recognized, but homosexuality has not been criminalized there since Mormonism was barely a twinkle in Joseph Smith’s eye. When it was proposed that they teach about non-cis gender in school, it was rejected as “confusing.” Pre-conquest Incan culture was non-patriarchal and included some acknowledgement and acceptance of homosexual relationships and gender fluidity. As a result, Peru is a mix of Catholic dogma and native attitudes. The more educated Peruvians, primarily in Lima (the largest city with 10 million residents) are much more supportive of LGBTQ rights.
Just a quick note: I don’t think the new Pope has yet commented on the new WA state law which will require all clergy to report confessions of child abuse to law enforcement. Some to look out for. This will obviously also have huge implications for the LDS church.
It is true that the new pope was born in America, but I really do see him as an “American” pope. Indeed, Peru certainly claims him as the first Peruvian pope. The entirety of his episcopal career, and much of his pre-episcopal career, has been outside the U.S.; he has never sat with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops — and the USCCB is essentially the definition of the American catholic church.
I can only think that if he was a reflection of the USCCB, then he would not have been selected. He comes with the mindset of a South American bishop, like his predecessor.
So yeah, born in America, but certainly not an American choice.
Oops! I meant, I really DO NOT see him as an “American” pope…
Hey, not to be a killjoy here, but there are questions about whether Pope Leo actually played jazz trombone or if this is an internet rumor. So far, Snopes is ruling it to be a hoax, including a likely AI-generated photo of him playing trombone. I’m a bit sad to find out this rumor may not be true, but still find so much to admire about the new pope and I appreciate hearing insights and discoveries about him from you all.
21 APR Pope Francis died on Easter Monday.
04 MAY my stake president attended our Sacrament Meeting – he bore his testimony of the Restoration including the purported visit from John the Baptist. Same SP also recalled visiting the Vatican and seeing a statue of Peter and thinking (smugly) about where the “truth” can actually be found.
Is it possible that RMN was tired of hearing conclave news etc and told his lackeys (area presidents) to remind all us Mormons of our core beliefs?
Fun fact: in Raymond, Illinois (three hours east of Nauvoo) you can find the Shrine of Our Lady of the Highways – a statue of Mary to guide and protect travelers on Route 66.
I have, I admit, some holy envy. The New Yorker is leading with a story about His Holiness that opens like this, “With the election of Robert Francis Prevost as Pope, Donald Trump is now the second most powerful American in the world.” Well played, Your Eminences. And thank you.
Matt, the new pope may not comment on the law because an announcement from the Catholic Church came out that priests who violate the confessional will be excommunicated, even if they are obeying the law of their state. I saw that statement the day before the new pope was announced.
NO CAPES !!!
10qc, any Catholic *man* (whether a priest or not) could, in principle, become pope. I believe a layperson would still have to be ordained after his papal election, though. Last time around, I told my irreligious Catholic colleague that he was technically eligible, and asked him what his pope name would be if the Holy Spirit picked him. His answer: “Pope Penis I.”
anon: “Hey, not to be a killjoy here, but there are questions about whether Pope Leo actually played jazz trombone or if this is an internet rumor.”
OMG this is the first I’ve heard of this! If he can play “Blue Bells” I’m converting. But no, it seems to be a joke:
https://trombonechat.com/viewtopic.php?t=40413
Some responses:
“What mouthpiece does he use?”
“Kings 1-22. Not as popular as they once were, but are still used by players of a higher calling.”
“Everybody knows that Leo’s a traditionalist. He actually (anonymously) played sackbut in a French early music / folk ensemble called Les Sacré bleus.”
“He’s probably more familiar with the Andean quena (flute) than he is with the trombone.”
“A swingin’ rendition of El Condor Pasa featuring Gregorian scat vocals”
“I guess being a jazz trombonist made it easy for him to remain celibate”
I know that the report thatLeo plays the trombone and the sackbut is true.