A New American Figure Emerges as Pope Leo XIV Ascends

Donald Trump is no longer the most influential American on the global stage.

Although Trump remains a powerful figure for at least three more years, power alone does not define importance. This past Thursday, Robert Prevost, a Chicago native and Villanova University graduate, succeeded Trump in global prominence by becoming the first American pope, choosing the name Leo XIV.

His election came at a moment of significant cultural resonance.

While I am not Catholic myself, but rather a Southern evangelical raised far from Catholicism, my perspective has been deeply shaped by Catholic thought, both ancient and contemporary.

During my university years, I avidly studied the works of Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. One of my favorite courses explored liberation theology, a modern Catholic approach emphasizing improving the material conditions of the poor through political and economic reform. Among many influences, Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Evangelium Vitae has profoundly shaped my views on abortion and the sanctity of human life.

This academic and spiritual reflection revealed the enduring significance of Christian thought throughout history. Christianity is an ancient faith that has withstood far more oppressive rulers and regimes than anything encountered in the United States.

Many American evangelicals lack this historical perspective, belonging to churches whose existence is measured in months or years rather than centuries or millennia. Even the oldest evangelical denominations represent only a tiny fraction of the history embodied by the Catholic Church.

This limited viewpoint often inflates the importance of politics, narrowing our outlook and prioritizing the temporary over the eternal. This dynamic leads to statements like Trump’s Easter promise to make America “more religious than ever before.”

When religious success is tied to the fortunes of any politician, politics inevitably becomes a form of religion itself. This results in many Christians judging even the pope through a partisan political lens.

That is exactly what happened last week when social media users examined the new pope’s past online posts, wondering if he aligns with the MAGA movement, if he is ‘woke,’ or how he fits into America’s cultural battles.

One headline from a MAGA-aligned publication summed it up: “Read the new pope’s far-left views on immigration, climate, COVID, and racial relations.”

But what makes the new pope far-left? He opposed family separations of migrants during Trump’s first term and disagreed with Vice President JD Vance’s interpretation of the theological concept ordo amoris, which Vance used to argue that American compassion “belongs first to your fellow citizens.”

Pope Leo XIV also expressed condolences after George Floyd’s death, sharing a tweet from Bishop Michael Olson that called for ending racism in hearts and society and praying for Floyd’s family during their time of grief.

He further stated, “We need to hear more from Church leaders to reject racism and pursue justice.”

Is that far-left? It appears simply Christian to me.

The new pope also reposted a 2017 message from Democratic Senator Chris Murphy supporting gun control and a tweet expressing concern that the United States might not meet its carbon emission goals. In 2021, he endorsed the COVID vaccine, sharing a message praying for the grace to face the pandemic with faith and for vaccines to be accessible to all.

These positions are not radical left; they are mainstream views. However, if your religious doctrine is defined by the MAGA party platform, the pope’s stances may seem challenging.

At the same time, he does not align neatly with Democrats either. He is firmly pro-life and upholds the Church’s traditional teachings on sexual morality and gender identity. Do not expect Leo to alter Church doctrines on abortion or marriage.

In short, the pope is neither MAGA nor woke. He is Catholic, and party platforms are irrelevant to Church doctrine.

Furthermore, do not expect Leo to offer aid or solace to those within or outside the Catholic Church who seek to redeem culture through the direct exercise of Christian power. In his first homily, he described the Church as “an ark of salvation sailing through the tides of history, a beacon illuminating the world’s darkness.”

However, he emphasized that this is achieved not through the Church’s “magnificence” — referring to the beauty and grandeur of its buildings and cathedrals — but through “the holiness of its members.”

It is not the Church’s power or wealth but its witness that transforms the world.

In Pope Leo’s case, the Church’s testimony to the world is also a reflection of America’s witness. Millions of Americans have lamented that the most prominent American figure is one embodying cruelty and bitterness.

Many, including dissenting evangelicals, regret that Trump owes his victory more to the evangelical Church than any other American constituency. Trump won white evangelical votes by a margin of 65 points yet lost the rest of the electorate by 18 points. His election is thus not only an expression of American political will but also of American Christian will.

But American Christianity does not speak with one voice. It encompasses multitudes, and so does Leo. He appears to have mixed heritage — his maternal grandparents were Creoles from New Orleans — and spent much of his adult life in Peru. His ties to Peru are so strong that the country celebrated his election, with its president declaring, “The pope is Peruvian.”

He is also a fan of the White Sox, showing he has a heart for underdog causes.

Leo personifies one of the most profound transformations in the United States: from a nation long dominated by Protestantism, often deeply intolerant of Catholicism, to one where people of all faiths can freely practice their religion.

He will carve his own path, and it is important not to overinterpret a few tweets or social media posts. But from his words and life, it is clear he shares Pope Francis’s love for the poor and vulnerable, expressing and embodying a religious faith that cherishes all life.

Martin Luther King Jr. once said the Church must be reminded “that it must not be the master or the servant of the state, but the conscience of the state.” Yet the Catholic Church is global, serving as the conscience of many nations, not just one.

While one American emerges on the world stage as a figure of malice, another answers with love and compassion. They represent two entirely different visions of American character. If all goes well, Leo will remain a dominant global presence long after Trump has faded from public life.

What kind of pope Leo will become in the long run is uncertain. But on Thursday, it felt as though a cultural wind was shifting. For the first time, an American who transcends political categories now leads the world’s largest church. As a friend remarked shortly after Leo’s election was announced, that change “almost feels like… hope.”