The Roman Catholic Church elected its new pope on Thursday, with the conclave deciding on American Cardinal Robert Prevost, henceforth referred to as Pope Leo XIV. And like buddies investigating their bestie’s new boyfriend, the web is already digging by the pope’s previous social media posts.
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Pope Leo XIV opened his X account @drprevost in August 2011, again when the social media platform was nonetheless referred to as Twitter. Nevertheless, quite than pen his personal posts, Pope Leo XIV overwhelmingly most popular sharing different individuals’s posts, hyperlinks to exterior articles, and the occasional Catholic-themed meme. Of the few posts he seems to have written himself, many merely document administrative occasions, whether or not in his skilled life or extra broadly throughout the Catholic Church.
Nevertheless, we are able to nonetheless glean lots from what the brand new pontiff selected to share.
Pope Leo XIV is pro-life
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The primary submit strongly indicating Pope Leo XIV’s angle towards a political difficulty got here in 2012. That February, the then-Prior Common of the Order of Saint Augustine appeared to share a petition calling for the U.S. Division of Well being and Human Companies (HHS) to scrap its requirement that Catholic employers present their employees with healthcare insurance coverage which embody contraception.
The petition in the end garnered 29,127 signatures. In 2020, the Supreme Courtroom dominated that employers may take pleasure in an exemption from the HHS’ requirement on non secular and ethical grounds.
Pope Leo XIV’s views on abortion seem to have remained unchanged in 2016, when he shared an article through which pro-life voters blamed Hillary Clinton’s election defeat on her pro-choice stance. The subsequent yr, he shared articles from the non secular publication Catholic Information Company (CNA), which reported on then-U.S. vice chairman Mike Pence and New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s feedback at a pro-life rally.
The freshly minted pontiff additionally shared an article from CNA reporting on allegations that medical doctors conducting abortions had been promoting fetal tissue and endorsing infantcide. Although not talked about within the article, an investigation by media watchdog Media Issues for America discovered that the undercover video giving rise to those claims had been deceptively edited and brought out of context.
Pope Leo XIV is pro-immigrant rights
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Although he apparently shares Pence’s views on abortion, this does not imply Pope Leo XIV is wholeheartedly supportive of President Donald Trump‘s administration. The pope has lengthy expressed disapproval of Trump’s immigration insurance policies specifically.
Considered one of Pope Leo XIV’s previous X posts which has gained vital consideration dates again to when Trump was campaigning. In August 2015, Pope Leo XIV shared a Washington Put up opinion piece from Dolan entitled, “Why Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric is so problematic.”
“I am not in the business of telling people what candidates they should support or who deserves their vote,” wrote Dolan. “But as a Catholic, I take seriously the Bible’s teaching that we are to welcome the stranger, one of the most frequently mentioned moral imperatives in both the Old and New Testament.”
Then shortly after the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Pope Leo XIV shared a speech by Archbishop José H. Gomez acknowledging that Trump’s win left many immigrants fearful.
“This should not be happening in America,” stated Gomez. “We are better people than this. We should not accept that this is the best we can hope for — in our politics or in ourselves.”
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Then in 2017, Pope Leo XIV shared a number of posts condemning U.S. bans on refugees. He additional shared statements from Gomez calling for immigration reform, talking towards deportation of undocumented individuals, and stating that the U.S. authorities’s “ongoing failure to address the immigration crisis is a humanitarian tragedy.”
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“There is nothing remotely Christian, American, or morally defensible about a policy that takes children away from their parents and warehouses them in cages,” Cardinal Blase J. Cupich wrote in a submit Pope Leo XIV shared in 2018, referring to Trump’s extensively criticised coverage of separating immigrant youngsters from their dad and mom. “This is being carried out in our name and the shame is on us all.”
The pontiff additional shared articles inspecting his predecessor Pope Francis’ letter to U.S. bishops on immigration, and criticising J.D. Vance’s assertion on Fox Information that “you love your family, and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that prioritize the rest of the world.”
“J.D. Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others,” learn the headline for a Nationwide Catholic Reporter article shared by the brand new pope.
As of writing, the newest replace on Pope Leo XIV’s X account is a repost sharing an article within the Catholic Normal by Bishop Evelio Menjivar, which condemns the U.S. authorities’s latest remedy of immigrants and refugees.
“Do you not see the suffering…?” wrote Menjivar. Is your conscience not disturbed? How will you keep quiet?
Pope Leo XIV is for gun management
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The pope additionally appears to assist gun management. Within the wake of the 2017 Las Vegas mass taking pictures, Pope Leo XIV shared an announcement from Archbishop of Chicago Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, which referred to as for “increased access to mental health care and stronger, sensible gun control laws.”
Pope Leo XIV additionally shared a submit by Democratic senator Chris Murphy, who wrote, “To my colleagues: your cowardice to act cannot be whitewashed by thoughts and prayers. None of this ends unless we do something to stop it.”
Pope Leo XIV is towards racism
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Pope Leo XIV additionally took to X to sentence racism mere days after the homicide of George Floyd by the hands of a police officer in Might 2020. The homicide sparked world protests towards racism and police brutality, and widespread assist for the Black Lives Matter motion.
In one in every of his uncommon self-penned X posts, Pope Leo XIV wrote, “We need to hear more from leaders in the Church, to reject racism and seek justice.”
He additionally shared posts expressing assist for Floyd’s household and condemning racism.
Pope Leo XIV is for vaccines and masks
Credit score: Francesco Sforza – Vatican Media by way of Vatican Pool / Getty Photographs
The pope continued posting on X in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, posting information of masks donations in Peru. He additionally displayed a way of humour when he shared a comedic TikTok skit about social distancing.
Extra considerably, in 2021 Pope Leo XIV shared a submit from Gomez stating, “May God grant us the grace to face #COVID19 with the strength of faith, ensuring that vaccines are available for all, so that we can all get immunized.”
Pope Leo XIV believes in local weather change
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Whereas the pope hasn’t made many posts about local weather change on X, he is not utterly silent on the matter. In November 2015, Pope Leo XIV referred to as for followers to signal a local weather petition organised by the International Catholic Local weather Motion, which has since been renamed to the Laudato Si’ Motion. This organisation advocates for non-proliferation and divestment from fossil fuels, in addition to the safety of biodiversity.
Pope Leo XIV opposes the demise penalty and euthanasia
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One other difficulty Pope Leo XIV touched on in his X posts was the demise penalty. The pope took a sturdy stance towards capital punishment in March 2015, writing, “It’s time to end the death penalty.”
He additionally does not appear to be a giant fan of euthanasia, sharing an article in 2016 which reported on Belgium residents who advocated towards Canada legalising the follow. Canada legalised medical help in dying later that yr.
Pope Leo XIV may share a few of Pope Francis’ progressive philosophy
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Precisely how intently Pope Leo XIV will observe in Pope Francis’ footsteps remains to be but to be seen. Nevertheless, a number of of his X posts point out he could also be sympathetic to a few of his predecessor’s progressive views. In 2016, Pope Leo XIV shared a chat by Pope Francis through which he acknowledged that God’s legislation “was not drawn up to enslave us but to set us free,” and that inflexible adherence to it “isn’t a gift of God.”
Later sharing steering that Pope Francis issued to bishops in 2021, Pope Leo XIV added that “These beatitudes also highlight the temptations faced by bishops, like that of seeking power and a comfortable lifestyle.”
One other trace at what we would anticipate from Pope Leo XIV’s papacy could also be present in a 2015 article he shared from Huffpost. In it, creator Kerry Weber mentioned the way forward for the Catholic Church, and recommended the way it may retain youthful Catholics. This included supporting ladies in management roles; placing extra emphasis on a world, various church; and making extra of an effort to take heed to youthful Catholics.
A lot of Pope Leo XIV’s exercise on X is years previous, so it is potential that a few of his opinions might have modified over time. Merely sharing an article additionally does not essentially denote settlement with completely the whole lot in it, and looking out solely on the new pope’s X exercise nonetheless leaves many questions and gaps. Nonetheless, inspecting Pope Leo XIV’s digital footprint definitely presents attention-grabbing clues as to what the Catholic Church may appear like below its new chief.
