Pope Leo, the first American to be named the head of the
worldwide Catholic Church, has spoken out against Donald Trump’s
policies frequently this year as the US has invaded Venezuela and Iran and threatened Cuba’s 10 million people with an oil blockade that
has crippled the island’s economy and healthcare system—and according to new reports, his criticism has followed a
warning from a Pentagon official
who demanded the Vatican take the “side” of the White House in
foreign disputes.
The Free Press originally reported this week that after the pope’s “State of the
World” address on January 9, US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge
Colby called Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the Vatican’s US diplomatic
representative, to Washington.
Colby told Pierre that the US “has the military power to do
whatever it wants in the world.”
“The Catholic Church had better take its side,” he said,
according to The Free Press.
Another Pentagon official alluded to the Avignon papacy, a
period in the 14th century in which the French monarchy ordered an attack on
Pope Boniface VIII and forced seven successive popes to relocate from Rome to
Avignon in France.
In First Address on Climate Change, Pope Leo Signals Continuity with Francis—and Opposition to Trump
By Carl David Goette-Luciak
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here.
Pope Leo on Wednesday spoke before a slowly melting chunk of glacial ice in Vatican City in his first address on climate change. On a stage adorned with ferns and lush plants, Leo addressed a crowd of roughly 1,000 attendees representing Indigenous groups and environmental organizations across the world. The remarks were the strongest signal yet that the new pope intends to continue his predecessor’s legacy on climate issues, placing the Catholic Church squarely in the fight against global warming.
The event marked the start of a climate conference commemorating the 10-year anniversary of Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ landmark papal encyclical on climate issues. Leo emphasized how in the decade since Laudato Si’—which incorporated protection of the climate into the teachings of the Catholic Church—the problems Francis highlighted have only become graver.
Leo called for citizens to pressure their governments into action on climate issues. “Citizens need to take an active role in political decision-making at national, regional and local levels,” Leo said. “Only then will it be possible to mitigate the damage done to the environment.”
When it's not enough to demand a front row seat, violate the Vatican request to wear a black suit and black tie, and to leave after only a few hours to play golf at your New Jersey course.
He also fell asleep during his own trial:
And during the Republican National Convention:
During the prayer service at the National Cathedral after his inauguration:
And at Jimmy Carter's funeral:
It's hard when you have the attention span of a 5-year old
Prior to becoming pope, he was Jorge Mario Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires, and was the first person from the Americas to be elected to the papacy. He was also the first pope to choose Francis as his name, thus honoring St. Francis of Assisi, a 13th-century mystic whose love for nature and the poor have inspired Catholics and non-Catholics alike.
The Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio, ordained for the Jesuits in 1969 at the Theological Faculty of San Miguel. Jesuit General Curia via Getty Images
Pope Francis chose not to wear the elaborate clothing, like red shoes or silk vestments, associated with other popes. As a scholar of global Catholicism, however, I would argue that the changes Francis brought to the papacy were more than skin deep. He opened the church to the outside world in ways none of his predecessors had done before.
Care for the marginalized
Pope Francis reached out personally to the poor. For example, he turned a Vatican plaza into a refuge for the homeless, whom he called “nobles of the street.”
While he maintained the church’s position that all priests should be male, he made far-reaching changes that opened various leadership roles to women. Francis was the first pope to appoint a woman to head an administrative office at the Vatican. Also for the first time, women were included in the 70-member body that selects bishops and the 15-member council that oversees Vatican finances. He appointed an Italian nun, Sister Raffaella Petrini, as President of the Vatican City.
Not shy of controversy
Some of Francis’ positions led to opposition in some Catholic circles.
One such issue was related to Francis’ embrace of religious diversity. Delivering an address at the Seventh Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Kazakhstan in 2022, he said that members of the world’s different religions were “children of the same heaven.”
While in Morocco, he spoke out against conversion as a mission, saying to the Catholic community that they should live “in brotherhood with other faiths.” To some of his critics, however, such statements undermined the unique truth of Christianity.
During his tenure, the pope called for “synodality,” a more democratic approach to decision making. For example, synod meetings in November 2023 included laypeople and women as voting members. But the synod was resisted by some bishops who feared it would lessen the importance of priests as teachers and leaders.
In a significant move that will influence the choosing of his successor, Pope Francis appointed more cardinals from the Global South. But not all Catholic leaders in the Global South followed his lead on doctrine. For example, African bishops publicly criticized Pope Francis’ December 2023 ruling that allowed blessings of individuals in same sex couples.
Traditionalists argued that the Latin Mass was an important – and beautiful – part of the Catholic tradition. But Francis believed that it had divided Catholics into separate groups who worshiped differently.
This concern for Catholic unity also led him to discipline two American critics of his reforms, Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, and Cardinal Raymond Burke. Most significantly, Carlo Maria Viganò, the former Vatican ambassador, or nuncio, to the United States was excommunicated during Francis’ tenure for promoting “schism.”
Recently, Pope Francis also criticized the Trump administration’s efforts to deport migrants. In a letter to US Bishops, he recalled that Jesus, Mary and Joseph had been emigrants and refugees in Egypt. Pope Francis also argued that migrants who enter a country illegally should not be treated as criminals because they are in need and have dignity as human beings.
Writings on ‘the common good’
In his official papal letters, called encyclicals, Francis echoed his public actions by emphasizing the “common good,” or the rights and responsibilities necessary for human flourishing.
Pope Francis washes the foot of a man during the foot-washing ritual at a refugee center outside of Rome on March 24, 2016. L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP
His first encyclical in 2013, Lumen Fidei, or “The Light of Faith,” sets out to show how faith can unite people everywhere.
In his next encyclical, Laudato Si’, or “Praise Be to You,” Francis addressed the environmental crisis, including pollution and climate change. He also called attention to unequal distribution of wealth and called for an “integral ecology” that respects both human beings and the environment.
His third encyclical in 2020, Fratelli Tutti, or “Brothers All,” criticized a “throwaway culture” that discards human beings, especially the poor, the unborn and the elderly. In a significant act for the head of the Catholic Church, Francis concluded by speaking of non-Catholics who have inspired him: Martin Luther King Jr., Desmond Tutu and Mahatma Gandhi.
In his last encyclical, Dilexit Nos, or “He Loved Us,” he reflected on God’s Love through meditating on the symbol of the Sacred Heart that depicts flames of love coming from Jesus’ wounded heart that was pierced during the crucifixion.
Francis’ papacy has been historic. He embraced the marginalized in ways that no pope had done before. He not only deepened the Catholic Church’s commitment to the poor in its religious life but also expanded who is included in its decision making.
The pope did have his critics who thought he went too far, too fast. And whether his reforms take root depends on his successor. Among many things, Francis will be remembered for how his pontificate represented a shift in power in the Catholic Church away from Western Europe to the Global South, where the majority of Catholics now live.
Pope Francis addressed the bishops of the United States about the country’s ongoing mass deportation of unauthorized
immigrants, urging Catholics to consider the justness of laws and policies in
light of the dignity and rights of people.
In a letter published Feb. 11, the pope — while supporting a
nation’s right to defend itself from people who have committed violent or
serious crimes — said a “rightly formed conscience” would disagree with
associating the illegal status of some migrants with criminality.
“The act of deporting people who in many cases have left
their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation,
persecution, or serious deterioration of the environment damages the dignity of
many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of
particular vulnerability and defenselessness,” he said.
“All the Christian faithful and people of goodwill,” the
pontiff continued, “are called upon to consider the legitimacy of norms and
public policies in the light of the dignity of the person and his or her
fundamental rights, not vice versa.”
‘Respectful of the dignity of all’
Pope Francis penned the letter to U.S. bishops amid changes
to U.S. immigration policy under Donald Trump’s administration,
including the increased deportation of migrants, which numerous bishops have
criticized.
Pope
Francis sounds a dire warning about democracy as MAGA-type fascism grows in
strength around the world — and specifically warns against dangerous
"populists."
Right-wingers are throwing a fit over this one...
"It is evident that democracy is not in good health in today’s
world," said Francis, head of the Catholic Church, during a visit to
northern Italy.
"Indifference is a cancer of democracy. I am concerned about the small
number of people who went to vote. Why is it happening?" said Francis.
The pope compared democracy to a "wounded heart" that is vulnerable
to dangerous corruption. He also explained that true democracy isn't just about
voting, it's about ensuring that all people can participate.
The pope urged voters to reject "ideological temptations and
populists" and embrace better cooperation.
"Ideologies are seductive. Some people compare them to the Pied Piper of
Hamelin: they seduce but lead you to deny yourself," said the pope,
seemingly referring to the fascism that is gaining popularity in the Republican
Party and parts of Europe.
He encouraged voters to "move away from polarizations that impoverish.
While Francis didn't mention Donald Trump by name, MAGA fans are interpreting
it as a direct attack. Conservatives already disliked this pope because they
believe that he's "too liberal."
Sorry Trumpers, the truth hurts. You're on the wrong side of history.
Pope Francis condemned the global arms
industry for its role in the ongoing slaughter in the Gaza Strip and called for
peace worldwide during his Christmas blessing from Vatican City on Monday,
mourning the children killed and displaced by war, which he called the
"little Jesuses of today," in occupied Palestine and elsewhere.
Citing conflicts across the globe in his
annual Urbi et Orbi ("To
the City and World") message, the Pope told his Catholic followers that
war is "an aimless voyage, a defeat without victors, an inexcusable
folly" and that "saying 'no' to war means saying 'no' to
weaponry" provided to humanity by the global arms industry.
"The human heart is weak and
impulsive; if we find instruments of death in our hands, sooner or later we
will use them," he warned. "And how can we even speak of peace, when
arms production, sales, and trade are on the rise?"
Francis compared the global expenditures on
weapons—which according to the
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reached upwards of $2.2
trillion last year—with the failure of governments to fund social goods like
efforts to fight hunger, homelessness, and poverty.
Pope Francis speaks during his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Oct. 18, 2023. AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino
Pope Francis’ Dec. 18, 2023, announcement that Catholic priests may bless LGBTQ+ couples and others in “irregular” situations marks a definitive shift in the Roman Catholic Church’s posture toward many types of loving relationships.
It may also mark a definitive turning point within the Roman Catholic Church.
Across the last few years, Francis has made gestureafter gesture indicating his desire to find a way for the Catholic Church to accompany and welcome people whose loving relationships do not fit into the church’s sacramental understanding of marriage as between a man and a woman, ordered toward procreation and ended only by death.
He has telegraphed for a long time his desire to come to some new arrangement that would welcome loving relationships in the church without transforming the church’s doctrine on marriage and sexuality all at once – the Dec. 18 declaration seems to do exactly that.
In his second major address on the climate crisis, Pope
Francis called for urgent global action ahead of the COP28 United Nations
climate conference.
The pontiff's remarks came in a papal exhortation published Wednesday morning titled "Laudate
Deum" or "praise God."
"We must move beyond the mentality of appearing to
be concerned but not having the courage needed to produce substantial
changes," Francis said.
The pope made waves in 2015 when he published an encyclical on climate and the environment
titled Laudato Si, shortly before world leaders negotiated the Paris agreement.
An exhortation is a shorter, less prestigious document, according
to The Washington Post. In Wednesday's document, the first he
has published on the climate crisis in eight years, Francis reflected on how
far the world hadn't come.
"With the passage of time, I have realized that our
responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is
collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point," he said.
John
Paul II put a rule in that all bishops must retire at 75. This was seen as a
way to clean house of Vatican II bishops. Francis has used that rule to
clean house of holdovers from two conservative popes.
This guy will not be
missed by liberal/progressive Catholics. Pope Francis has accepted his
resignation and he’s probably headed down to The Villages with
his Trumper friends
His reign has been a right wing shit show.
He’s advertised to the world that he is a registered Republican. He’s certainly
entitled to vote his conscience, if he has one. He’s entitled to register with
what ever party he wants. But it doesn’t seem right for a bishop to hammer his
affiliation in such a public way, regardless of what party.
He’s
told Catholics they should not go to any Pride Week events. (lest
their children be groomed.) He attacked Nelson Mandela before his
dead body had even cooled off for the offense of having signed
legislation that did what most democracies of the world had done — legalized
abortion. After the US counsel of bishops issued instructions that any music in
a Catholic wedding or funeral not detract from the dignity of the occasion, he
reacted by banning any music not on the Catholic hymn list, which was not what
the Bishops instructions stated. That caused anger in many Irish-American
families when this meant that Danny Boy was now banned in RI Catholic funerals.
He’s gone after President Biden claiming he is not Catholic for disagreeing
with church on social issues such as abortion. He has attacked the current Pope
many times for being on speaking terms with Catholics who may not see eye to
eye with the church leadershipAt his previous posting, he was
auxiliary bishop in Pittsburgh while there was a major cover up of
pedophilia, and when asked about it, he stated that as auxiliary bishop, it wasn’t his job to handle that.
New guy, Richard Henning, seems to be a bit
more liberal. He’s not likely to be a church reformer type, but at least he
will more likely be on speaking terms with all of the laity, and not just the
religious right fanboys and fangirls.
But how many Americans want to have kids and can’t? Or are still planning to be parents down the road? How many are consciously making the choice to never have kids?
While official statistics in the United States and elsewhere track fertility, they don’t provide insight into the people who have not had children. There are many different types of nonparents: “Childfree” people do not want children; “childless” people want children but can’t have them; “not-yet parents” plan to have children in the future; “undecided” people aren’t sure they will have children; and “ambivalent” people aren’t sure they would have wanted children.
In a 2022 study of 1,500 adults in Michigan, wefound that 21.64% of adults do not want to have children and therefore are choosing to be childfree.
Amid
ongoing outrage over global vaccine inequity, Pope Francis on October 16 urged
pharmaceutical companies to "make a gesture of humanity" by lifting
intellectual property protections and sharing Covid-19 vaccine technology with
the world.
The
pope's remarks came during a video address to
the World Meeting of Popular Movements, a collection of grassroots groups, in
which he expressed his belief "that we are not condemned to repeat or to
build a future based on exclusion and inequality."
"In
the name of God," the pope said, "I ask all the great pharmaceutical
laboratories to release the patents. Make a gesture of humanity and allow every
country, every people, every human being to have access to the vaccines."
"There
are countries where only three or four percent of the inhabitants have been
vaccinated," he added.
So how and why do so many anti-vaxxers want to claim ‘Religious’ Exemptions?'
Mark Kreidler
In Northern California, the pastor of a megachurch hands out religious exemption forms to the faithful.
A New Mexico state senator will “help you articulate a religious exemption” by pointing to the decades-old use of aborted fetal cells in the development of some vaccines.
With workplace vaccine mandates in the offing, opponents are turning to a tried-and-true recourse for avoiding a covid-19 shot: the claim that vaccination interferes with religious beliefs.
No major denomination opposes vaccination. Even the Christian Science Church, whose adherents rely largely on prayer rather than medicine, does not impose an official policy. It counsels “respect for public health authorities and conscientious obedience to the laws of the land, including those requiring vaccination.”
And if a person claims their privately held religious beliefs forbid vaccination, that defense is unlikely to hold up in court if challenged, legal experts say. Although individual clergy members have mounted the anti-vaccine bandwagon, they have no obvious justification in religious texts for their positions. Many seem willing to cater to people who reject vaccination for another reason.
Still, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) grants broad leeway to what constitutes a sincerely held religious belief. As a result, some experts predict most employers and administrators won’t want to challenge such objections from their employees.
“I have a feeling that not a lot of people are going to want to fight on this topic,” said Dr. John Swartzberg, an expert on infectious diseases and professor at the University of California-Berkeley.
The Food and Drug Administration’s full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Aug. 23 could bring the matter to a head. Many government agencies, health care providers, colleges and the military had been awaiting the move before enforcing mandates.
California, which abolished nonmedical exemptions for childhood vaccination in 2015, has led the way on covid vaccine mandates. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s July 26 order for state employees and health care workers to be fully vaccinated or submit to weekly testing was the first of its kind, as was a similar declaration Aug. 11 for all teachers and staff at both public and private schools.
The 23-campus California State University system joined UC in requiring vaccination of all students and staff, and companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter have announced mandatory proof of employee vaccination for those who return to their offices.
The University of California is requiring proof of vaccination for all staffers and students across its 10 campuses, a decision that potentially affects half a million people. But like many other businesses, it makes room for those who wish to request an exemption “on medical, disability or religious grounds,” adding that it is required by law to do so.
Nothing in history suggests that a large number of students or staff members will seek such an out — but then, no previous vaccine conversation has been as overtly politicized as the one around covid.
“This country is going to mandates. It just is. Every other alternative has been tried,” said Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious diseases expert at UC-San Francisco. “That phrase, ‘religious exemption,’ is very big. But it’s going to be quite hard in the current climate — in a mass health crisis, with a vaccine in place that works — to just let any such religious claims go.”
Indeed, while pop-up anti-vaccine churches have long offered reluctant parents ways to exempt their kids from shots, these days churches, internet-based religious businesses and others seem to be offering covid vaccination exemptions wholesale.
Dr. Gregg Schmedes, a Republican state senator and otolaryngologist in New Mexico, used an Aug. 19 Facebook post to direct health care workers “with a religious belief that abortion is immoral” to a site that attempts to catalog the use of cells from aborted fetuses to test or produce various covid vaccines.
One U.S.-distributed vaccine, the Johnson & Johnson product, is made using a cell culture that partly originated in retinal cells from a fetus aborted in 1985.
Yet the Vatican has deemed it “morally acceptable” to get a covid vaccination. In fact, Pope Francis declared it “the moral choice because it is about your life but also the lives of others.”
In an increasing number of dioceses — Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and New York, among others — bishops have instructed priests and deacons not to sign any letter that lends the church’s imprimatur to a request for religious exemption.
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