Pope Leo XIV - One Year On

There can be no doubt that Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff, was selected by the voting members of the College of Cardinals in May 2025 to be a talisman against Donald Trump.  Leo is a champion of immigrants, he had ministered to the poor in Peru as Bishop Robert Prevost, he opposes nationalism, and he is pro-life in that he supports government aid for women and children and opposes capital punishment - two positions that puts him at odds with MAGA in the U.S.

The pope has spent the past year appointing new bishops and archbishops, particularly in the U.S., that are less confrontational and more belligerent in an effort to promote the humanity and the compassion taught in the Gospels as opposed to a more militant Christianity promoted by Catholic and evangelical rank-and-file believers alike.  His biggest problem, however, remains Donald Trump.  Trump is to Leo what Polish strongman Wojciech Jaruzelski had been to John Paul II, a political leader from the pontiff's homeland making trouble for his people that the pontiff must stand up against and react to.  And, like Jaruzelski, Trump is being prompted by the Kremlin in Moscow.

Leo has had to deal with the slings and arrows from Trump, who has questioned his integrity as a religious leader and as a head of state (the Vatican papal state)  and has tried to undermine his authority as the spiritual leader of his fellow American Catholics, many of whom inexplicably (unless you've heard of the word "hypocrisy") voted for Trump in 2024.  Trump is to find out that he's met his match.  Leo knows more about the Christian faith and the Gospels than Trump pretends to, and he leads a Church that has persisted for two thousand years, assembled by St. Peter and led in the wake of St Peter's martyrdom by St. Linus, who established the bishopric of Rome that is now the modern papacy.  He's held off Trump quite well so far.  He's in a good position to bring Trump down that way John Paul II brought down Communism in Eastern Europe.

One question, however, remains to be answered.  If Pope Leo XIV is America's John Paul II, who is our Lech Wałęsa?  Maybe after the midterms, we'll find out.