New Pope

 Informative biographical note about the new Pope:

 https://www.perplexity.ai/page/robert-francis-prevost-selecte-Plj0VWyDQVyniC3A.2Z3ag

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LA PRESSE on the new Pope. Translation by Google, edited by doxa-louise:

May 9, 2025

Leo XIV Intellectual, pastoral and missionary

PHOTO TAKEN FROM THE WEBSITE OF THE DIOCESE OF CHICLAYO

Robert Prevost when he was bishop of Chiclayo in Peru

Erudite, Peruvian, circumspect and managerial. The qualities that Robert Prevost brings to the pontificate are numerous. The usefulness of some of them is obvious. But Leo XIV, perceived as a moderate, could have other surprises in store than his election.   

La Presse

"When I realized it was him, I thought back to texts he has published since he became prefect of the dicastery for bishops," says Yoland Ouellet, an Oblate who heads the Pontifical Mission Societies in French-speaking Canada, and who was at St. Peter's Square when the white smoke rose. "It reassured me a lot. He wants priests to be approachable, close to the people on the ground. This is the opposite of  clericalism [the tendency of priests to consider themselves in a separate category from the faithful] that is far too developed in the Vatican. »

This Vatican dicastery (ministry) manages the appointment of bishops all over the world. Previously, Leo XIV had also led the Order of St. Augustine for ten years.

Father Ouellet heard about the American prelate when he was bishop of Chiclayo, Peru. "We had projects in Peru and he seemed to handle things well."

On Thursday, the Peruvian media made a big deal of the fact that Leo XIV has Peruvian nationality, since he stayed in the country from 1984 to 1998 and from 2014 to 2023.

The President of Peru, Dina Boluarte, spoke of a "historic day" for her country. Theologians noted that he was vice-president of the Peruvian episcopal conference, having been able to make peace between the priests associated with the theory of liberation, close to Marxism, and those of Opus Dei, reputed to be very conservative.

Gilles Routhier, a theologian at Laval University, had twice predicted the election of the American cardinal in the Quebec media this week. "This period is very similar to Vatican II [the council that modernized the Church in the 1960s]. In this respect, Francis resembles John XXIII [who died before the end of the Council] and Leo resembles Paul VI. When you disturb the anthill, it takes someone who takes things up in a reassuring way and carries out the reforms. »

Mr. Routhier was one of the few to deempossible the election of an American pope. The Italian media recalled on Thursday evening that he is "the least American of Americans", because both his parents were not born in the United States, but in France and Spain.

Sex crimes and homosexuality

However, a few false notes resonated in this chorus of praise. He is one of the cardinals denounced by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) because of the way he handled the cases of an American priest and two Peruvian priests accused of sexual abuse of minors.

And in 2012, in a conference at the Vatican, the future Leo XIV denounced the media as "sympathetic to beliefs and practices contrary to the Gospel," citing as an example "same-sex families and their adopted children."

This intervention on the LGBTQ+ theme is the exception that proves the rule: Leo XIV expressed very little of his opinion on sexual morality issues. He did not comment on the document Fiducia supplicans, approved by Francis, which in 2023 allowed the blessing of people in homosexual couples (but not their marriage), causing a stir in Africa and among traditionalists.

"I am sure that he is open-minded, as is Latin America."

 Yoland Ouellet, Oblate at the head of the Pontifical Mission Societies in French-speaking Canada

In his first speech on Thursday night, Leo XIV alluded to another controversy of Francis' pontificate, the issue of the war in Ukraine, where the Vatican has not directly denounced Russia. He called for a "disarmed and disarming" peace. But the importance of not arming weaker belligerents was central to Francis' desire for peace, according to Vincenzo Paglia, the archbishop who is spiritual adviser to the lay community of Sant'Egidio, an organization rooted in Ukraine.

In particular, Francis considered it "hypocritical" in December 2024 to send weapons to Ukraine. Archbishop Paglia, met in his offices in the Roman quarter of Trastevere, quotes a passage from St. Luke where Jesus says that a king facing an enemy with 20,000 soldiers, when he has only 10,000, must send an emissary rather than fight.

Openings to  Conservatives

Two passages in his first speech Thursday night refer to concepts dear to the Conservatives. He declared "evil will not prevail" and recited a Hail Mary after a eulogy of the Virgin, a figure often favored by traditionalists who want to limit the role of women in the Church.

Father Ouellet believes that the passage on evil is not necessarily a reference to sexual morality. "It is also wrong that the rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer, he wants to give us hope. And we must remember that the Virgin is very important in Latin America. He also believes that the Virgin can be inspiring to everyone because she embodies that "the mother has given us a father."

Mr. Routhier believes that the passage on evil was intended to be "reassuring for some" who might be worried about the new pope's progressivism too far-reaching. As for the insistence on the Virgin, it is normal for popes – Francis visited the Basilica of St. Mary Major the day after his election. "He could have been Marian otherwise, but that's how he was."

One thing is certain, Leo XIV's Augustinian past will be useful to him in the face of criticism. "Augustinians have a solid intellectual formation based on the Fathers of the Church," says Routhier. His opponents will not be able to do as with Francis, reproach him for not being consistent on the level of doctrine. »

Leon's Legacy

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni explained at a press conference that the new head of the Church chose the name Leo in reference to Leo XIII and Leo the Great, the first of the name, who reigned from 440 to 461 and arbitrated fundamental theological questions of Christianity. The last Leo to have occupied the chair of St. Peter, Leo XIII, had one of the longest pontificates in history, from 1878 to 1903. In 1891, he had carried out a great modernization with his encyclical Rerum Novarum, which had denounced the working conditions of the workers and founded "social Catholicism". "It's a return to social Catholicism, to the dignity of the individual, which has sometimes been forgotten because we thought that politics, economics or sociology could solve the problems," said Christian Lépine, archbishop of Montreal, in an interview on the sidelines of a pilgrimage to Rome Thursday evening.