A new pope
Leo XIV looks likely to promote world peace and social justice. What about relaxing the Roman Catholic Church's harsh judgments on sexuality?
Note: See update for May 8, 2025, at end of post.
With the Roman Catholic Conclave now complete, lots of folks are naturally wondering where the new pope, Robert Prevost, now Leo XIV, stands on issues that divide not only the Catholic Church but humanity, not least in the U.S. Initial indications are only initial indications, but it looks like Leo will largely follow in Francis’ footsteps with an emphasis on quests for world peace and social justice. The evidence goes beyond his choice of papal name and his first public words as pope.[1]
It seems he tweeted an article by Kat Armis rebuking J. D. Vance’s invocation of ordo amoris to justify protection of some closest to us at the expense of others more socially distant.[2] Armis explained that “the problem with this hierarchy is that it feeds the myth that some people are more deserving of our care than others. It's a framework that makes sense in a world governed by scarcity and fear, where protection comes at the expense of others. But Jesus never speaks of love as something to be rationed. He speaks of love as abundance — a table where there is enough for everyone.”[3] Armis wrote further that “[w]hen Jesus speaks of family, it's not defined by blood or borders but by kinship in God.”[4]
In short, we are all human and deserving of compassion and protection.
Fundamentally, Armis’ position, as apparently endorsed by the new pope, is not very different from a premise in international human rights law that human rights apply universally to all human beings, regardless of race, nationality, ethnicity, gender, or any other point of discrimination.[5] It is also completely contrary to the Donald Trump administration’s animus toward migrants, utterly without regard to their legal status,[6] that is almost certainly racist.
Like many, I watch the ongoing drama at the Roman Catholic Church precisely because it impacts so many people, and because I hope the Church will deemphasize its harshly judgmental doctrine on sexuality in favor of inclusiveness. We don’t seem to know much about Leo’s view on the former, but it looks like he embraces the latter.[7] I will hope as well for the former.
Update, May 8, 2025: This post has been edited several times since it was originally published, mostly to add citations, but also a couple times to improve clarity. (This is pretty much the norm for me.)
Qasim Rashid has plunged into Pope Leo XIV’s timeline on X, and found that he repeats the usual Roman Catholic doctrines on abortion and reproductive healthcare.[8] Rashid, I, and, I trust, most of my readers will agree that this is pretty ugly stuff. It is also entirely and sadly to be expected.
It is too much to hope for that Leo would oppose these doctrines or even that he will modify them during his papacy. The Roman Catholic Church is ancient and slow to change; the best we can hope for is some nibbling around the edges—unsatisfactory to be sure if you’re a woman whose life or health depends on getting an abortion right now and you happen to have landed in a Catholic hospital. The first steps here will be for the Church to devote far less emphasis to the topic. If Catholics can focus on it less, time might heal some wounds and more rational views might yet prevail.
But when I was in Pittsburgh, I saw the depth of anti-abortion fervor, particularly among Roman Catholic institutiona and many of their followers. The fake crosses meant to commemorate aborted zygotes made an annual appearance. Even in Mt. Lebanon, a relatively liberal suburb, the electronic sign in front of St. Bernard’s Church celebrated celibacy. And don’t even venture into Westmoreland County (immediately to the east of Allegheny County, wherein Pittsburgh lies) where it seemed anti-abortion sentiment was particularly rabid. This is all insane and even many theologians challenge prohibitions on contraception and homosexuality,[9] to say nothing of ordinary Catholics.[10] But it will not change anytime soon as the doctrine is simply too deeply embedded in the beliefs of the Church hierarchy. And it is unreasonable to expect that it will.
[1] Chico Harlan and Emily Wax-Thibodeaux, “Cardinal Robert Prevost becomes first American-born pope,” Washington Post, May 8, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/08/pope-prevost-american-vatican/;https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/08/pope-leo-xiv-views-political-robert-prevost/; Joshua McElwee, “In his first appearance, Pope Leo offers three big clues about his papacy,” Reuters, May 8, 2025, https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/his-first-appearance-pope-leo-offers-three-big-clues-about-his-papacy-2025-05-08/; Catherine Pepinster, “What will the new Pope be like? He’s chosen to be called Leo: that’s no accident,” Guardian, May 8, 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/may/08/what-will-the-new-pope-be-like-hes-chosen-to-be-called-leo-thats-no-accident; Peter Smith, “New pope led Order of St. Augustine dedicated to the poor and service,” Associated Press, May 8, 2025, https://apnews.com/article/vatican-new-pope-leo-xiv-robert-prevost-order-st-augustine-d803636fad69fe4d4c919181fc5ad5c1
[2] Robert Prevost, “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others,” X.com, February 3, 2025, https://x.com/drprevost/status/1886469097560719594
[3] Kat Armis, “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others,” National Catholic Reporter, February 1, 2025, https://www.ncronline.org/opinion/guest-voices/jd-vance-wrong-jesus-doesnt-ask-us-rank-our-love-others
[4] Kat Armis, “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others,” National Catholic Reporter, February 1, 2025, https://www.ncronline.org/opinion/guest-voices/jd-vance-wrong-jesus-doesnt-ask-us-rank-our-love-others
[5] United Nations, “Human Rights,” n.d., https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/human-rights
[6] Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney, “Trump administration contends it has no duty to return illegally deported man to US,” Politico, April 13, 2025, https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/13/abrego-garcia-el-salvador-trump-administration-00288502; Madeline Halpert, “Three US citizen children, one with cancer, deported to Honduras, lawyers say,” British Broadcasting Corporation, April 28, 2025, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g8yj2n33yo
[7] Chico Harlan and Emily Wax-Thibodeaux, “Cardinal Robert Prevost becomes first American-born pope,” Washington Post, May 8, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/08/pope-prevost-american-vatican/;https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/08/pope-leo-xiv-views-political-robert-prevost/; Joshua McElwee, “In his first appearance, Pope Leo offers three big clues about his papacy,” Reuters, May 8, 2025, https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/his-first-appearance-pope-leo-offers-three-big-clues-about-his-papacy-2025-05-08/; Catherine Pepinster, “What will the new Pope be like? He’s chosen to be called Leo: that’s no accident,” Guardian, May 8, 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/may/08/what-will-the-new-pope-be-like-hes-chosen-to-be-called-leo-thats-no-accident; Peter Smith, “New pope led Order of St. Augustine dedicated to the poor and service,” Associated Press, May 8, 2025, https://apnews.com/article/vatican-new-pope-leo-xiv-robert-prevost-order-st-augustine-d803636fad69fe4d4c919181fc5ad5c1
[8] Qasim Rashid, “What I Learned By Reading Pope Leo's Entire Twitter History,” Let’s Address This With Qasim Rashid, May 8, 2025, https://www.qasimrashid.com/p/what-i-learned-by-reading-pope-leos
[9] Joshua J. McElwee, “Theologians call church sexual teachings 'incomprehensible,' ask for lay input,” National Catholic Reporter, November 21, 2013, https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/theologians-call-church-sexual-teachings-incomprehensible-ask-lay-input
[10] Lisa Fullam, “The Catholic Church needs a sex talk,” Washington Post, March 11, 2013, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/the-catholic-church-needs-a-sex-talk/2013/03/11/9abd3b8a-8a8c-11e2-8d72-dc76641cb8d4_story.html