Let's Talk About Pope Leo XIV

By Rich Kozlovich 

 

Since Pope Francis died there's been a lot of accolades, and a lot of condemnations.  The conventional wisdom is to not speak ill of the dead, and I get that. But time, history, and truth are on the same side, and speaking truth about the dead isn’t speaking ill. It’s just the truth, and history will not be kind to this Pope. Time, History, Truth, and Pope Francis.

 

But now there's a new Pope, and chosen rather quickly compared to other Popes.  When it was announced Cardinal Robert Prevost was to be the new Pope, most of us never heard of him, an American who as a result of his long years serving in Peru became a citizen of Peru, which is the heart of liberation theology.  Although there are those who claim he didn't support that "theology".  It's also being claimed he's most likely more middle of the road on issues.  Yet, if he wasn't a pro-illegal alien advocate would Pope Francis have promoted him to Cardinal?  I'll tell you what, we'll come back to that. 

There was those who expressed hope for a change in direction from the Vatican.  Noting his choice of names, Pope Leo XIV, it's been assumed, which I consider wishful thinking, he was honoring Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) who was famous for his denunciation of socialism, yet at the same time he was a promoter of labor and unions, I find that to be a bit cognitive dissonant, but at that time it probably made sense.

As I said, I think this is wishful thinking that fails to take in his history of embracing so many of Pope Francis’ positions.   Positions so many considered heresy. This Pope will not deviate much from the previous Pope. He may not be a Jesuit, but based on his history, he’s as Woke as was Francis. As I see it, this pick was a continuation of the anti-Trump globalist movement under a guise of Christian ethics.  

There was a lot of surprise the conclave of cardinals, 80% of which were picked by Pope Francis, when they picked an American since so many of them were chosen by Pope Francis, and Francis pretty much had no use for Donald Trump.   While he seemed to think supporters of abortion like Biden and Pelosi were just fine and dandy.  Others viewed this as the obvious and perfect choice to counter Trump with Americans, and this is a big one - the Vatican gets most of its money from American Catholics.  And that's a big deal why?   The church is in trouble financially. Serious trouble, which the Wall Street Journal, claims is "a five-alarm fire and recently published this saying:

Twelve years ago, the new Bishop of Rome was Francis, a pontiff elected with a mandate to fix the Vatican’s finances. But the first pope from the New World wasn’t prepared for the degree of resistance at the Curia, as the Vatican bureaucracy is known, his close advisers and allies said. He hired a professional auditor to modernize the finances—leading clergy to move Vatican funds to an account under a cardinal’s name and stockpile cash in a shopping bag. The auditor was mystified that nuns kept account ledgers in pencil and paper. At one point intruders broke into his office and tampered with his computer. Eventually the Gendarmerie Corps of Vatican City State—its police service—got involved.

Professional accountants, encouraged by Francis, ran training workshops for clergy who balked at the rules like obtaining multiple signoffs for expenses. Prelates tried to hide funds from scrutiny, citing national security concerns for the secret ledgers of funding missionaries in countries where proselytizing is a crime. Other departments shrugged off the modern-day challenge of balancing the budget of a papal state whose origins stretch back more than a millennium. The pope himself shifted focus to other topics. Meanwhile, the pension fund kept falling farther behind. Scandals over a $400 million real-estate investment ended with a cardinal being convicted of embezzlement and fraud in 2023.

While Francis had some wrong views on a lot of things, dishonesty wasn't one of his shortcomings.  After years of trying to correct the mess and failing, just before he died he resorting to asking for more donations, much like leftist politicians who refuse to act fiscally responsible and just keep raising taxes. 

As of 2024 it's being claimed the Vatican has a budget deficit of $94.22 million, and a pension deficit of more than $1 billion.  While in a general way I knew there were financial issues, I had no idea it was this big a mess, and what the Vatican needs is Elon Musk.

I have absolutely no doubt Pope Leo is a mirror image of Pope Francis, or he wouldn't have been chosen.  He's already demonstrating that by taking a harsh view of Trump's deportation actions.  Tom Homan says he needs to mind his own business, and did so in no uncertain terms.   An interesting side bar to all of this:  Pope Leo’s older brother is a big MAGA supporter of Trump, and J.D. Vance, who the new Pope took a shot at for defending American sovereignty, and says his brother will be much like Pope Francis.   Which bodes well the question: Is a schism on the horizon? 

•  The New Pope Seems To Align With The Old Pope’s Liberation Theology - S. David Sultzer - If true, this is concerning because liberation theology represents the Marxist effort to undermine Catholicism from within.......