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Reaction to Cardinal Robert Prevost Being Named Pope Leo XIV

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The reaction to the news that U.S. Cardinal Robert Prevost of Chicago will become Pope and will now be known as Pope Leo XIV was swift in the news media and on social media.

The consensus is that he is progressive to moderate. Social media was raging with political takes on his selection. Some GOPers and MAGA members clearly felt he wasn’t the kind of Pope they wanted – a more conservative pope. On social media it was an anti-Pope Leo meltdown. But many who oppose Donald Trump politically were happy: it turned out that then-Cardinal Prevost bashed Trump and Vice President JD Vance on Twitter earlier this year.

Here’s a cross section of media and social media reaction.

The New York Times:

Robert Francis Prevost, who was elected the 267th pope of the Roman Catholic Church on Thursday and took the name Pope Leo XIV, is the first pope from the United States.

The decision from the 133 voting cardinals, which arrived in a plume of white smoke at the end of their second day of voting inside the secrecy of the Sistine Chapel, defied longstanding belief that church leaders would never select a pope from a global superpower that already has considerable influence in world affairs.

Taking the name Pope Leo XIV, he shares Francis’ commitment to helping the poor and migrants. He was once the leader of his religious order, the Augustinians, whose members are called to live simply and devote themselves to ministering to those in need.

In his first address as pope to the crowd in St. Peter’s Square, he said in Italian, “We must seek together how to be a missionary church, a church that builds bridges, dialogue, always open to receive like this square with open arms.”

As an American, he is uniquely positioned to stand in contrast to the energized conservative Catholicism in his home country, and has pushed back forcefully against the militant vision of Christian power that the Trump administration has elevated.

Months before Cardinal Prevost became pope, a social media account under his name expressed criticism of Vice President JD Vance, who had asserted on Fox News that Christian theology could justify turning away migrants and strangers in need because it actually ranks caring for family first. The account posted on X that “J.D. Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.”

Despite his American roots, the Chicago-born polyglot, 69, is viewed as a churchman who transcends borders. The Vatican’s official news website framed him not as the first pope from the United States, but the second pope from the Americas. He served for two decades in Peru, where he became a bishop and a naturalized citizen, then rose to lead his international religious community, the Order of St. Augustine. Under Pope Francis, he held one of the most influential Vatican posts, running the office that selects and manages bishops globally.

That made him an attractive choice to the Roman Curia, the powerful bureaucracy that governs the church and which, after frequently experiencing reprimands and upheavals from Pope Francis, wanted someone who knew, and appreciated, the institution.

Chicago Sun Times:

Cardinal Robert Prevost, a missionary born in Chicago who spent much of his career abroad and leads the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops, was elected the first pope from the United States in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic church.

Prevost, 69, took the name Leo XIV. He replaces Pope Francis, who died last month.

His first words as the 267th pope were, “Peace be with you.”

From St. Peter’s Basilica, the new pope told the gathered throng that he is an Augustinian priest but a Christian above all, as well as a bishop, “So we can all walk together.”

He spoke in Italian and then switched to Spanish, recalling his many years spent as a missionary and then archbishop of Chiclayo, Peru. Prevost wore the traditional red cape of the papacy — a cape that Francis had eschewed on his election in 2013.

“I’m really proud,” said Noelle Neis, a childhood friend who, with her four siblings, grew up in the same parish as the Prevosts, the old St. Mary of the Assumption on Chicago’s border with Dolton.

She said her phone was blowing up Thursday with calls and texts.

“To think about we knew him when he was a kid,” Neis said. “He’s just like one of us. Before it was so out of reach for anybody.”

John Doughney, another childhood friend, recalled Prevost as incredibly kind.

“You could tell at a very young age, there was just a kindness and a compassion about him that wasn’t really typical of most kids.” Doughney said. “With Robert, it was on display.”

Prevost’s rise to become an influential figure at the Vatican began in Dolton as the town grew, taking in thousands of people moving from apartments in Chicago to new homes in the south suburb during the post-World War II boom.

NBC News:

VATICAN CITY — The new American pope received a very American reception in Vatican City.

“USA! USA! USA!” chanted a boisterous group of young clergymen dressed in long black cassocks, pogoing in the center of St. Peter’s Square.

The square — often a place for calm and prayer — felt more like a sporting event or a rock concert on Thursday after the Vatican conclave chose Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost to be the next pope, making him the first American-born head of the Roman Catholic Church.

Americans in Vatican City expressed exultation, pride and surprise — stunned surprise — all rolled into one.

“I am shocked,” said Joe Brodeur, 27, a deacon from Providence, Rhode Island. “I am feeling so much joy, that’s all I can say.”

In truth, the first emotion that swept this part of the square was confusion.

Cardinal Dominique Mamberti announced the result in Latin. The 40,000 people assembled in the square got the “habemus papam” bit — “we have a pope” — which elicited more cheers. But the actual name was swallowed up by the din.

“Who did they say?” one person asked over the clamor. “Did he say Robert Sarah?” wondered someone else, referring to the Guinean cardinal well regarded by bookmakers beforehand.

USA Today columnist Rex Huppke:

Well, MAGA, it looks like you got yourself another Woke Pope to contend with.

In the right-wing loon-o-sphere, the reaction to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost becoming the first American-born pope has been one of outrage and disgust. Conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, who is regularly in President Donald Trump’s ear, posted of the new pontiff: “WOKE MARXIST POPE.”

Hardcore Trump supporter Ryan Selkis, a former crypto CEO, shared past social-media posts believed to be from the new pope. They included things like support for George Floyd and criticism of Trump’s family separation policy. Selkis wrote: “A new woke pope. BLM. Kids in cages. Suicidal empathy. American who mostly posts en espanol.”

‘WOKE POPE,’ screams the MAGA crowd. Apparently, Jesus’ own teachings go too far.

I’m not familiar with the “empathy is bad” portion of the Bible. But it seems the MAGA crowd is generally upset at the new pope, who took the name Leo XIV, because he believes in the things Jesus taught. The fact that those things – loving others, embracing peace, welcoming immigrants – are deemed “woke” and thus intolerable by parishioners of the Church of Trump tells you all you need to know about the congregation.

Who knows, maybe they’re just upset other places keep choosing leaders who stand against much of what Trump stands for. Conservatives in Canada and Australia took a beating in recent elections thanks to widespread dislike of Trump, and now the Vatican gets a U.S. pope who: believes climate change is an urgent crisis; hails from Chicago, a city Trump has routinely derided as a liberal sanctuary city; preaches love for immigrants; and, like his papal predecessor and most humans, doesn’t seem to like Vice President JD Vance.\

On his verified X account, then-Cardinal Prevost shared a column about Vance that included the headline: “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.”

That’s a double sad trombone for Vance, a fairly recent convert to Catholicism who has now taken heat from two popes.

Go to the link to read it all.