“A pope of the people”: The first American pontiff is no Marxist, but friends say he’s a reformer

Although he is the first Pope of America, a state where Catholic Church It is famous for the relative province, Pope Liu XIV – Who spent a lot of his great life at work Peru He is expected to largely continue his progressive predecessor reforms, despite some previous comments that criticize the acceptance of LGBTQ+ “lifestyle options”.

James Martin, an American Jesus priest and the founder of Outreach, a Catholic Organization from LGBTQ+, told the salon that the background of the new Pope in Latin America “means that he understands the global south,” a fact that most likely contributed to his choice as such.

Martin said: “I think this gave him some call to a lot of Cardinals,” Martin said.

Regarding many issues, such as his call to immigrants, Leo-who was known before this month as Cardinal Robert Prost-is expected to be in line with Pope Francis, who may be expected given the high-level roles appointed by Francis. His choice of Liu’s name also drew attention to the same name, Pope Liu XIII.

Christie Napan Warran, a professor of Catholic studies at Iowa University and an expert in Catholicity of Spanish origin, told a salon that she had noticed this name in particular, given that Liu XIII was known to be a worker lawyer during the industrial revolution from 1878 to 1903. Saying He chose the name to emphasize the social education provided by the Church in light of modern challenges, such as artificial intelligence, which requires “in defense of human dignity, justice and action.”

Naban Warran said that although the new Pope “was not called the theologian liberation,” his work in Peru reflects some of the values ​​adopted by the theologians liberating, “because between the scholars of theology and priests, you must walk.”

Napan Warran said: “There are stories about about it, which are verified stories, and carry rice on his back to preserve the diocese of one.” “You can say that this Pope, Pope Liu XIV, was when the Cardinal, the Bishop and the Prime Priest only, and before that, the Pope was largely for people.”

Others, such as Liu’s friend, have long indicated Mark R. Francis, the former head of the Catholic theological union in Chicago, to his role in the ranking of Saint Augustine, who emphasizes the combination of people and the building of society. In order Special wordsNearly 2,800 Member It aims to “build society and serve the people of the Lord.”

“I think he will be interested in gathering people together, and this is part of the spirituality Augusta and something I am sure that he will follow him,” said Francis. Salon told that he expected Liu to follow the footsteps of his predecessor, but he is expected to do it in a more trading and procedural way.

“He will not shoot from the hip in terms of issues,” said Francis. “It’s less separated and proud. It’s less spontaneous. It will be more trading, and this is just his personality.”

Some of the comments from the new Pope on LGBTQ+ issues, however, have been scrutinized and speculated that it might tend more conservative. In Senod bishops 2012, a pool Where he divides the bishops to discuss the issues of the church, he told the group that he complained about how “alternative families consist of gay partners and their adopted children are being photographed in a benign and emotional way on television programs and in the cinema.” According to To the Catholic news service.

“The sympathy for the anti -Christian lifestyle options that are strengthened by the media that enhances it brilliantly and ingenuity in viewing, when people hear the Christian message, it often looks ideological and harsh emotional in contrast to the visible humanity of the anti -Mercen perspective,” said Liu.

But Francis, who has known Liu since the 1970s, said he expected aspects of social justice in his ministry “very important”, adding that he “will not put great confidence in the things he said in 2012.

“We are all developing in some of these most sensitive issues,” he said. Liu is not seen as representing the most conservative faction in the American Church. As one of the Cardinals said, he is the least American among all American Cardinals, “said Francis, referring to the Liu profession in Peru.

In fact, in the most modern comments, Liu hit a different tone on LGBTQ+ problems than he did more than a decade before. When Leo Cardinal became by Pope Francis in 2023, Leo was asked if his opinions had evolved under the influence of Francis.

“The doctrine has not changed, and people did not say, however, as you know, we are looking for this type of change, but we look forward to being more welcome and more open, and we say that all people are welcome in the church,” Respond.

Michael Uloulin, CEO of Awareness, LGBTQ+ Catholic Organization, told the salon that he hopes but is still waiting to see how Leo Kababa behaves.

“It seems that the interpretation of people depends on one comment in 2012, which it was Muslim to have a more conservative tone, but that was a year before the election of Pope Francis, so his views have turned.” “I also kept open because some of his comments yesterday seem to be more in line with Pope Francis.”

Ollenn added that in the days after the Francis elections, there was also a discussion about many previous comments that were seen as gay control, “but it is clear that he took another direction.”

If Leo wants to follow the direction of his predecessor, he is likely to put him on registered heads with conservative Catholic leaders in the United States, who are widely seen as more reactionary than their peers, especially in Europe.

Leo’s profession in Peru appears to be an integral part of his election. Thomas Reese, a priest of Jesus and a columnist in the National Catholic correspondent, was in the Vatican when Liu was elected. In telling him, this victory was supported by strong support from the Cardinals in Latin America.

“What seemed to have happened is that the Cardro in Latin America was very united behind Prevost, and as a result, in the first ballot, he got much more than expected, while some other people who were contestants in the introduction did not get the largest possible number of votes as they thought they would do.”

On the possibility that he will find himself in conflict with the American Church and the conservative faction inside it, Reese warned that “the conservative Catholics in America have very high loudspeakers, but they have no many forces.”

He referred to Pio Research reconnaissance As of April 2024, which has found that 75 % of American Catholics have a positive opinion in Francis, although it becomes a political rod between American conservatives in the past five years of his life.

“Any politician in Washington will kill these numbers,” said Reese.

Reese compared the elections to the early presidential elections, when the candidate’s performance is not often compared to the quality of other candidates, but also the expectations that others had before the elections.

“Prevost’s expectations were low, transcended, and the Cardinals began to say,” Who is this? “They took a look at them and loved him.” Cardinals were in Latin America completely on board. They did not see him as Grengo, and saw him as a colleague. They felt that he might have been born in the United States, but his heart was in Latin America. “