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First American pope elected and will be known as Pope Leo XIV
- I_am_tiberius 1y agoI strongly believe the American choice was a strategic decision made by a group of highly intelligent individuals.
- echelon 1y agoTo placate or appeal to the current American leadership? What's the desired outcome? European, NATO, or Ukrainian security guarantees?
- ok_dad 1y agoFrom what I read, the new pope is much like Francis on human rights and political topics, but a bit more conservative about church doctrine. Perhaps it's to have a counterpoint to Trump in America, to show that not all American-born leaders are trash? Time will tell, I suppose.
- awnird 1y ago[flagged]
- wahern 1y agoI wouldn't presume Prevost is more doctrinally conservative than Francis, just because Francis wasn't as liberal as popularly claimed. Rather, American conservative bishops attempted to paint Francis as doctrinally liberal as part of their rhetorical strategy to attack Francis' non-doctrinal liberalism (e.g. on high-profile but non-doctrinal matters related to discipline, liturgy, etc). Similarly, progressive activists chose to interpret Francis' policies as doctrinal shifts, when they weren't. Though it's possible the latter phenomenon was something Francis was content to leave uncorrected. Francis seemed to embrace ambiguity in his pronouncements as a method of rapprochement.
- ok_dad 1y agoThanks, I am not that informed, I don’t know why I even commented.
- vixen99 1y agoHere's an oddity: apparently Noam Chomsky doesn't fully agree with you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmSJnuF7_zg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmSJnuF7_zg
- SirSavary 1y agoWhat relevance, in any way, does this hold to the current discussion? Additionally, Noam refers to Trump's statements from the beginning of the Ukraine war. Trump's position on the matter has done a total 180 since. Why would Noam continue to hold the same view if Trump doesn't?
- register 1y agoTo exert political pressure on the current American leadership by influencing the masses and achieve the objectives of the Catholic Church? Have you forgotten what happened with Wojtyła and Solidarność?
- progbits 1y agoCurrent USA leadership is already taking actions well aligned with the church (such as stripping rights from women, homosexuals).
- lenerdenator 1y agoOn some things. On others, like social safety nets, rights for migrants (particularly those from Latin America where Leo XIV spent a lot of time), and militarism, the RCC and Trump's GOP are at stark odds.
- BirAdam 1y agoWhile the Church is conservative in some ways people dislike it also advocates things like peace, ending capital punishment, and nondescrimination based upon race. In my home city, the Church was the only place that wasn’t racist. For my entire life, the Church has been the only place in America with a majority that didn’t want to bomb poor brown people all over the planet. In modern America, not wanting to bomb people is… umm… foreign to both sides of the political spectrum.
- EasyMark 1y agoMaybe the Roman Catholic Church* is that way. Evangelicals are not. They are for whatever their crazy leaders want, including blowing up brown people whenever they get in the way or cross borders. Also counting fascism as family values.
- grg0 1y agoYeah, peace on their own terms and ideology.
- dathinab 1y ago> What's the desired outcome? European, NATO, or Ukrainian security guarantees? that would be pretty dump to try, I don't think there are any such goles > To placate or appeal to the current American leadership? only we speak about "appealing to them to be more human", "appealing to them to follow christian values", denouncing people which claim to represent christian values in their action which in fact are opposite to what the Roman Church things Christian values are etc. if we speak about directly influencing politics, especially geopolitics that seems very unlikely to be the intend, or doable
- axus 1y agoThey picked an American, who actually lived and worked in Peru, and not archbishop of New York that Trump suggested.
- jsnider3 1y agoIf they want someone who can effectively oppose Trump, why would they pick someone he suggested?
- amelius 1y agoWhat did any pope actually do to oppose anybody?
- niij 1y agohttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investiture_Controversy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investiture_Controversy
- I-M-S 1y agoI believe the question implied "in living memory". Popes notoriously don't directly speak up even against atrocities such as genocides, let alone act on it (with levers that are most certainly in their control, such as excommunications).
- gambiting 1y agoPope John Paul II was a crucial figure in the fall of communism in Poland, even though he never opposed the state directly - just the fact that he was Polish and that the state couldn't censor his speeches and visits and demonstrated to the deeply religious nation that there is a path outside of the the one dictated by the state that is credited with a significant contribution to the forces that eventually led to the events of 1989.
- gitaarik 1y agoDidn't Trump suggest someone from NYC?
- srameshc 1y agoIs it possible that this move is to reinstate Catholicism in the United States, given that Evangelicals appear to be gaining influence?
- defen 1y agoWhat do you mean reinstate? The country was founded by the descendants of people who for the most part hated Catholicism.
- carefulfungi 1y agoYes, but... the Spanish reached present-day New Mexico before the English reached present-day New England.
- defen 1y agoSure, but the Spanish colonization had virtually no impact on the ethnic, political, or religious development of the United States other than some water and land rights in the Southwest.
- carefulfungi 1y agoI suppose like so many historical discussions, it depends on where you draw the starting line. Personally, I find understanding the colonization of the Americas and the emergence of the United States more effectively as a continuum that includes the Spanish, who were the dominate initial "new world" colonial power for a couple hundred years. Not to mention, who actually funded Columbus ;-). I understand this isn't the popular or common place to draw the starting line when reading US history, though. (And maybe not even a good way - just a way that I find personally more interesting.)
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- entropicdrifter 1y ago>Sure, but the Spanish colonization had virtually no impact on the ethnic, political, or religious development of the United States other than some water and land rights in the Southwest. Texas, California, Florida, totally unimportant backwater states, right? No Latin American culture, ethnicity, political or religious influence to speak of.
- rocqua 1y agoMy national news agency (the NOS) reported that this happened despite his nationality, not because of. According to their article, the dislike of most of the world against American happenings made him a less likely candidate.
- I_am_tiberius 1y agoI consider that as very unlikely, as he wasn't on top of the list of favorites. But of course we don't really know.
- cvoss 1y agoThe deliberations of the conclave are secret in perpetuity. It is not possible for your news agency to report on why this candidate was selected. Whatever they said is an outsider's guess.
- disgruntledphd2 1y agoI mean, if the person above is Italian, and live in Rome, they can probably get a much better quality of gossip than you or I.
- gambiting 1y agoI mean, the choice of John Paul II was also a "strategic" choice - he(or simply the fact that he was Polish) was credited with contributing to the toppling of communism and Poland, and in a broader sense with the collapse of the Iron Curtain.
- haunter 1y agoIs he a Cubs or White Sox fan though?
- jm4 1y agoDo the White Sox still have any fans?
- dannyphantom 1y ago...yes :( I was ~8(ish) when my parents took me to their last World Series. Now, I'm a fan fueled by nostalgia and a deeply ingrained belief that 'THIS is the year they will go ALL the way!' One day it'll pay off
- nkrisc 1y agoWell, he's Catholic, so I think White Sox is more likely.
- xeromal 1y agoI'm not a catholic but I decided to watch the new Conclave movie as well as a Tasting History by Max Miller to learn a little bit about it. Very interesting but I'd love a historical movie on some of the past conclaves when the pope managed a standing army. Edit: The Max Miller video was about the baby back ribs cooked in proto-bbq sauce made from grapes that was eaten by a conclave.
- prox 1y agoThe movie “two popes” is pretty good, which some strong acting performance. (Not really historical since that was about a decade ago)
- netsharc 1y ago> when the pope managed a standing army. In the past wasn't the church basically a political entity, there was even a period when some kingdoms didn't recognize the Vatican pope... (I suppose it's still is very much a political organization)
- tough 1y agoAlso a very old bank
- alabastervlog 1y agoA bunch of Buddhist monasteries were also banks, back in the day. Medieval Catholic monasteries were basically corporations where the board lived together and spent tons of time praying and celebrating festivals. Prayers were like NFTs and they traded them to nobles in exchange for traditionally-productive capital, which the corporation would then manage to provide them goods and monetary revenue. Here I was tempted to write "the past was weird" but then we have actual NFTs and those are amazingly silly, so, how weird was it really?
- yjftsjthsd-h 1y agoAIUI, Vatican City is still its own political entity. (I do not claim to understand how that interacts with the Catholic Church in general.)
- diego_moita 1y agoThe correct title should be "Habemus Papam".
- kurthr 1y ago"Habemus Papam, iter faciet"
- antognini 1y agoThe field of candidates in this conclave was relatively open compared to the past few conclaves, so it is a little surprising that the cardinals were able to come to a consensus by the fourth ballot. That suggests that one of the initial front runners (likely Parolin or Tagle) was able to generate momentum early on and get the 2/3 majority pretty quickly. But we'll see in about 30 minutes if the cardinals have surprised us all with someone completely different!
- rpmisms 1y agoI'm rooting for Sarah, but Tagle seems pretty decent.
- zdragnar 1y agoGiven the number of cardinals Pope Francis appointed, I would imagine there's a fairly strong consensus at least on the direction of the church, which in theory would eliminate a strongly divided conclave, at least.
- antognini 1y agoIt's not quite so obvious that all of Francis's appointees were lockstop in line with his vision. Up until the last consistory he tended to appoint cardinals from the "peripheries," places that did not historically have a strong presence in the Church. (For instance he appointed a cardinal from Mongolia and one from the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Australia.) These cardinals are a bit of wildcard. But given that the conclave was so short that does suggest that there was not much division over direction.
- Vox_Leone 1y agoThe brevity of the conclave election seems to signal a continuation of Francis' policies
- chuckreynolds 1y agoTheo Vonn walks onto balcony.... lol
- lambdaba 1y agoHis full name is Theodor Capitani von Kurnatowski III, I think it fits.
- blensor 1y agoI wonder if there is any other event in recent history that is communicated as quickly to as many people as the fact that a new pope has been elected. I was out on the streets when the church bells started ringing here in Vienna as must have all around the globe where there are catholic churches
- qsort 1y agoProbably not as spiritually fulfilling, but the stock market would be an example of that happening at sub-second latencies, every day, all day.
- TZubiri 1y agoWith some exceptions like crisis, not everyone is listening to that. And it happens every day, all day. It's not discrete information.
- Clamchop 1y agoI don't think that counts as communicating to people at all, let alone to as many people.
- PaulHoule 1y agoWhat about the tickers you see on TV or at Times Square? That’s not communicating?
- crazygringo 1y agoHow many people look at those? Versus how many people across the world are finding out about the new pope? The point is how many people are actually receiving this information. Not "could look up on their phone if they wanted".
- PaulHoule 1y agoI used to be a CNBC junkie. Before there was crypto I used to enjoy adopting a penny stock and watching the ticker for it very closely; you can learn a lot about market dynamics when you are trading a stock where you buy $2000 of stock and that is 30% of the volume for the day. (Try $KBLB for a stock where if you think the price is too high or too low you will find that both opinions are vindicated if you wait long enough.)
- dfxm12 1y agoIs it Pizzaballa?
- freetime2 1y agoThe pope is not a subject that typically interests me, but I must admit that I find announcing a decision with changing smoke color rather delightful. I wonder how long ago that started.
- ch4s3 1y agoThe white smoke means there's a pope thing started in 1914[1], but they've been burning the ballots for a very long time. [1]https://www.history.com/articles/pope-conclave-smoke-color https://www.history.com/articles/pope-conclave-smoke-color
- wvbdmp 1y agoAny chance the guy who programmed history.com to redirect deep links to your local tld version’s frontpage is on HN? What a helpful feature
- majewsky 1y agoThey might be, but the necktie that made them do it sure isn't.
- nosianu 1y agoAnnoyingly, when I go to that page, even from Google where I found that URL too, I end up at the German homepage www.history.de (no path, the main page). I cannot go to history.com no matter what. I hate "intelligent" websites as much as I like touchpad microwaves, and that means not at all. Why would anyone assume an enforced(!!!) connection between my geographic location and the language-version of the website?
- seszett 1y agoI even get to "history.nl/nl" even though I'm a French speaker in Belgium. On a French connection it redirects to "aenetworks.tv". I don't think there is any way to access that page from outside the US.
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- andrepd 1y agoNew pope: https://collegeofcardinalsreport.com/cardinals/robert-francis-prevost/ https://collegeofcardinalsreport.com/cardinals/robert-franci...
- tgv 1y agoDamn, you're right. He'll be going by Leo XIV.
- lordnacho 1y agoSo, it this the Church setting up a confrontation with Trump?
- kccoder 1y agoMaybe the selection didn't consider Trump in any way. Disappointingly for Trump, the entire world doesn't revolve around him.
- aoki 1y ago> His educational background includes a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Villanova University Huh. Career counselors take note, new path opened up.
- andrepd 1y agoFrancis had a degree in chemistry if I'm not mistaken.
- ryandv 1y agoIt's a modern rhetorical fallacy that science is directly antithetical to religion, when many of history's greatest scientists were themselves "spiritual" in some way (though that degree of spirituality may have ranged from near-atheistic scientific pantheism a la Einstein and Sagan, to members of the clergy). I am glad there are still numerous counterexamples of those with firm educations in hard STEM fields that still contemplate the divine. Probably two modern developments presaged this viewpoint: the laughable apologetics of the Creationists, which have already been refuted ad nauseam by the New Atheists; and semantic drift and inaccurate (or even lacking) definitions for the word "god," which is probably better understood in modern English as "mind" or "mental construct" or "the abstract" (as contrasted with the "concrete" or physical body a la Descartes, in a similar fashion to the distinction between the rarefied air of mathematical models, and the hard reality of physical law). It's easy to chastise an ideology when you misunderstand some of its most basic terminology, as has been done with words like "god" or "spirituality." Ironically I often find it is people who are not educated in STEM that cleave most vociferously to the point of view that religion and science are fundamentally irreconcilable.
- mongol 1y agoAn American pope!
- hnthrow90348765 1y agoThe conclave had the opportunity to do the funniest thing
- wkat4242 1y agoThey should have picked Trump. He wanted to be pope anyway and he can do far less damage there :)
- netsharc 1y ago"I can be President and Pope at the same time! Buy some Tesler, it's the very best cars, and I look forward to welcoming you to the First Annual Papal Golf Tournament, at Mar-A-Lago, next month!". Heh, if Epstein was still alive he'd be jumping joyfully that his buddy Trump became pope...
- timeon 1y agoAccording Wikipedia, this one was covering pedophile too.
- vkou 1y agoYes, they could have elected me, but I'll expect that they'll come to their senses, and have another chance to do the right thing a decade or two from now. Have you ever heard of the question: "Is the Pope Catholic?"
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- deadbabe 1y agoNot sure I like this.
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- elorm 1y agoNot a catholic but I kept a tab on the process because the Catholic church seemed to lean towards a very conservative candidate and i was interested to see how it pans out. Turns out we have an American Pope and he wasn't even a top contender.
- Symbiote 1y agoHe was listed among 10 leading candidates in the Guardian, yesterday: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/07/who-next-pope-potential-candidates-conclave https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/07/who-next-pope-...
- nickthegreek 1y ago"Whereas Francis said, “Who am I to judge?” when asked about gay clerics, Cardinal Prevost has expressed less welcoming views to L.G.B.T.Q. people. In a 2012 address to bishops, he lamented that Western news media and popular culture fostered “sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the gospel.” He cited the “homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children.”" https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/02/world/americas/pope-candidate-cardinal-robert-francis-prevost.html#:~:text=when%20asked%20about%20gay%20clerics,at%20odds%20with%20the%20gospel.%E2%80%9D https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/02/world/americas/pope-candi...
- chirau 1y agoIs there an accessible link?
- scrlk 1y agohttps://archive.ph/KRJYg https://archive.ph/KRJYg
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- armchairhacker 1y agoThe quote is very similar to https://collegeofcardinalsreport.com/cardinals/robert-francis-prevost/ https://collegeofcardinalsreport.com/cardinals/robert-franci... (“Summary” footnote 1), but missing the second part: > However, regarding the Vatican’s 2023 document Fiducia Supplicans, which permits non-liturgical blessings for couples in irregular situations (including same-sex couples), Prevost emphasized the need for national bishops’ conferences to have doctrinal authority to interpret and apply such directives in their local contexts, given cultural differences. So it’s ambiguous.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- TZubiri 1y agoThere will probably be a time for this debate. But in general, this is the church line, not really surprising.
- _bin_ 1y ago[flagged]
- chirau 1y agoI am sure a certain somebody is going to claim credit for bringing the papacy home to America to make it great.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- belter 1y agoThe tariffs will stay! https://religionnews.com/2025/04/07/president-trump-imposes-tariffs-on-indulgences-from-the-holy-see/ https://religionnews.com/2025/04/07/president-trump-imposes-...
- pqtyw 1y agoI can't comprehend this. Surely it must be some Onion style article: “Why should we import indulgences from the Vatican when we have domestic producers like Paula White who offer products that are much better,” said a White House spokesperson.
- RandomBacon 1y agoFrom the link: > this column is satire
- jm4 1y agoIt's only a matter of time before that same person gets called out by the new pope and responds by calling him a loser. If we're lucky, that will be the catalyst that finally erodes any remaining support he has.
- doomroot13 1y agoDon't hold your breath. My whole family are staunch Catholics and disliked Francis because of his more "liberal" leanings. Some Catholics believed he was the "anti-christ" and loved Trump. Seriously.
- Boogie_Man 1y agoThe prevailing wisdom has been proven wrong on this occasion. He is very much a continuation of Francis's school of thought in spite of the "fat Pope thin Pope" wisdom, and he is an American who has been elected Pope, which was almost unthinkable because of America's economic, political, and mass media domination of the western world. Very unexpected
- dylan604 1y ago> The prevailing wisdom I'm so sick of prevailing wisdom with people just making shit up just to fill time on 24/7 news coverage and people can have their talking head shows with diverse "views".
- bombcar 1y agoThis is basically 99% of it, based on two or three datapoints until suddenly it doesn't matter anymore. See: "Can't select an American pope until America is not powerful anymore."
- ThunderSizzle 1y agoI've seen people state that America isn't powerful anymore and this is proof of that.
- throw310822 1y agoIf he's on the same positions as Pope Francis but he's American, then this is a great move by the Catholic Church. Many Americans will naturally root for "their" Pope, and this will lead them away from the positions of Trump and the Evangelicals.
- MegaDeKay 1y agoSeems that the new pope has strongly criticized Trump and Vance in the past. This is going to get interesting... https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/new-pope-robert-prevost-politics-trump-vance-b2747500.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/new-pope-r...
- collinmanderson 1y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_XIV https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_XIV
- HughParry 1y agoPosted on the other thread as I thought it was pretty interesting: >Roughly 0.5% odds on him on polymarket before he was announced
- alexchamberlain 1y agoI don't understand what people were basing that on; the conclave is a completely secret process?
- RandomBacon 1y agoThe winning lottery numbers are a secret too before they're drawn; people just like to gamble.
- gkoberger 1y agoEDIT: I was wrong, he was quite down the list! He only appears in the chart because he ultimately won, so higher contenders dropped off. -- He seemed to hover around 1%, which was the second highest behind Tagle (~20%) https://polymarket.com/event/who-will-be-the-next-pope?tid=1746726197086 https://polymarket.com/event/who-will-be-the-next-pope?tid=1...
- fasthands9 1y agoThat link isn't showing most of the options. I believe there were at least 10 above him. Just individually look at the lines for Zuppi, Pizzaballa, Sarah, etc.
- martinclayton 1y agoWhat happens if Charlie Stross meets the Pope?
- Muromec 1y agoAnother conclave obviously
- lihaciudaniel 1y agoAnyone interested in st. malachi prophecy of popes, one should go on google books to find it and read it. In essence, it foretold last pope was francis, as peter the roman....
- nathell 1y agoFrom [0]: > Rev. Robert Prevost bears responsibility for allowing former Providence Catholic H.S. President and priest Richard McGrath to stay at the high school amidst sex abuse allegations that dated back to the 1990s. > That's according to Eduardo Lopez de Casas, a clergy abuse survivor and national vice president of the Chicago-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). [0]: https://willcountygazette.com/stories/671124585-if-he-saw-and-stayed-silent-he-s-not-a https://willcountygazette.com/stories/671124585-if-he-saw-an...
- matthewmacleod 1y agoYes, but find a catholic priest who doesn’t share that responsibility.
- Boogie_Man 1y agoThere are several important American bishops who have made serious strides to protect children. This is an ignorant statement.
- bitshiftfaced 1y agoI'm just looking at this out of statistical curiosity: of these bishops you mention, were they in a position in the hierarchy that would be subject to this responsibility during the 80s or 90s? They always select popes that have been high up in the hierarchy for a while. Not that they have to select cardinals, but it takes that much to be a cardinal no less.
- matthewmacleod 1y agoIt's not, really; the Catholic Church (among most other religious orders) routinely prioritises self-preservation over the safety of children. If we were to use "was in proximity to allegations of child abuse and didn't act on it" as a barometer for who was permitted to ascent to the papacy, we'd have a pretty small pool to choose from.
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- TZubiri 1y agoCongrats to the Americans on winning the World Christian Championship!
- throwanem 1y agoOnly in the Latin Orthodox division.
- timeon 1y agoMost Christians are Catholics.
- bregma 1y agoMost Catholics are Christian.
- zemo 1y agonot in the US
- eesmith 1y agoMost Christians are not Catholics, though it's close and recently was true. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_denomination https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_denomination says just less than half of Christians in 2024 were Catholic (48.6%), down from 50.1% in 2011.
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- seydor 1y agoWell the markets are up, that must mean something :) More importantly , the conclave did not overshadow any new AI model releases. Lots to learn about the Pope Leo XIV. I liked his speech
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- comeonbro 1y agoAs a record of how likely people considered this outcome: Prevost was hovering around 1% on Polymarket, and was <0.5% between white smoke and announcement.
- andrepd 1y agoAmong the most unlikely papabile I would have preferred someone like Tolentino.
- oytis 1y agoSounds like an amazing opportunity for insider trading
- Onavo 1y agoIsn't the max profit limited by counterparty liquidity? Polymarket won't pay out anything extra.
- bowsamic 1y agoI wouldn't be shocked if that's one of the reasons why they sequester
- connicpu 1y agoThe sequestering goes back centuries, but it's certainly a reason to keep doing it beyond just removing outside influence once the process begins.
- bowsamic 1y agoI'm sure insider gambling also goes back centuries, probably even since before Christ
- b800h 1y agoThere was a horrendous problem with gambling on the election at one point. I believe the most recent episode of "Tasting History with Max Miller" covers this.
- krapp 1y ago[flagged]
- 1234letshaveatw 1y agolol, the most typical terminal online American response you could ask for
- IncreasePosts 1y agoI thought it would have made sense too because Africa is basically the only place Catholicism is growing in the world.
- Tabular-Iceberg 1y agoDidn’t most tradcaths ask for Cardinal Sarah from Guinea?
- vFunct 1y agoThe whole Catholic aesthetic is amazing. Really is the tops.
- soulofmischief 1y agoWhen you're under its thumb of oppression, all of the aesthetic takes on a very dark and sinister authoritarian tone and becomes symbolic of a lifetime of repression and coercion. Source: raised by an extremely abusive Catholic deacon.
- moralestapia 1y agoWhen you're embraced by its grace, all of the aesthetic takes on a very bright and uplifting inspirational tone and becomes symbolic of a lifetime of guidance and empowerment. Source: raised by an extremely loving Catholic mother.
- StefanBatory 1y ago[flagged]
- nessbot 1y agoNo fan of the RC church here but I didn't hear any mocking. Just pointing out a counterfactual experience.
- HaZeust 1y agoNo one would have this loaded tone when counteracting someone's trauma in ANY subject - besides that of religion. It is a subject with a uniquely deep entrenchment of someone's fundamental life experiences and beliefs, and is the only subject where someone would have the gall to do such a thing; out of defense of, what they believe, is their very essence as a person. There is absolutely no shot that someone would respond to someone sexually abused by their parents with, "On the other hand, I have a loving spouse that makes that same action a very loving and peaceful experience!" It's brazenly distasteful.
- JumpCrisscross 1y agoLooks like he’s a compromise candidate between the Church’s liberals and conservatives [1]. (American and African Catholics are on the conservative end.) [1] https://collegeofcardinalsreport.com/evidence/cardinal-prevost-on-blessing-same-sex-couples/ https://collegeofcardinalsreport.com/evidence/cardinal-prevo...
- afavour 1y ago> "Cardinal George of Chicago, of happy memory, was one of my great mentors, and he said: 'Look, until America goes into political decline, there won't be an American pope.' And his point was, if America is kind of running the world politically, culturally, economically, they don't want America running the world religiously. So, I think there's some truth to that, that we're such a superpower and so dominant, they don't wanna give us, also, control over the church." https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-pope-could-it-be-american-cardinal-robert-prevost/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-pope-could-it-be-american-c...
- bbor 1y agoFor what it’s worth, I was just reading that Leo wasn’t seen as “completely” American due to his many years in Peru — he’s even a citizen. Take that as you will.
- rootsudo 1y agoFor what it's worth, Peru is in South America. Still American, Technically.
- bitshiftfaced 1y agoFrom reading online comments, I'm starting to believe that those who reside outside the US are more strident defenders of the idea that "US citizens only" = "American" than US citizens themselves.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- catlikesshrimp 1y agoNot in Central America. We call US citizens "Gringos" Unfortunately, this does carry a variable negative weight. Now, Latin Americans living in the US proudly call themselves "Americans" Edit: Albeit long, the correct gentilice for the US is "Estadounidenses" as in "Estados Unidos de América"
- mildred593 1y ago[flagged]
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- krapp 1y ago[flagged]
- lostlogin 1y agoI had to look up your comment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedevacantism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedevacantism Maybe they are a conclavist, and have elected their own pope?
- throw310822 1y agoYou had me up until Jesus dash Christ.
- tptacek 1y agoA week or so ago there was a thread about the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) and a discussion about why it was disfavored by Francis. This is the kind of thing I was talking about there. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43750950 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43750950
- throw123xz 1y ago[flagged]
- asdf6969 1y agoCongratulations on becoming a Protestant
- ndegruchy 1y agoSo, he's Bob Pope? ...I'll see myself out.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- bgwalter 1y agoI would have expected an Eastern European or American pope for obvious political reasons (think Karol Wojtyla). The political commentators will go wild in the next week.
- dougbrochill 1y ago>Prevost earned his bachelor’s in mathematics from Villanova University go birds
- mac3n 1y agonot about this conclave, but those who find papal elections interesting should look up the election of the Doge (duke) of Venice. https://www.theballotboy.com/electing-the-doge https://www.theballotboy.com/electing-the-doge
- imzadi 1y ago"He is the first North American to be elected pope and, before the conclave, was the U.S. cardinal most mentioned as a potential successor of St. Peter." Is that a typo?
- przemub 1y agoWhere?
- resize2996 1y agoNo.
- theelfismike 1y agoSt Peter was the first Pope; all Popes after are successors to him
- imzadi 1y agoAh, I see. Thanks.
- perihelions 1y agoIf they're constructed as ordinals, then, why do they call them cardinals?
- neilellis 1y agoWe could have had a Pope Bob, missed opportunity.
- ipince 1y agoPope Bobby Frank I
- VikingCoder 1y agoSome jokes I saw on Reddit: He is to be referred to as, "Da Pope." "Ketchup to be banned in the Vatican." "He's going to replace Communion Wine with Malört."
- idontwantthis 1y agoI hope they bring Fred Armisen in for the SNL impression.
- sauwan 1y agoI liked calling him the "Ope Pope"
- tptacek 1y agoI'm born and raised in Chicago and I only started hearing "ope" last year.
- ralfd 1y agoDislike Chicagoans ketchup?
- pluc 1y agoHow appropriately disconnected from the church to elect an American.
- CharlesW 1y agoHow so? The U.S. is the third-largest national Catholic population in the world, and it's by far the single largest national contributor to the Church’s global finances. Plus, anything that can bend the arc of U.S. history toward the Catholic missions of social justice and human rights is going to matter more in the next four years than it ever has.
- pluc 1y agoIt kinda has a shitty reputation right now, especially in Europe. This will embolden the clown in Chief and that isn't good for anyone.
- CharlesW 1y agoIt's possible. My take is that a Pope who's relatably "like them" will be more effective at reminding U.S. Catholics that they may need to choose between their faith and Trumpist idolatry.
- krapp 1y ago> My take is that a Pope who's relatably "like them" will be more effective at reminding U.S. Catholics that they may need to choose between their faith and Trumpist idolatry. I mean... they clearly already have. If Trump supporting Catholics haven't changed their mind by now I don't think an American Pope is going to convince them. And unless we're assuming a third Trump term I don't see what the point would be. The damage has been done.
- luckydata 1y agoyou're wrong. This election was made EXACTLY because the Church feels there's a need to counterbalance the influence of the current american president with a strong local voice american catholics will pay attention to. They did the same when the Soviet Union was a thing by electing Carol Wojtyla (John Paul II)
- ReptileMan 1y agoUnexpected. Good luck to him. A Pope and a Trump. Countries divided. Holy Roman Empire again? Trump would make quite acceptable Habsburg - lots of resources and uncanny ability to waste good potential and situations.
- moralestapia 1y ago[flagged]
- pqtyw 1y ago> which has real name that is different Always saying "United States of America" would be rather cumbersome. But it's the reward for being the first country on the content to become independent. Everybody else afterwards had to pick more specific names tot avoid any confusion. BTW Columbia was also frequently used as a generic name for the American Continent back in the 1700s and 1800s. The modern country of Colombia co-opted it in a very similar way (well originally "Gran Colombia" was supposed to include entire Hispanic America it just didn't work out that well...)
- moralestapia 1y ago[flagged]
- pqtyw 1y agoThat's rather purposefully obtuse? Obviously the none of the pre-Columbian states ever used the name "America" to refer to the continent.
- Izikiel43 1y ago> Well always saying "United States of America" would be rather cumbersome. Then they should have chosen another name
- pqtyw 1y agoI guess Columbia was an option? But that had similar issues...
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- EasyMark 1y agoSure but most of the world, when they say America or American, they mean the USA, otherwise they'll say "the Americas" or "North American" or "South American" or refer to a specific country. It's just a reality that a lot of people don't want to face, but you have to be pragmatic in life for the most part.
- seydor 1y agoWill he be taxed on his foreign Papal salary? Or will he forego the salary , like Francis did?
- devrandoom 1y agoIf he is taxed, he should renounce US citizenship as he's very unlike to move back to the US.
- _dark_matter_ 1y agoVery unlikely is an understatement. Francis never even visited his home country of Argentina after being elected as Pope.
- mFixman 1y agoFrancis was seen as being too close to the Kirchnerists in ideology and too conflicted with the Kirchnerists in actions when he was Archbishop. Visiting Argentina would have forced him to take a side and trigger a political crisis he probably wanted to avoid. As far as I know there's no similar conflict with the new Pope, and he wasn't even in America for the most important part of his church career.
- lormayna 1y agoReally? I always heard that Francis was the first enemy of Kirtcherners
- mFixman 1y agoFrancis was the most important supporter of liberation theology in Argentina, which was very ideologically aligned with the Kirchners. He was also strongly opposed to almost every politician who opposed the government. Bergoglio had several conflicts with the Kirchner government when he was an Archbishop. Cristina didn't tell the position the government would take when he got elected Pope, but the government-aligned (but not government-controlled) mass media associations preemptively filled Buenos Aires with anti-Bergoglio propaganda. A week later Cristina met the Pope and announced that they were politically aligned, and the same mass media associations filled Buenos Aires with pro-Bergoglio propaganda.
- ralfd 1y agoIs Pope Leo eligible to be voted President of the United States?
- mjirv 1y agosure, why not?
- 9dev 1y agoBecause he is the head of a foreign nation, and will hold that office till death. You cannot be head of multiple nations at once.
- normie3000 1y agoTell that to King Charles.
- andyjohnson0 1y ago> You cannot be head of multiple nations at once. Says who? Is it actually prohibited in the us constitution? The british monarch is head of state of multiple nations, and has been for over a century.
- 1-more 1y agoI think the more fitting example from that island is the personal union whereby the monarchs of England and Scotland happened to be the same person, but England and Scotland were still separate states. This started with James VI and I who became king of Scotland in 1567 and became king of England in 1603. This state of affairs continued (with I guess some de facto if not de jure interruptions) until the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707, after which time the monarch held one title over one state. Throughout that time and afterwards, the monarch of England & Scotland was often also the monarch of other territories too, so that "one title" is eliding a bunch of stuff. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_VI_and_I https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_VI_and_I https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Great_Britain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Great_Britain
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- sailfast 1y agoMissed opportunity for Pope Ditka. :/
- TheBlight 1y agoWhy is this on HN?
- ragazzina 1y agoA historical event of potential cultural significance.
- cosmicgadget 1y agoSo we can have a dozen threads arguing about what the term "American" means.
- BurningFrog 1y agoSmart play for the Vatican to go with an American Pope to avoid tariffs! (Credit: https://x.com/ArmandDoma/status/1920530249567056056 https://x.com/ArmandDoma/status/1920530249567056056)
- gku 1y agoYes, everybody knows that Vatican is the industrial heart of the world
- carabiner 1y agoI really wonder if he's converted to neapolitan pizza at this point.
- kevinventullo 1y agoI just like that he was a math major.
- tptacek 1y agoHe was a substitute science teacher at St. Rita, on the South Side (when we were in 8th grade in Catholic school on the South Side, Rita is one of the high schools that came and pitched to us; Marist and Carmel were the two big draws for boys, McCauley for girls). Can you imagine how weird it would be to have a high school science teacher that went on to become pope?
- Sharlin 1y ago> Can you imagine how weird it would be to have a high school science teacher that went on to become pope? Soon on Netflix: the spiritual (heh) successor to Breaking Bad.
- tclancy 1y agoI dunno, I had plenty of teachers who were monks. Admittedly they didn’t have the LinkedIn grind set to get to pope. Heck our CS teacher in high school was a monk too.
- tptacek 1y agoI mean: THE POPE. Mr. Prevost!
- thenaturalist 1y agoMeaning he is not only an educated expert when it comes to sin! He also knows cos! ...
- pavlov 1y agoIn his time around the end of the 19th century, Leo XIII was known as the “Social Pope” and “Pope of the Workers”. He wasn’t a radical but opened the door to modern thinking in the church. Presumably there’s some symbolism to why the new pope wanted to adopt this particular name.
- pclmulqdq 1y agoPopes usually go for symbolic names, so the Leo XIII connection seems unavoidable.
- jowea 1y agoI think unavoidable is the wrong word, he surely picked the name because of this connection.
- pc86 1y agoSymbolism is a huge part of what name you select which is why its been a minute since a Pope Innocent or Pope Pious.
- davidw 1y agoAs a YIMBY, I could go for a Pope Urban.
- fakedang 1y agoRequest understood. Here's an Urban and his massive ironcast cannon.
- jowea 1y agoPius XII is controversial because of WW2, but I don't see anything particularly bad with the latest popes with Innocent. Is it something related to his predecessors? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Innocent_XIII https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Innocent_XIII
- tptacek 1y agoPrior to Francis, the last pope we had from a religious order (as opposed to a career diocesan) was Gregory XVI in 1831. Now we've had two religious popes in a row --- Francis, a Jesuit, and then Leo, an Augustinian.
- dzdt 1y agoCan you explain this like I'm 5?
- tptacek 1y agoYou can (sort of) divide Catholic clergy into diocesan priests, who spend their careers managing the clerical hierarchy of a specific region, and religious-order priests, who belong to religious orders within the church --- the Jesuits, Franciscans, Augustinians, Dominicans, etc. The "religious" Clergy are thought to be in some sense less tied up in church politics.
- froh 1y agoand additionally each order has a "charisma", a specific focus and style, think pythonista vs crustacean vs C vs C++ vs Haskell longer vs lisper. each order attracts it's own flock. so now I need to check on Augustines... fun fact: Martin Luther was an Augustine monk.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- sharpy 1y agoI thought an American pope would be the last thing Vatican wanted (to avoid being seen too close to US)
- standardUser 1y agoThis pope has consistently criticized Trump, though in fairly mild terms. This brings the Catholic church closer to the US since American Catholics love it, but it's still a choice that opposes Trump.
- jgerrish 1y agoSure. That's how it could have happened. If you think the Catholic Church isn't a sharp institution with a pulse on humanity around the globe. Sometimes institutions know that they are simple shells. That what is truly important is the people that they represent and how they can serve those people. There are both theological and political implications to that view above. Maybe serving those people can best be accomplished through humility and throwing a US pope, and their current papacy, under the bus. That's an incredibly cynical view of Church politics. But then again my first bank account was a Catholic Credit Union and I still remember my days in Sunday School. That's not an indictment of my upbringing. Nobody gets blamed for funkyness with tying finances to religion or lost accounts or any of that. That's me saying regardless of what happens with the current pope, whether my views are too cynical or not cynical enough: There will be no blame or anger for how I was raised and treated. I met beautiful family and friends through the church, and my parents found community.
- lenerdenator 1y ago"Pope Bahhb? Oh yeah, used ta take communion from him down at da Catlick Church off Wacker Drive." - Some guy in Chicago right now, probably.
- samgranieri 1y agoAs a Catholic from the Chicago area I'm shocked and surprised he was elected. My group chats and social media is just blowing up with regional pride. God bless Pope Leo XIV!
- Balgair 1y agoNow the real question: Is he a Cubs or Sox fan?
- valj 1y agoCubs
- tart-lemonade 1y agoIndeed, and he's from Dolton (a southern suburb) and lived in Hyde Park (south side of Chicago) for awhile. (Not that it's uncommon for south siders to favor the Cubs, but it certainly is amusing.) https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/05/08/pope-leo-xiv-is-a-cubs-fan-despite-south-side-roots-reports-say/ https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/05/08/pope-leo-xiv-is-a-cu... https://abc7chicago.com/post/2025-is-new-pope-cardinal-robert-francis-prevost-1st-american-chicago-elected-catholic-church-leader/16358670/ https://abc7chicago.com/post/2025-is-new-pope-cardinal-rober...
- 1123581321 1y agoMy father-in-law grew up a few blocks from Prevost and they’re a Cubs household. The family switched a century ago, after the Sox gambling scandal. Serious business!
- tart-lemonade 1y agoToo late to edit but apparently his brother has stated he's a Sox fan, and the Block Club article has been updated accordingly.
- valj 1y agoI stand corrected. His brother is on the news saying this is fake news and he's a Sox fan.
- dang 1y agoRelated: https://catholicreview.org/chicago-native-cardinal-prevost-elected-pope-takes-name-leo-xiv/ https://catholicreview.org/chicago-native-cardinal-prevost-e... (via https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43928742 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43928742, but we merged that thread hither)
- mrlonglong 1y agoHe is not a US citizen. He might have been born in the States but he is a fully naturalised citizen of Peru.
- davis 1y agoBeing born in the US means you are a citizen. He holds dual citizenships
- mrlonglong 1y agoI stand corrected. I'm seeing a lot of shade thrown at the new Pope just for opposing Trump and his policies. Some even go as far as to call him a "woke Marxist Pope". Not very christian.
- 8note 1y agoim comfused how that extends from that you didnt think he was a citizen? disagreeing with trump is a suggestion of non-citizenship?
- Reventlov 1y agoFrançois was born in Buenos Aires, how is that the first american pope ?
- magneticnorth 1y agoAt least in (USA) American news sources, "American" means from the USA. Francis was the first pope from the Americas. See Wikipedia for deeper discussion of the use of the term in English: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_(word) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_(word)
- throwaway7783 1y agoGreat time to watch the movie "Conclave"
- aziaziazi 1y agoSlightly related: the movie "Conclave" (2024) is a great and surprising thriller. Critics consensus from RottenTomatoes: > Carrying off papal pulp with immaculate execution and career-highlight work from Ralph Fiennes, Conclave is a godsend for audiences who crave intelligent entertainment. [video trailer] https://youtu.be/JX9jasdi3ic?si=sYwqRlK-4hYUnsAa https://youtu.be/JX9jasdi3ic?si=sYwqRlK-4hYUnsAa
- anonymousiam 1y agoThe New Pope Robert Prevost is a registered Republican https://x.com/TheCalvinCooli1/status/1920534168301130101 https://x.com/TheCalvinCooli1/status/1920534168301130101
- nozzlegear 1y agoThis doesn't seem terribly surprising given the church's position on hot-button issues like abortion. But it's also worth noting that registering as a republican doesn't mean you've voted for every republican on the ticket (and vice versa).
- Spivak 1y agoI'm also a registered Republican despite bleeding blue so I can steer the primaries toward more Moderate Republican candidates.
- datapolitical 1y agoIllinois does not have party registration.
- dragonwriter 1y agoIllinois doesn't have party registration and the entrt reflects voting in a Republican primary. That might indicate a Republican preference, or it might indicate perceiving the potential stakes in the Republican primary contest as higher, because, e.g., having a much stronger preference that a particular Republican not win than any preference among Democratic candidates.
- 90s_dev 1y agoI hope this Pope recognizes that the only way to lead is a personal martyrdom of self interest. A true leader must pave the way, not merely point to it. "I must decrease so that my children can increase" in the words of St. John the Baptist and the actions of St. Joseph, who St. Luke calls the father of Jesus, and who is the living image of the father. St. Joseph's staff only sprouted the life of lilies because it was dead first (Hebrews 9:4, which book the Blessed Virgin Mary probably wrote). (Also Chicago represent!)
- hirvi74 1y ago[flagged]
- tomhow 1y agoYou cannot post inflammatory, escalatory comments like this on Hacker News, and we ban accounts that do it repeatedly. I'm not banning now as you've been a community member for a while and have posted some good comments, but please take care to read the guidelines and avoid posting like this in future. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43929357 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43929357 and marked it off topic.
- hirvi74 1y agoI appreciate the clemency, and will change my ways. Why are topics like this not considered Off-Topic by the guidelines?
- pvg 1y agoWhy are topics like this not considered Off-Topic by the guidelines? A recent tomhow (and why) explanation: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43750046 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43750046
- hirvi74 1y agoThank you for sharing that link. I figured only the deaths of people relevant to topics discussed on this forum, but I suppose it is extended to any death of great importance.
- pvg 1y agoIt’s roughly “sufficiently big or interesting real world events” for some value of sufficiently big or interesting.
- Kye 1y agoChicago: known for wind, one of the world's largest furry conventions, and the first American pope.
- Seattle3503 1y agoPope Leo made it easy for the furries to pick his fursona.
- quesera 1y agoActually not known for atmospheric wind, but for bloviating in a windy way. With the construction of tall city blocks and the breezes off of Lake Michigan, the atmospheric use has become somewhat more true. No more so than most USAmerican cities though.
- Kye 1y agoThis seems to be a matter of some debate: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windy_City_(nickname)#Etymology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windy_City_(nickname)#Etymolog...
- lupusreal 1y ago[flagged]
- nozzlegear 1y ago[As an American] How could somebody's nationality seem "tacky?" Since we're both Americans, that's the sort of thing that we'd both consider a faux pas, at the very least, to say about anybody else's nationality.
- asdf6969 1y agoWork on your self hatred and open your mind please. There’s nothing tacky about an American pope. What are you talking about?
- I-M-S 1y agoI saw someone on the Internet describe it as serving McDonald's at a wedding. I'm not sure snark is warranted, but I don't think it's unfair to say that USA's global image has been greatly reduced.
- lupusreal 1y agoI love America, but America is hardly a very Catholic nation and this seems like a clear cut case of political pandering besides. I'm not a catholic but when I think Catholic I think ancient gilded and extravagant. America is the land of hamburgers, pickup trucks and Protestant megachurches. The two don't fit. An Italian would make a better pope because the Roman Catholic Church is fundamentally Italian and it has been too long without an Italian pope. An African would be a good pope because they've never had one, despite a huge number of Catholics, present and future, being African.
- asdf6969 1y agoWhen I think Italy I think pizza and Mussolini and Ferrari. When I think Africa I think radical Islam and fufu and the slave trade and colonialism and the lion king. I believe an American pope is a good choice and you don’t have an accurate view of America.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- Dlemo 1y ago[flagged]
- mensetmanusman 1y ago“ That the spirit of revolutionary change, which has long been disturbing the nations of the world, should have passed beyond the sphere of politics and made its influence felt in the cognate sphere of practical economics is not surprising. The elements of the conflict now raging are unmistakable, in the vast expansion of industrial pursuits and the marvelous discoveries of science; in the changed relations between masters and workmen; in the enormous fortunes of some few individuals, and the utter poverty of the masses; the increased self reliance and closer mutual combination of the working classes; as also, finally, in the prevailing moral degeneracy. The momentous gravity of the state of things now obtaining fills every mind with painful apprehension; wise men are discussing it; practical men are proposing schemes; popular meetings, legislatures, and rulers of nations are all busied with it - actually there is no question which has taken deeper hold on the public mind.” From the last Pope Leo over 100 years ago.
- actionfromafar 1y agoThat definitely rhymes, more than rhymes actually.
- Ey7NFZ3P0nzAe 1y agoNeat thanks. Btw how do you know this?! Have you memorized stuff of all the passed popes?
- mensetmanusman 1y agoThese are the types of things talked about in small groups near your local cathedral by members of groups like Opus Dei everywhere around the world. All are welcome :)
- dragonwriter 1y agoI don't think Opus Dei spends a lot of time discussing Rerum Novarum, honestly.
- 1y ago
- Qem 1y agoI wish him wisdom and good luck to take the task. Hope he continues the great work Francis was doing to help the civilian palestinians facing IDF massacres and starvation in Gaza. Francis called the parish there every day, and even donated the Popemobile to be turned into health clinic for the children of Gaza. See https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-05/the-popemobile-of-peace-pope-francis-final-gift-to-gaza.html https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-05/the-popemobi...
- michaelsbradley 1y agoRev. P. Robert Francis PREVOST, O.S.A. (now Pope Leo XIV), Address to the Synod of Bishops, 2012 https://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/sinodo/documents/bollettino_25_xiii-ordinaria-2012/xx_plurilingue/b11_xx.html#Rev._P._lain_Robert_Francis_PREVOST,_O.S.A.,_Priore_Generale_dellOrdine_di_S._Agostino_(Agostiniani) https://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/sinodo/documents/... At least in the contemporary western world, if not throughout the entire world, the human imagination concerning both religious faith and ethics is largely shaped by mass media, especially by television and cinema. Western mass media is extraordinarily effective in fostering within the general public enormous sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the Gospel. However, overt opposition to Christianity by mass media is only part of the problem. The sympathy for anti-Christian lifestyle choices that mass media fosters is so brilliantly and artfully engrained in the viewing public, that when people hear the Christian message it often inevitably seems ideological and emotionally cruel by contrast to the ostensible humaneness of the anti-Christian perspective. If the “New Evangelization” is going to counter these mass media-produced distortions of religious and ethical reality successfully, pastors, preachers, teachers and catechists are going to have to become far more informed about the challenge of evangelizing in a world dominated by mass media. The Fathers of the Church, including Saint Augustine, can provide eminent guidance for the Church in this aspect of the New Evangelization, precisely because they were masters of the art of rhetoric. Their evangelizing was successful in great part because they understood the foundations of social communication appropriate to the world in which they lived. In order to combat successfully the dominance of the mass media over popular religious and moral imaginations, it is not sufficient for the Church to own its own television media or to sponsor religious films. The proper mission of the Church is to introduce people to the nature of mystery as an antidote to spectacle. Religious life also plays an important role in evangelization, pointing others to this mystery, through living faithfully the evangelical counsels.
- selectnull 1y agoPick your username: Leo That username had already been taken. How about Leo14? Fine.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- smnrg 1y agoMany Italian newspapers (example: IlPost) and, I suspect, many non-US media, report this as “the second American Pope, the first from the USA.” Which, I think, is fair, as South and Latin are also America. And so is Canada. And so was Francis. But I usually find it a hard concept to convey to my fellow local USsians.
- macspoofing 1y ago>to my fellow local USsians. I think you illustrated why the concept exists. USA actually has "America" in its name, unlike others - hence 'Americans' and not 'USsians'.
- zimmund 1y agoWell, in that case could we call them Statians or Unitians?
- layer8 1y agoThere are languages in which the equivalent of "US American" isn't uncommon.
- smnrg 1y agoWhile Americans can mean "from the US", the term "statunitensi" is how people from the US are commonly called in Italy. And in other countries. The two things are not mutually exclusive, and calling Americans for people from the US is just a figure of speech called synecdoche.
- 1y ago
- Taniwha 1y ago(from BlueSky) "You know who else was from Chicago and on a mission from God ...."
- mrandish 1y ago> He most recently led a powerful Vatican office for bishop appointments. Maybe I'm jaded but when I read that line I kind of assumed maybe that had a little to do with getting elected Pope.
- asdefghyk 1y agoMy first thought ... Well Donald Trump will be pleased.......
- bag_boy 1y agoThis post was resting on 666 comments, so I’m doing my duty.
- nilslindemann 1y agoWhenever we get a new pope, I'm reminded of the prolly but proud headline in the German newspaper "Bild", when the German Ratzinger became pope: "WE ARE POPE" Congratulations, USA, now you're pope :-)
- 0xbadcafebee 1y agoThank goodness. We wouldn't want the Catholic Church to lack leadership
- galaxyLogic 1y agoI think he was chosen because people elsewhere don't likee American isolationism. They wanted to support the America that believes in the good, and we need support in these times. Maybe this Pope will be a strong advocate of peaceful co-existence, which is what we need.
- agnishom 1y agoThis is a good time to check the 'Views' section of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_XIV#Views https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_XIV#Views Some important bits: > he expressed sympathy for George Floyd and criticized U.S. immigration policies > Prevost advocated for stronger Church action against climate change > Prevost opposes the ordination of women > Prevost opposes euthanasia, abortion, and the death penalty. [...] In 2012, he criticized popular culture's sympathy for the "homosexual lifestyle" and same-sex families.
- graemep 1y agoAre any of those views any different from any previous Pope? The difference the media likes to talk about between "liberal" and "conservative" popes (and candidates) is not in the beliefs but which parts of those beliefs they communicate effectively. Perceptions are also heavily influenced by what the media choose to report (they are far more interested in some topics than others).
- dyauspitr 1y agoHe’s perfect.
- lynx97 1y ago[flagged]
- wraptile 1y agoThis seems to be a very clear signal that Catholics think that US is having very serious issues which in turn endangers the world. I'm an atheist but assuming Catholic church justifies itself through "greater good" sort of mentality this move is such an obvious one and I don't think there could have a been a better one. Excited to see the drama as the US-circus is already delivering briliant lines like "why didn't he speak English".
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- pif 1y agoPlease, correct the stupidly wrong title: the last Pope was an American!
- c-c-c-c-c 1y agoNo he wasn't.
- 4ggr0 1y agoArgentinia is in America, you know. Maybe not in North America or the US, but certainly in America.
- jsphweid 1y ago> In common English usage, America is a short-form name for the United States of America. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_(disambiguation) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_(disambiguation)
- nozzlegear 1y agoSince we're using English, Argentina is in South America. People in Argentina speak Spanish and would call themselves americanos or sudamericanos. But in actuality they call themselves argentinos because everyone on earth understands that American unambiguously refers to citizens of the USA.
- defrost 1y ago> because everyone on earth understands that American unambiguously refers to citizens of the USA. With the exception of the Oxford English Dictionary and several others, of course.
- nozzlegear 1y agoYou're using a dictionary, its literal job is to show you every possible definition of a word — not the most common sense definition. Maybe try urban dictionary or even Wikipedia?
- DidYaWipe 1y agoYes, it's all over the mainstream news. Why post it on a tech-news site?
- mcosta 1y agoThe first american was Pope Francis
- dredmorbius 1y ago[flagged]
- dredmorbius 1y agoI've further narrowed down the breakage point to between these two items, at least when initially checked (both now fail). https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42937148 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42937148 (works) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42937147 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42937147 (fails) (Also via email.) This suggests an item-count or time-based sliding window to me. As I write this, earliest accessible content is <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42937674 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42937674> ... and that's just become inaccessible as I'm updating this comment.
- dredmorbius 1y agoAnd I've identified that it's the 1,000,000 most recent comments/posts which are accessible: I just checked against oldest accessible article (at this writing), and subtracted that from the newest comment (from the "comments" titlebar link): 43938990 - 42938990 = 1000000 Others can confirm this by going to the newest comment, and subtracting 1000001 from the contentID to find the first inaccessible comment. <https://news.ycombinator.com/newcomments https://news.ycombinator.com/newcomments>
- dredmorbius 1y agoMods heard from, it's a known (and deliberately inflicted) issue.
- Fairburn 1y agoBut but, does he defecate in the woods?