Pope Leo XIV, newly selected to lead the Catholic Church, previously took to social media to voice strong opposition to President Trump’s policies, especially those related to immigration. Now the first American to be elected pope, Leo XIV — formerly Robert Francis Prevost — had repeatedly used his verified X account, @drprevost, to amplify criticism during Trump’s presidency.
Prior to his papal election, one of his last public online activities was a repost of a tweet from Catholic analyst Rocco Palmo. The post criticized a Trump-Bukele deportation policy involving a U.S. resident with Salvadoran roots.
“As Trump & Bukele use Oval to [laugh emoji] Feds’ illicit deportation of a US resident… once an undoc-ed Salvadorean himself, now-DC [auxiliary bishop] Evelio [Menjivar] asks, ‘Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?’” the tweet reads.
Earlier this year, on February 3, Prevost also promoted a National Catholic Reporter article that rebutted comments made by Vice President JD Vance. The piece, titled “JD Vance is wrong: [Yoshka] doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others,” challenged the vice president’s hierarchy of compassion.
During a January 29 appearance on Fox News, Vance had stated: “There is a Christian concept that you love your family and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that, prioritize the rest of the world. A lot of the far-left has completely inverted that.”
Prevost was not new to weighing in on political matters. Back in 2017, he reposted a message from Palmo citing Chicago’s Cardinal Blase Cupich criticizing refugee bans: “Calling refugee bans ‘a dark hour of US history,’ [Chicago Archbishop] Blase [Cupich] says ‘the world is watching as we abandon our commitment to American values’.”
That same month, Prevost also reshared a post from Jesuit priest James Martin, who voiced outrage over U.S. refugee policy: “We’re banning all Syrian refugees? The men, women and children who most need help? What an immoral nation we are becoming. [Yoshka] weeps.”
He also joined criticism of Trump’s language, including a tweet that read, “Saying Trump’s ‘bad hombres’ line fuels ‘racism and nativism,’ Cali bishops send preemptive blast on DACA repeal.”
Beyond immigration, Prevost commented on a range of social issues. Following the October 2017 Las Vegas shooting that left 60 dead, he reshared Senator Chris Murphy’s demand for legislative action on gun control.
“To my colleagues: your cowardice to act cannot be whitewashed by thoughts and prayers. None of this ends unless we do something to stop it,” Murphy wrote.
The following year, Trump enacted a ban on bump stocks, devices used to increase firing speed, in response to that massacre.
Prevost also routinely posted content in alignment with the Vatican’s official teachings on key ethical and social issues. His account contained posts that opposed abortion, euthanasia, and capital punishment, as well as content warning against the influence of “gender ideology” in educational settings.
Despite not being widely mentioned as a contender prior to the conclave, Prevost’s name ultimately emerged from the secretive vote, surprising many observers and Church insiders alike.
President Trump took to Truth Social to offer his congratulations, expressing admiration that the papacy would now be held by an American.
“Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was just named Pope,” Trump wrote in his initial message. “It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope. What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!”
“That’s a great honor,” the president added while speaking to reporters. “I was watching it and they said, ‘He’s from America.’ I said, ‘That’s great.’”
Vice President Vance also shared his well wishes, writing, “I’m sure millions of American Catholics and other Christians will pray for his successful work leading the Church. May God bless him!”
Leo XIV, originally from Chicago, gave his first papal blessing in both Latin and Spanish. His words paid tribute to Pope Francis’ influence and conveyed a message of openness, stressing the Church’s responsibility to embrace “everyone” — a sentiment that resonated with the multicultural crowd assembled in St. Peter’s Square.
By choosing the name Leo XIV, the new pontiff may be signaling continuity with Pope Leo XIII, who was known for championing workers’ rights and famously remained confined to the Vatican for much of his reign in protest of the seizure of Papal lands by the Italian state.
{Matzav.com}