Walt's forecast on Leo XIV's papacy: no change expected

Since May, Walt has said nothing much about Pope Leo XIV, whom many traditional Catholics had hoped (and prayed) would slow down, if not stop the descent of the Roman Catholic Church into wokeness, heresy and irrelevancy. "Give him time," said our old friend Michael Matt. Well, we did, and are saddened to report that the passage of nearly three months has revealed the new pope to be very little different from his predecessor, Francis the Talking Pope.

Pope Prevost's appointments to the Roman Curia, announced very quietly on Friday, have been mostly modernists, and protégés of Francis. 

Nor has he stopped the crackdown on the Traditional Latin Mass, ordered by some bishops "in accordance with the wishes of Pope Francis", even though Francis had gone to his reward.

And today, we have news of a meeting between Pope Leo and Father James Martin, to whom we devoted an entire post just last week. 

Father Martin is as gay as 18 balloons, and found favour in the eyes of Francis as one of the most prominent advocates for "gay marriage" and "greater LGBTQ+ inclusion in the Catholic Church". Father Martin told the meeja that Leo "encouraged his ministry", just days before a planned Holy Year pilgrimage of LGBTQ+ Catholics to the Vatican, in a sign of "continued welcome in this new pontificate."

He said also that Leo told him he intended to continue Pope Francis’ policy of LGBTQ+ acceptance in the Church. "I heard the same message from Pope Leo that I heard from Pope Francis, which is the desire to welcome all people, including LGBTQ people," the objectively heretical priest told AP after the audience. "It was wonderful. It was very consoling and very encouraging and frankly a lot of fun."

The meeting, which lasted about half an hour, was officially announced by the Vatican in a sign that the new pope wanted it made public, to signal continuity with Francis, who more than any of Leo’s predecessors worked to make the Catholic Church more queer-friendly. 

From his 2013 quip, "Who am I to judge?" about a purportedly gay priest, to his decision to allow priests to bless same-sex couples, Francis distinguished himself with his message of welcome. During his 12-year papacy, Francis met on several occasions with Fr Martin and named him an advisor in the Vatican's communications department and a member of his "Synod on synodality", a big multi-year meeting on the future of the Church.

Still, Francis never changed church teaching saying homosexual acts are "intrinsically disordered". Whether Leo will attempt to change dogma is something of a question. Soon after he was elected in May, remarks surfaced from 2012 in which Father Robert Prevost, as he then was, criticized the "homosexual lifestyle" and the role of mass media in promoting acceptance of same-sex relationships that conflicted with Catholic doctrine. 

When he became a cardinal in 2023, Catholic News Service asked Prevost if his views had changed. He acknowledged Francis' call for a more inclusive church, saying Francis "made it very clear that he doesn’t want people to be excluded simply on the basis of choices that they make, whether it be lifestyle, work, way to dress, or whatever." The doctrine of the Church had not changed, Cardinal Prevost said, "but we are looking to be more welcoming and more open and to say all people are welcome in the church." 

So where does the new Pope Prevost stand today? Fr Martin, who knew him from their time working together in the aforementioned synod, told AP he wasn't worried about Leo's views, and had always found him to be "a very open, welcoming, inclusive person.... But it's wonderful to hear this continuation."

Walt's reading of the signs and portents? See headline.

Worth viewing! "Bishop Renounces The Idea Of Sin And Says EVERYONE Deserves The Eucharist", by Anthony Stine, Return to Tradition, 1/9/25.

Is the Pope Catholic?

From the Babylon Bee... of course... 

Catholics Frantically Google Newly Elected Pope To See If He's Catholic 

With the announcement of the election of Pope Leo XIV, Catholics around the globe were reportedly frantically googling the new pontiff to find out if he's Catholic. 

Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, originally from Chicago, Illinois, became the first American to be selected to serve as pope, leading devout members of the church to quickly look up his background to find out if he was also the first Catholic to serve in the position in over a decade. 

"It'll be a great change of pace if he is," said lifelong Catholic Dave Battaglia. "Throwing in some variety every now and then is fine, but it would be nice to have a Catholic guy in charge of the Catholic Church for at least a little while. I need to find out more about this Leo guy to see if he's at least been to Mass before." 

If Leo XIV is, in fact, Catholic, he would return the church to its once-longstanding tradition of having popes who were Catholic. "You never know these days," said Lisa Ganapini, another devout Catholic. "You'd think that there's a decent chance that he's a member of the faith, but as we've learned in recent years, you just never know. I guess we'll find out. I hope he's, like, read the Bible or something, too." 

At publishing time, progressives around the world were reportedly disappointed that the Catholic Church had once again missed the opportunity to elect the first female pope.

VIDEO: LifeSite News John-Henry Westen reacts to election of Leo XIV

What kind of "American Catholic" is the just-elected Pope Leo XIV? LifeSite News' John-Henry Westen clues us in, in this video entitled "Leo XIV an anti-Trump American, who urged invalid Confession by phone during COVID?"

 

After you've watched the video, scroll down to our earlier post, with a long and trenchant commentary on Cardinal Prevost's previous actions and expressed opinions. He might well have chosen the name Francis II!

Worth reading (even though it's from the secular press): "Expect Pope Leo XIV to bring more liberal controversy", by Michael Higgins, National Post, 8/5/25. Key takeaway: "With any new pope, you never know what you will really get. Only time will tell. But Leo XIV looks a lot like Francis II." As Walt and so many others have said.

Leo XIV: surprise for traditional Catholics... and not a pleasant one

On May 6th, LifeSite News published an op-ed piece headlined "Could Cardinal Prevost be the first American pope?" The subhead is: "Seemingly out of nowhere, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost is being discussed as a serious candidate in the upcoming conclave."

The author concludes a long list of problems evident from the prelate's past actions and pronouncements as follows: The question is whether he professes the faith whole and entire, in public and without compromise. If the answer is not a clear “Yes,” then the conclusion is clear: he cannot be validly elected or accepted as pope.  

The highlighted words link to a previous article entitled "Catholics must refuse to accept a public heretic as pope: here’s why". Apparently the cardinals in conclave either didn't read the article or chose to ignore Cardinal Prevost's record, for about 90 minutes ago, he stepped out onto the balcony as Pope Leo XIV.

For traditional Catholics, the choice could hardly have been worse. We were hoping and praying for a good Catholic pope, not a conservative like Cardinals Erdo or Sara, but at least a moderate. Instead, we got a "reformer", complicit in advancing Francis' agenda, someone who has facilitated the appointment of heterodox bishops throughout the world, and tacitly denied the traditional teaching on the episcopate.

It's interesting that Cardinal Prevost chose to call himself Leo XIV. According to Wikipedia, the last pope of that name "brought the Roman Catholic Church into the modern era, encouraging a more progressive approach to faith and social reform. He wanted the Roman Catholic Church to be more active in communicating with the world and more accessible." Sound familiar? If you liked what Francis was doing, you'll be pleased when Leo XIV leads us further down that road.

The most distressing thing about the election of Cardinal Prevost is that the man's record suggests strongly that he does not embrace and uphold the Faith of our fathers. We continue with the last part of the LifeSite News article. The emphasis is Walt's.

In this piece, we have seen that Prevost has: 

* Conspicuously failed to profess the faith in relation to the grave threats to faith and morals in our day — to the point in which this silence is taken as “discretion” and counted in his favor as a candidate

* Indicated the state of his mind through his cooperation with the appointment of notorious liberals and the deposition of conservatives 

* Cooperated in the consolidation of Francis’ longest-lasting legacy, namely the appointment of bishops embodying his ideals 

* Implicitly denied the dogma of the Church’s visible unity, by casting it in the terms rejected and refuted by Pope Pius XI in Mortalium Animos 

* Minimized the importance of doctrine in the role of the bishop, contrary to Sacred Scripture, Apostolic Tradition and the general sense of theology 

* Dismissed those who "prefer the security of answers already experienced in the past" [read: traditional Catholics]

* Promoted the modernist idea of "synodality" in such a way as to destroy the traditional concept of the bishop's threefold power of teaching, ruling and sanctifying his flock 

* Explicitly denied that a bishop is a "prince" in his diocese, contrary to the teaching of the magisterium and the liturgy 

* Replaced the traditional understanding of the bishop’s role with that of "service" presented in naturalistic terms, and which he has already separated from doctrine and governance through his other words (even while he retains references to teaching and shepherding). 

[T]he wider points discussed in this article... — doctrinal deviations which become clear after a careful consideration of his role as Prefect for the Dicastery of Bishops — are both cause for alarm in themselves, and as shedding light on his silence. They indicate that Prevost is not a coward or a tactician, but a loyal son of Francis, and that he will continue the work of his master and benefactor, if he is elected — even if he does so in a more discreet and moderate way. 

This raises grave questions about whether or not Prevost can be said to profess the Catholic faith at all, and thus whether he is a member of the Church. If he is not a member of the Church, then it is not possible for him to be validly elected as pope. 

At the very least, there is serious doubt on the matter: and a man whose visible membership in the Church is itself in serious doubt can only be doubtfully elected to the papacy, even if the conclave is unanimous. Should such a man be elected, the resulting doubt would not be about his popularity or policies, but about his very authority. This is why great theologians and canonists held that a doubtful pope is no pope at all....

The question is whether he professes the faith whole and entire, in public and without compromise. If the answer is not a clear “Yes,” then the conclusion is clear: he cannot be validly elected or accepted as pope.

While we wait to see what Leo XIV does -- please God, he may have some sort of Damascene conversion -- we must continue to pray that God will find a way to end and heal the de facto schism in Holy Mother Church. 

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.