by David Virtue, VOL
By all accounts the new Pope Leo XIV is getting rave reviews from Catholics and Protestants alike. He comes across as humble, self-effacing, and approachable with a non-celebrity, non-mega church humility-like approach to his job. He seems to be without a flaming ego that needs constant reinforcement by an adoring public.
That he is an American is clearly a plus at a time when everything seems topsy turvey in America with a government and president having imbibed a winner take all approach to life. Pope Leo is a breath of fresh air.
He is steering the Catholic ship between the Charybdis of MAGA and the Scylla of Woke with skill and alacrity.
He turned his back on a Gay PRIDE flag waved at him in a walkabout; and then spent only 17 seconds shaking hands with vice-president J.D. Vance preferring to hold long meetings with other leaders.
He has made the right noises on abortion and gay marriage. He outlined a clear Catholic teaching on marriage and abortion, noting that family is based on a “stable union between a man and a woman” and that the unborn enjoy dignity as God’s creatures.
Plus, plus on all counts. But the story does not end there. Not by a long shot.