Pope Leo XIV: The First American Born Pope

Chicago native Robert Francis Prevost, who became a Peruvian citizen, reposted a few things that suggest he is not a big fan of Trump's immigration policies. Or James David Vance. To be fair, few people are.

The Chicago-born Prevost has chosen to take the name Pope Leo XIV, signaling a kinship with the 19th-century Pope Leo XIII, who was known for opening the doors of the church to the world and made Catholic social teaching a central issue during his pontificate.

He also might have helped get an anti-COVID vaccine bishop to retire. Prevost was chosen to vet senior clergy and was at least mildly supportive of gender parity:

Although he kept a low profile in Rome, he was part of one of the most significant reforms undertaken by Francis: adding three women to the voting bloc that decides which bishop nominations to forward to the pope.

Charlotte Clymer, a Christian and military veteran and trans woman, liked the choice even if he will be "nominally LGBTQ" (not going to suddenly end all Catholic doctrine):

But focus on this: Leo XIV is very much in line with Francis on calling for a more compassionate church and inclusivity. In his opening remarks to the crowd at St. Peter’s Square, he emphasized the church being welcome to all. This is a great omen, in my humble opinion.

Trivia alert. The Constitution does ban titles of nobility, but only as applied by the government or for those in government offices. Art. I, sec. 9 and 10:

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

No State shall ... grant any Title of Nobility.

An unratified amendment from the Napoleonic Era might have led to the stripping of his American citizenship:

If any citizen of the United States shall accept, claim, receive or retain, any title of nobility or honour, or shall, without the consent of Congress, accept and retain any present, pension, office or emolument of any kind whatever, from any emperor, king, prince or foreign power, such person shall cease to be a citizen of the United States, and shall be incapable of holding any office of trust or profit under them, or either of them. 

The new pope is under 70, so he should be around for a while. We will see how things go. Good luck.  

And, remember, St. Paul supported women deacons. 

More information. 

ETA: There is a 1980s film, Saving Grace, involving another Pope Leo XIV. Might appeal to the pontiff. 

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I read Elaine Pagels' new book on what we can know about Jesus. The first chapter had a stronger-than-usual argument (without officially coming down that way) for him possibly being illegitimate. 

Otherwise, I don't think it adds much. The usual evenhanded bits, including how we can't know what happened regarding various supernatural events, even if that same line would not be made if it were some other culture's beliefs. 

She at one point notes there is little reason to not accept that Jesus was buried. OTOH, why would Pilate allow an insurrectionist to have a respectful burial, perhaps to provide his followers a shrine? Multiple people were buried in secret (including at sea) to avoid just that sort of thing!  

Easy reading, but I was not too impressed. Still, I went to a lecture she gave back around 1990, and I am glad she is still going strong. Read several of her books. 

One more thing regarding the resurrection accounts. As Bart Ehrman notes, it is useful to compare the differences between the gospels. 

The original ending of Mark has no appearances of Jesus. The women are told that Jesus will appear in Galilee. The expanded addition is sort of an abbreviated combo. Matthew had the women see (and touch) him, and then he pops up on a hill in Galilee.  

Luke and John have Jesus being more active with a focus on Jerusalem. John says Mary Magdalene cannot touch him, but then he allows Thomas to do so. 

Finally, John has a final chapter that apparently was added later. I did not catch this before since it requires a knowledge of geography. But the Sea of Tiberias, the site of the chapter, is in Galilee.