President Trump and other Americans across the religious and political spectrum were quick to celebrate the historic election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as Pope Leo XIV: the first U.S. citizen to ascend to the papacy.
“Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was just named Pope,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social. “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!”
Catholic U.S. politicians of both parties, mimicking the Germans of 2005 and the Argentines of 2013, rushed to social media to mark the occasion with both piety, nationalism. and even alma mater brags.
Former President Biden, the nation’s only living Catholic president, posted on X a wish that “May God bless Pope Leo XIV of Illinois.”
He went on to congratulate Leo on behalf of his wife, former first lady Jill Biden. The two both took degrees from Villanova University, a Catholic school in Philadelphia.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom opened his statement with the same words as the official announcement at the Vatican: “Habemus papam.”
SEE ALSO: Robert Prevost, first American pope in history of the Catholic Church, will take the name Leo XIV
The Denocratic governor went on to note that Leo’s first address “reminded us that God loves each and every person. We trust that he will shepherd us through the best of the Church’s teachings: to respect human dignity, care for the poor, and wish for the common good of us all.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, like the governor a Catholic, said “the United States looks forward to deepening our enduring relationship with the Holy See with the first American pontiff.”
The response across social media to the Chicago-born pope, who also is a citizen of Peru, came fast and loud, mixing patriotism, disbelief, jokes and early ideological debate.
“AMERICAN POPE,” Catholic Answers posted, adding: “massive bald eagle screech.”
“This is huge,” wrote National Review commentator Kayla Bartsch. “I still can’t believe they elected an American.”
Republican Matthew Foldi chimed in: “It looks like the new Pope is: An American. A Republican. I’m thinking we’re back.”
SEE ALSO: Catholics in Rome, world celebrate election of first American pope
Pirate Wires editor-in-chief Mike Solana added that “there has never been, there will never be, a country more obnoxious about getting a pope than the USA (god bless us everyone I love us well done).”
The U.S. embassy to the Holy See also praised the new pope.
“With joy we extend our heartfelt congratulations to the first Pope from the United States of America,” wrote the embassy, which was only established in 1984 by Ronald Reagan.
For more than a century, diplomatic relations with the Vatican had actually been forbidden by Congress, though consular contact with the earlier Papal States had existed. That ban had been passed when large waves of immigration from such Catholic countries as Ireland, Italy and Poland were arriving in the overwhelmingly Protestant U.S.
Indeed, for that reason and because of the U.S. more-recent secular status as a political superpower, it had long been the consensus among Vatican watchers that there would never be an American pope.
In his opening address, in a perhaps telling detail in a speech that is traditionally all about gestures, Leo didn’t use a word of his native English, instead speaking entirely in Latin and related Romance languages such as the Italian of Rome.
The tone on the right has been celebratory, but not without caveats.
In February, the new pope shared a column by the National Catholic Reporter, one taking direct aim at Vice President J.D. Vance’s comments on immigration, titled “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.”
That particular line landed well with left-leaning writer John Ganz, who reposted it with: “Love him already.”
Mr. Vance, an adult convert to Catholicism, shared his own message of support at the announcement, without mentioning the new pope’s apparent antagonism to his former remarks.
“Congratulations to Leo XIV, the first American Pope, on his election!” the vice president posted. “I’m sure millions of American Catholics and other Christians will pray for his successful work leading the Church. May God bless him!”
Some Republican critics have already scoured the new pope’s Twitter feed, looking for clues as to Leo’s political dispositions.
“According to his X/Twitter feed, the newly selected pope trashed Trump, trashed Vance, trashed border enforcement, endorsed DREAMer-style illegal immigration, repeatedly praised and honored George Floyd, and endorsed a Democrat senator’s call for more gun control,” wrote conservative commentator Sean Davis.
Matthew Walther, opinion columnist and editor of The Lamp magazine fired back: “Who cares?”
“I’m sure many people have legitimate misgivings as they have with any new pope, but a litany of sins against Trump-era Republicanism means less than nothing. This just reflects the inability of American conservatives to understand what the papacy is,” he added in another post.
Layperson Christian Schneider took a lighter approach on X: “With Trump’s tariffs in effect, we are now making popes in America.”
Some Catholics were more solemn.
“Pope Leo XIV has spoken about opposing the Throwaway Culture from womb to grave, a witness that will increasingly be essential for the Church to proclaim boldly. Prayers for him, prayers for our church,” Catholic family policy commentator Patrick T. Brown wrote.
Catholic theologian Charlie Camosy offered a short thread on social media praising Leo XIV’s pro-life track record.
Quoting from the new pope’s 2023 remarks on synodality, Mr. Camosy pointed to the former bishop’s comments on humanity: “The Church must walk with all people, especially the most vulnerable, ensuring their dignity is upheld from the womb to the end of life, as this is the heart of Christ’s mission.”
The president of Villanova University, from which the new pope graduated in 1977, said in a statement that “we celebrate this significant day for our University community and the global Church.
The Rev. Peter M. Donohue added that “Villanova, built on the teachings of St. Augustine, has always been grounded in advancing a deeper understanding of the fundamental relationship between faith and reason — between spirituality and wisdom.”
The new pope, a longtime missionary in Peru and head of the Order of St. Augustine, has kept a low public profile until now. But with a past that includes sparring with populist rhetoric and defending the poor and marginalized, Pope Leo XIV is unlikely to be easily boxed in.
Whether the church gets a culture warrior, a bridge builder or something different is a question to be answered later. For now, the Catholic world — and much of social media — is just getting used to the phrase: American pope.
