LILLEY: Pope Leo's politics noteworthy, but political popes not new

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The white smoke was the sign that a new Pope had been selected. Then the glorious words announced from the balcony in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican, “Habemus Papam,” or we have a Pope.

Immediately the question is who is the new Pope, this man we will now call Leo XIV?

Robert Prevost, 69, will become the first American Pope, the first person to sit in the chair of St. Peter who comes from North America. It was a stunning outcome; one few would have predicted and, of course, it all turned political fairly quickly.

It seems Pope Leo has been critical of Donald Trump’s policies in the past, in particular on immigration. If President Trump knew that, it didn’t show up in his social media post congratulating Prevost.

“Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was just named Pope. 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!” Trump said.

It might also be an awkward one with Pope Leo sure to raise his concerns about Trump’s immigration policies. His last social media post was sharing an article from the Catholic Standard, written by Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala of Washington, D.C. criticizing the raids conducted by ICE agents to remove illegal immigrants as well as the Trump administration’s deal with El Salvador to house many of the people who have been deported.

The then-Cardinal Prevost had also shared criticism of Vice-President J.D. Vance, a Catholic, over his comments in a Fox News interview in January. Vance had spoken of Ordo Amoris, or the order of love, an idea that dates back to St. Augustine.

“You love your family, and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens in your own country. And then after that, you can focus and prioritize the rest of the world,” Vance said back in January.

Clearly, Cardinal Prevost didn’t like that and posted two articles, both from left-leaning Catholics, to hammer home his displeasure.

At that point, few would have noticed the views of an American Cardinal who had spent most of the last 40 years living in Peru and Italy. Now, those comments are being looked at as proof that Pope Leo will fight back against the Trump administration.

Progressives are cheering, conservatives are fuming, but if either side thinks Pope Leo is going to be all in on their side, they should think again. Yes, it appears Pope Leo is political, and it appears he leans to the left politically.

It’s doubtful that means that his position on abortion is going to change or that he will declare the Roman Catholic Church is suddenly pro-choice on the question of life and when it begins. So sure, he will raise issues like immigration, but those who support Trump’s policies will note that the Vatican has a wall around it and is quite strict on who gets to live there.

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Having a Pope who is political is nothing new. Pope John Paul II, the greatest Pope of my lifetime, was clearly and unambiguously political. The thing is, Papal politics doesn’t fall neatly into our secular partisan world and Pope Leo will make comments that will make both sides cheer at times, and at times they will be uncomfortable.

The Church looks neither left, nor right, but up towards heaven. Let’s hope that is the view Pope Leo takes as he begins his Papacy.

We need a Pope who will call out injustice in the world, lead the call for peace but not get involved in the messiness of partisan, party politics.

blilley@postmedia.com