hate to say it, but I need to talk about these pope posts.
for context, I have 17 years of intensive christian education, including a bachelor's degree, and spent 10 years working in an american lutheran denomination, ecumenical spaces, and i'm deeply familiar with catholicism, academically and personally. what i am going to say here does not mean there are not good, loving, affirming christians or catholics. there are. but the ones in power? that ain't them.
so we're clear, there is no good pope. no pope is going to be the culture changer you hope for. not francis, not chicago style leo, none of them, because in order to get to the rank of cardinal, by necessity you have upheld colonialism, cultural extermination, forced birth policies, "merit-based" poverty relief, sexual abuse, misogyny, and queer persecution. bare minimum. that's why the only candidates for the papacy are old white men.
the papacy is about power, and the history of christian imperialism. and you should be bothered, not comforted, that the new pope is american and was a missionary for much of his career. i've lived with missionaries, worked with them, been friends with them. they are the kindest, cruelest, most compassionate lawful good sort of dangerous there is. they will lovingly stab you in the heart and watch you bleed out, bathing the wound and praising you because this death will save your soul. they have suffered for the truth they believe, which in the case of most christian mission work is that we all must suffer and all must be saved, and salvation comes at a terrible price. the advertising says jesus paid the price but ask any indigenous community and you will hear a very different story. ask anyone living their truth who is then confronted with conservative theology.
silence on certain issues is not approval, particularly not in positions of power. silence is an action against you. queer folx, take note, a christian who is silent about your rights does not believe you should have them. they just hope you won't notice who's tying the noose. pope said jd vance doesn't understand love? fine. do not take that to mean he'll defend the rights of the people being persecuted. not if they are theologically opposed to his beliefs.
I am all for the hot dog memes and the paper formatting jokes. it's history and we should get a laugh, but now, especially if you are queer, if you need access to reproductive rights, if you are part of a non-christian culture, you should above all be wary.
new pope might not like the u.s. leadership, but he has no problem with barring the rights of queer folks and restricting medical care.
beyond the pope himself, no matter what he says or does, the propaganda machine will use an american pope to its advantage in persecuting non-conservative folks.














