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ArcticStones's avatar

"Why the conclave elected Robert Prevost"

While we’re waiting for a comprehensive report from The DownBallot’s secret correspondent at the Conclave, here is an interesting article published by Axios.

https://www.axios.com/2025/05/09/why-robert-prevost-elected-pope-leo-conclave

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ArcticStones's avatar

MAGA says Pope Leo may be American, but he's not 'America first'

And in other good news, Steve Bannon and the MAGA ecosphere have found reasons to denounce Pope Leo XIV.

"I mean it's kind of jaw-dropping. It is shocking to me that a guy could be selected to be the Pope that had had the Twitter feed and the statements he's had against American senior politicians," said Bannon, a hard-right Trump loyalist, practising Catholic and former altar boy.

The former altar boy predicts that there's "definitely going to be friction" between Leo and Trump.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyglw20lg2o

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Zero Cool's avatar

Really. Pope Leo XIV's job is to lead the Vatican and the Catholic Church and he's supposed to be "America first?"

What does Bannon want him to do? Speak at Trump rallies and pull another Jerry Falwell Jr?

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ArcticStones's avatar

The Farce is strong in this one, though he does not know it.

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Burt Kloner's avatar

if trump and his gang of criminals make a point of attacking Pope Leo how many Catholics are going to support republicans in the near future? 30%?

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James Trout's avatar

Fine by me! Especially since it will help us in the Midwest, Arizona, Texas, and Florida.

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michaelflutist's avatar

And the Northeast, where shoring up NH and northern ME could help. Don't forget PA!

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michaelflutist's avatar

Possibly more, but it would definitely be a stupid move.

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Marcus Graly's avatar

It's not like Leo was sharing "Resistance" memes. The main thing he criticized was Vance's characterization of Love in Christianity, where Vance was totally 180% wrong. "The Gospels say we should love all humanity, even our enemies" is just an accurate statement, in no way controversial at all, or shouldn't be.

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michaelflutist's avatar

You say that, but throughout history, Christian rulers have much more commonly killed those they decided were enemies, rather than loving them. Jesus' radical message tends to be subversive, rather than congenial, for rulers.

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ArcticStones's avatar

On a side note, there’s a bloody good reason the Catholic Church waits until somebody’s dead before making them a saint. Can’t have saintly subversives running around!

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Marcus Graly's avatar

I mean that's true, but rather irrelevant to the point that either Vance or Leo were making. Vance said that Christianity teaches that you should have a hierarchy of loving those closest to you first, and the future Leo, as well as many others, pointed out that the teachings of Jesus as recorded in the gospels say the opposite. What Christians do in practice is another question.

(Or followers of any religion that preaches some amount of pacifism. It usually gets thrown out the window when it's inconvenient for pollical leaders.)

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michaelflutist's avatar

I don't think it's another question. It's the central issue.

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