Pope Leo XIV now reigns as the head of the Catholic Church on Earth, and the reactions have been interesting, to say the least. Some are rejoicing as if God Himself descended from His Heavenly Throne to place the Tiara on Pope Leo’s head, and others seem like they should be put on suicide watch and not allowed any sharp implements in the home or to walk alone on bridges.

I have seen rumours — of the generally credible kind in the journalistic sense — that he is a long-time devotee of the Traditional Latin Mass.

It also seems to be the case that he isn’t a big fan of Trump’s or JD Vance’s stance on border control and migrants. In addition to that, he apparently imposed Communion on the hand during the Covidian period in his diocese in Peru, and it is said that he suggested doing confession via telephone to reduce contact during the same period. I haven’t been able to find confirmation of the claim of confession over the phone, however. My gut tells me it isn’t true; you would have to be pretty ignorant of the basic necessity of sacramental validity to suggest a real “over the phone” confession.

There are also allegations that he covered up or ignored some abuse claims in his diocese, and perhaps he will deal with those allegations. Now, my journalistic background has shown me that it is often not as black and white as people would like when it comes to how a diocese deals with abuse claims. There are many reasons for this, especially the fact that the code of canon law is very weak on the matter, and modern civil legal codes are often less than helpful.

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In any event, there are plenty of reasons why Pope Leo could turn out to be awful, and simply another Pope Francis. At the same time, Cardinal Burke and Cardinal Sarah seem to be overjoyed at his election, and their comments have gone beyond mere pleasantries required by decorum.

One Italian outlet has reported that the new Pope attended a “secret” meeting with Cardinal Burke before the conclave, and it seems to be verified. The thinking goes that Cardinal Burke used his American influence and his former position as a high-ranking prelate to find a way forward for the electors with a moderate man who could deal with the various factions of the Church.

Of course, much of this is conjecture and based on incomplete information or rumours.

His homily from this morning was quite strong and orthodox, in my opinion, and was refreshing to hear.

Before he was elected I recorded a podcast wherein I said that it would be so great if we could simply have a Pope who preached the Gospel and about Our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, his homily was about Our Lord, the history of the papacy, the blessings of God and the need to evangelize people wrapped up in a materialistic age. Quite frankly, if I had heard a similar homily in an SSPX chapel I wouldn’t have been shocked. It was a Catholic homily and wasn’t political or ideological or annoying.

Surely I would love to see him celebrate the Latin Mass in public — which I think he will at some point — but it was also encouraging to see him celebrate Mass in a way that gave dignity to the setting. I am no fan of the Novus Ordo, but, it is clear that he has Catholic sensibilities, and hearing a Pope sing the Gloria in Latin is never a bad thing.

If I may be frank, I really want to like this Pope and to be proud to talk about him in public. He doesn’t have to be the second coming of Pope Pius X, he just has to be Catholic.

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Dare we hope that he will talk about Jesus and Our Lady more than he does the climate? Could it be that he will stand firm unambiguously and uphold the Church’s perennial teachings on faith and morals? Can we expect him to refrain from saying things like “all religions lead to God?”

I don’t care if he isn’t MAGA and doesn’t like Trump or Vance or some of their policies. I don’t care if he places a bigger emphasis on migrants than our conservative politicians do. I also don’t care if he is a middle-ground sort of person who is able to make friends with both Traditionalists and Liberals.

Quite frankly, he is the Pope, the Papa, which means he is our supreme spiritual father, and I pray that he has the sort of temperament that allows him to reach all his children, even the ones who hate Tradition.

I hate how divided the Church is and has been, and I don’t think it is a good thing. Granted, you will never see me bending the knee on a matter of principle, but I am also more than happy to receive encouragement from our Holy Father in ways that help bring Catholics closer together. I really do hope that he will demonstrate a tender heart for Traditionalists, as we could really use some fathering after so many years of neglect and exile.

The identity crisis in the Church needs to end, and as much as I will never give in to the liturgical revolution, nor should any of us, it is also the case that we need a leader who will diffuse the situation and break down the stigma that has been erected around Traditionalists. It simply can’t go on this way and the Pope must find it within himself to do the impossible and help the Church find her true self in her Sacred Tradition. If he could extend his hand to faithful Traditional Catholics, he would find the most loyal subjects who would literally go on a crusade if he called one tomorrow.

My gut tells me that Pope Leo seems like a kind man, so I am going to hope against hope that he will extend his kindness to all his children, even the Trads. To the doomers out there who have already condemned the man to hell, I have no time for you; I think you would have been complaining in the desert after Moses brought you out of slavery.

You know, with our world in a constant state of political turmoil and revolution, it would be the greatest gift from God to have a Pope who calms the sea so that we can feel steady and safe in the Barque of Peter.

I know we do not deserve a great Pope, because we are wretched sinners, but perhaps God will be merciful to us, even though we are unworthy, and give us a Papa we can be proud of.

Please God, let us have a good and holy Pope.

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