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Friday, May 9, 2025

A New Pope: Cardinal Robert Prevost of Chicago Becomes First American Pope

Pope Leo XIV. Matt Walther: Leo is “an American, Chicago born.” He is a White Sox fan, a graduate of Villanova, and almost certainly the first Vicar of Christ to have fond memories of the ’85 Bears (The Free Press). From his opening address: “Peace be with all of you! Dearest brothers and sisters, this is the first greeting of the Risen Christ, the good shepherd who gave his life for God’s flock. I too would like this greeting of peace to enter your heart, to reach your families, to all people, wherever they are, to all peoples, to the whole earth. Peace be with you!… I am a son of Saint Augustine, (an) Augustinian, who said: “With you I am a Christian and for you a bishop.” In this sense, we can all walk together towards that homeland that God has prepared for us (Salem News Channel). Trump responds: “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!” (Salem News Channel). Robert George: I hope that he will be what his choice of regnal name reveals his aspiring to be: a pontiff in the mode of Pope Leo XIII–a great teacher and pastor (X). The new Bishop of Rome was born on September 14, 1955, in Chicago, Illinois, to Louis Marius Prevost, of French and Italian descent, and Mildred Martínez, of Spanish descent. He has two brothers, Louis Martín and John Joseph. He spent his childhood and adolescence with his family and studied first at the Minor Seminary of the Augustinian Fathers and then at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, where in 1977 he earned a Degree in Mathematics and also studied Philosophy. On September 1 of the same year, Prevost entered the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine (O.S.A.) in Saint Louis, in the Province of Our Lady of Good Counsel of Chicago, and made his first profession on September 2, 1978. On August 29, 1981, he made his solemn vows. The future Pontiff received his theological education at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. At the age of 27, he was sent by his superiors to Rome to study Canon Law at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) (Vatican News). More bio: (College of Cardinals).

Issues Facing the New Pope

Beginning with: Return to a Papacy as Source of Sound Doctrine and Unity. Although Pope Francis did much to try to bring the Church to the peripheries, the poor and the marginalized in an attempt to make her accessible to those who might not have given her a second glance, in doing so he often set aside doctrinal boundaries and canonical limits to papal power. He was also frequently criticized for departing from apostolic tradition, issuing statements that at least appeared to run contrary to established Church teaching — especially her moral teaching, and promoting indifferentism — the idea that all religions are valid paths to God. Together with a push towards synodality, in which uncatechized faithful had a significant say in a broad democratization of the Church, this led to doctrinal confusion in the Vatican and elsewhere, the Church in Germany being a prime example. Together with a failure to correct error and heresy, a trend that began before the Francis pontificate, the integrity of the faith has been undermined. An urgent priority for the next pope, therefore, will be to restore doctrinal clarity in faith and morals, good governance, and respect for canon law. Connected with this, the next pope will need to cease and root out the persecution and elimination of institutions, movements, bishops, clergy and laity who evidently bear good and ample fruits in terms of reverence, spiritual life, fidelity to Catholic doctrine, and vocations. He should allow any such persons or entities to grow and flourish rather than be cancelled — contrary to what often took place under Pope Francis where those who abused doctrine, moral teaching and the liturgy went unpunished and were allowed to thrive (Edward Pentin). Distressing matters from Lifesite News: A strong supporter Francis’s radical agenda, Prevost supports “synodality.” He has suggested that “synodality” is the solution to “the current polarization currently gripping the Church.” He dismissed those who “prefer the security of answers already experienced in the past” (LifeSite). 

Pope Leo XIV on the Issue of Life

Quoting the new Pope: We cannot build a just society if we discard the weakest—whether the child in the womb or the elderly in their frailty—for they are both gifts from God (X). New York Post: On social media, Prevost has expressed strong support for the Catholic Church’s anti-abortion stance. In 2015, Prevost posted a photograph from the March For Life rally in Chiclayo, exhorting his followers: “Let’s defend human life at all times!” (New York Post). Charlie Kirk: Our Turning Point Action team pulled the voting history for Pope Leo XIV. He’s a registered Republican who has voted in Republican primaries when not living abroad. Our data shows he’s a strong Republican, and he’s pro-life (X).

“Markets Cheer” as Trump Announces Trade Deal With U.K.

Wall Street Journal: President Trump continues to walk back his trade war by degrees, and markets continue to cheer. That’s the big story in Thursday’s announcement that the U.S. and the United Kingdom have struck a new trade deal. Many details need to be worked out, but the deal marks another step back from Mr. Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs of April 2. The President and his advisers promised no exceptions at the time, but the markets staged a revolt. Mr. Trump then offered a 90-day reprieve to everyone but China to negotiate deals that pull the U.S. and the world back from the trade-war abyss. The British deal is the first, which makes economic and political sense. The two economies are compatible in many ways, and much of the two-way trade is in services rather than goods. The negotiations on a bilateral deal began in the first Trump term, so some progress was already made. The U.S. has a trade surplus with the U.K., unlike much of the rest of the world. Keir Starmer, the British Prime Minister, also needs a trade deal as he copes with sluggish growth. The deal as outlined Thursday looks like progress… (Wall Street Journal). Sam Ashworth-Hayes for The Telegraph: For Donald Trump, it’s a clear negotiating win. He lowered tariffs that were most likely imposed in an attempt to get other countries to fall into line, delivering a synthetic solution to an artificial crisis. In exchange, he won material concessions from Downing Street (Telegraph). Economist: Peter Mandelson, the British ambassador to Washington, called the agreement a “springboard” for further liberalisation. Yet Mr Trump was less sure. He suggested both that the deal was going to “get bigger” and that it was “maxxed out”. The White House’s negotiations with Britain indicated that its strategy will be to go industry by industry, peeling concessions from negotiating partners on the way. For Britain, that meant a focus on agriculture, cars and steel, where it earned respite from Mr Trump’s sector-specific levies, as well as securing a promise of preferential treatment in any future rounds of tariffs. Negotiators representing both countries bypassed long-standing disputes such as a digital-services tax that Britain levies on tech giants and its food-standards rules, which block “chlorinated chicken” and the like from entering the country (Economist).

Satellite Images Reveal Secret Iranian Nuclear Site; “Those crafty mullahs”

Fox News has exclusively obtained satellite imagery revealing what an opposition group says is a previously undisclosed Iranian nuclear weapons facility — raising fresh concerns amid ongoing negotiations between Tehran and the Trump administration. The newly identified site, located in Iran’s Semnan Province, is far from the regime’s already-known nuclear facilities. According to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), intelligence gathered from sources inside the country points to a sprawling compound covering nearly 2,500 acres. Code-named the “Rainbow Site” by Iranian officials, the facility has reportedly been in operation for more than a decade, masked as a chemical production company known as Diba Energy Siba (Fox News). Beege Welborn: Oh, those crafty mullahs. They thought they were going to pull another slick one on the United States and the world, much as they have been ever since sending the Shah into exile. I’m sure their little hard hearts went pitter-patter listening to President Trump’s interview with Kristen Welker the other day – and you can be assured they were listening – when the subject of Iran came up (Hot Air).

Trump Nominates Judge Jeanine Pirro for Top Federal Prosecutor in D.C.

After Ed Martin failed to garner sufficient Senate support. The Hill: Trump announced on Truth Social that he was appointing Pirro to the job on an interim basis. “In addition to her Legal career, Jeanine previously hosted her own Fox News Show, Justice with Judge Jeanine, for ten years, and is currently Co-Host of The Five, one of the Highest Rated Shows on Television,” Trump posted. “Jeanine is incredibly well qualified for this position, and is considered one of the Top District Attorneys in the History of the State of New York,” he continued. “She is in a class by herself. Congratulations Jeanine!” It was not immediately clear if Trump intended to nominate Pirro to the job on a full-time basis, which would require Senate confirmation (The Hill).

UCLA Medical School Sued for Racial Discrimination

The lawsuit was filed on Thursday: … after whistleblowers alleged that the school holds black and Latino applicants to a lower standard than their white and Asian counterparts, the latest challenge for a beleaguered university already in the crosshairs of the Trump administration. The complaint is based on multiple Washington Free Beacon reports about the extent of racial preferences at the medical school. It was filed by Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), the group whose lawsuit against Harvard University resulted in the Supreme Court decision, in 2023, that outlawed affirmative action in higher education. In a statement to the Free Beacon, SFFA president Edward Blum framed the lawsuit as a sequel to the Harvard case. “This lawsuit sends an important message to every institution of higher education: Any school and administrator that uses race and racial proxies in admissions in defiance of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard will be sued,” Blum said. “University administrators in their official and personal capacities will face vigorous legal challenges if they use race and racial proxies in the admissions process” (Free Beacon).

Joe Biden Is Back

If you can call it that … with an appearance on The View Thursday. Scott Jennings: Between what we saw of Biden today on The View & my understanding of what’s about to drop in the Tapper/Thompson book, I don’t think Dems have fully internalized the nuclear bomb that’s about to hit their party (X). Megan Kelly looks at the clips: (X). The question is, “why?”—i.e., what was their objective? Victor Davis Hanson: Those who perpetrated the greatest ruse in American presidential history by staging the Biden presidency will never tell us what their ultimate agenda was. They knowingly fixed the 2020 primaries to ensure a non-compos-Biden would be nominated. Under the cover of the COVID lockdowns, they kept him in his basement while operatives radically altered the voting laws in the key swing states. For the next four years, they put their waxen effigy in a hermetically sealed cocoon—one of avoidance of the press, three-day workweeks, and four-hour workdays. Yet Biden could still not read huge-font, teleprompted scripts. He could not finish a simple call for unity without snarling, screaming, and damning his opposition as “semi-fascists,” “ultra-MAGA,” and “garbage.”… Then, referring to Trump: In sum, the more he mocked them, the more they sought to destroy him—and all the more they ensured he would be president again (VDH).

Tulsi Gabbard Declassifies Report Detailing Biden Administration’s Coordinated Efforts to Deplatform, Debank and Disarm Those Who Engaged in Heterodox Political Speech

“A move with no precedent in the U.S.” John Lott: Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has declassified a shocking plan by former President Joe Biden’s administration for dealing with domestic terrorists…. the newly declassified document reveals that the actions were part of a coordinated action from early in the administration across a wide range of government agencies to target “domestic terrorists.” To combat this domestic threat, the Biden administration advocated censorship, closing people’s accounts at banks or financial institutions (so-called “de-banking”), and gun control. Identifying criminal activity through people’s speech already raises serious concerns, but the new document goes even further. It shows that officials aimed to track “concerning non-criminal behavior”—a move with no precedent in the U.S. This revelation casts the Biden administration’s actions in a very different light and redefines how the public should interpret recent revelations. This concern about domestic terrorism was used as a basis for advocating a variety of gun control policies: banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, state adoption of extreme risk protection orders allowing courts to confiscate people’s guns without due process, a national education campaign urging people to lock up their guns, and banning homemade guns (so-called “ghost guns”). The declassified Plan raises serious civil liberties concerns. It obliterates the line between legitimate security threats and constitutionally protected speech and behavior and casts a dangerously wide net. The revelations show how far the Biden administration was willing to go to silence opposing political views (Crime Research).

10.

Next Week: Trump Trip to the Middle East

His second international Trip as 47^th President—after his trip to the Vatican last month for the funeral of Pope Francis: Leavitt announced during a White House press briefing that he’ll visit the Middle Eastern nations from May 13 to May 16. The three-country tour will be Trump’s second foreign trip since returning to office… Leavitt said the trip is intended to help “strengthen ties” with the Middle Eastern countries. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have provided diplomatic support to the Trump administration in recent months, including assisting with ceasefire negotiations for the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza (Politico). Some outlets have reported he may make a nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia. Israel Hayom: Israeli officials are closely monitoring the recent statements from Trump and admitted they were caught off guard. However, despite the apparent US green light for the Saudi nuclear initiative, Israeli reactions have remained relatively calm. “The president won’t be able to get approval to push forward a civilian nuclear program for Saudi Arabia without the Israeli component,” the Israeli official told Israel Hayom. “He doesn’t have a Senate majority for any agreement that doesn’t include Israel or that moves forward without its consent.” He confirmed that the Americans had made inquiries with Israel regarding its position, but chose to advance the initiative after determining that Israel could not meet Saudi demands regarding the Palestinians (Israel Hayom).

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