My fellow Protestants need to know that after I get done with Pope Leo in this column, I’m coming for them next at next week’s TPUSA pastor summit in Dallas. So enjoy it while it lasts, and don’t get too proud.
But this pope, man.
And I quote: “Communion between Christians and Muslims takes shape ... as children, within our rich diversity, in our shared aspiration for dignity, love, justice, and peace."
Seriously, if what Pope Leo just articulated is an "apostolic journey," then I am a Speedo swimsuit male model centerfold.
I'm actually looking for a pope who has serious theological disagreements with an evangelical like me and isn’t afraid to express them.
Why didn’t St. Peter think about asking his executioners to consider their shared aspiration of dignity, love, justice, and peace when they were crucifying him upside down? It was the least he could do. Maybe the Romans are the real victims, I guess.
As my Catholic editor has said, the pope keeps saying and doing things that don't comport with obvious scriptural, historical, or current realities on the ground. We are getting a Mr. Rogers papacy, when the plumb line for true apostolic journeys is defined thusly: Peter went to Antioch, then Rome; he was crucified upside down. Andrew journeyed to Scythia and Greece and was crucified in Patras. James the Greater preached in Spain and was executed by sword in Jerusalem. John remained in Ephesus, was exiled to Patmos, and died peacefully. Philip went to Phrygia in Asia Minor and was crucified upside down. Bartholomew traveled through Armenia and India and was flayed and beheaded. Thomas preached in Persia and India and was struck by spears. Matthew carried the gospel to Ethiopia and was stabbed to death. James the Less stayed in Jerusalem and was thrown from the temple. Thaddeus Jude went through Syria and Mesopotamia and was martyred in Beirut. Simon the Zealot preached in North Africa and was killed in Persia. Matthias, who succeeded Judas, went to the Caspian region and was stoned and beheaded.
So the truth is out there if we want it in full, cross and all, instead of a Pope Leo soundtrack that comes across as a mix of John Lennon’s "Imagine" and Taylor Swift’s “You Belong with Me."
Such social justice dreamscapes are always the conceit of weak men. They refuse to faithfully make the main thing the main thing but instead chase off after a preferred narrative. That’s how you go on a pleasant walk in an Algerian mosque while Nigerian Christians are presently being slaughtered on the very same African continent.
Pope Leo's comments often frame violence as due to multifaceted, generalized causes based in things like economics or land rights instead of daring to take on Islam directly, either theologically or criminally. For example, among his many tweets, he has never specifically condemned Islamic radicalism for the attacks of October 7 against Israel by Hamas, a known proxy for Iran. Mere condemnations of generic terrorism have been his preference instead, as if all religions have similar levels of bloodlust at the present time.
Any ChatGPT query will tell you that such narrative casting also defined Leo when he was tweeting as Robert Prevost, which is probably why he was chosen as pope last year. The medicine for global conflicts is always focused on more dialogue, missionary work, and synodality rather than the obvious evils in our midst that are demonically vanquishing body and soul with impunity. That’s not a uniquely Catholic problem, though. You’ve all met David French and Mike Pence, right?
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Strangely enough, I'm actually looking for a pope who has serious theological disagreements with an evangelical like me and isn’t afraid to express them, because then I will know that firstly, he understands the true nature of the battle, and secondly, he is convicted to win it. That I can deal with. That’s a man in full, not a chestless minstrel reciting peacenik poetry while hanging out with David Axelrod.
Yes, in terms of relationships, the job of the pope and of all Christians may indeed be to make some very strange bedfellows when we live out Matthew 28 and go to Nineveh, but the language used to do it and the environment it is done in must never compromise the whole counsel of God in favor of a preference for “being nice.”
I also know from a search of ChatGPT that Pope Leo has spoken very frequently on things that evangelicals care a great deal about, like sin, repentance, and redemption. Thus, I think the way to confront this pope is with actual Catholicism instead of Protestant trolling.
We must remind him of the deep history and teaching of his own church — one that inspired, saved, and preserved Western civilization in ways too numerous to count.
In other words, do you even chair of St. Peter, bro? That’s the path forward, not taunts of illegitimacy.
We just want the pope to actually be Catholic. I hope and pray that isn’t too much to ask.