Francis and Leo: Starkly Different From the Loggia

True humility, a virtue Francis lacked, consists of accepting the symbols of office whilst realising that you are not worthy of them.

From One Peter Five

By John C. Rao, DPhil(Oxon)

Can Anything Good Come From Rome? – Final Report

On the Outside Looking In: Leo XIV

Ludwig von Pastor’s massive History of the Popes from the Close of the Middle Ages is an interesting source to go to for reactions to the election of the head of the Roman Church. First impressions of the general bearing of a man who would bear the weight of the world on his shoulders were in no way considered superficial in the past. People put a great stress on everything, including the specific physical appearance of the new pontiff, even to the point of discussing the particular shape of his nose and his chin. Having been present at the election of Cardinal Bergoglio, I can assure you that the contrast of the first impact that he made on me in 2013 with that of the newly chosen pontiff yesterday was very, very stark indeed.

Neither my companions nor I knew anything whatsoever about Francis in 2013. Nevertheless, his ghostly appearance on the loggia, the tense minute-long silence that followed, and then his replacement of the mention of Christ with a lugubrious “buona sera” created a deep spiritual chill enhanced by the unpleasant evening weather. That chill was given a further Arctic icing by the sight of the progressive prelatic mafioso entourage surrounding him in his gloom.

We kept expecting something—anything—that sounded Catholic, but by the time we happily evacuated the Piazza it had not yet arrived. Everyone rushed to a nearby bar where the internet connection which had failed us at St. Peter’s could be regained. We searched for some guidance regarding what this all might mean. Rorate Caeli—whose hapless reporter at the Conclave I was supposed to be—provided the answer with an article entitled: “The Horror; the Horror!”. Our first impression was correct. That “buona sera” was a declaration of war on all of our hopes and dreams for even a smidgen of ecclesiastical improvement.

Yesterday was quite different. Yes, it is true that my knowledge of Cardinal Prevost was almost as sketchy as that of Bergoglio, with just a few negative judgements expressed by some of my Vatican journalist friends vaguely bubbling up in my head. But as events unfolded, it was clear that at least my first impressions were not going to be anything comparable to 2013.

The threatening morning weather had disappeared, the Satanic clouds replaced with a triumphant Catholic sun. I was awaiting the smoke from the Sistine Chapel together with a young traditionalist friend, a student from Catholic University who is here for a semester in Rome. We were both very nervous when it became clear that we actually had a new pope. Would he be yet another Chaplain for the Grand Coalition of the Status Quo?  When his name was announced, we had to explain to the confused Italians around us that he was an American born in Chicago—-with a number of them then first thinking that it was Cupich (“The Horror, the Horror!”) who had been chosen!

Then Leo XIV appeared. Properly dressed, with no clerical desperados and pistoleros as a terrifying entourage. Greeting us with Christ’s words after His Resurrection. Telling us repeatedly that Christ was our bridge to eternity. Evoking the Blessed Mother. Actually giving us a blessing, accompanied by a Plenary Indulgence (which is not exactly an ecumenically kosher action). And although my eyes are too weak to have noticed the shape of his nose and chin, my hearing is good, and the voice and its tenor proclaimed a solid bearing so very different from the nasty, snarling vulgarity of the new pope’s predecessor. There is no doubt that Pastor’s Renaissance witnesses would most certainly have been pleased. Obviously the atmospheric conditions added to the positive environmental impact, as did the presence of the Swiss Guards and a variety of handsomely dressed Italian army units.

Now I cannot deny that the repeated mentions of dialogue, acceptance of everybody, synodality, and the blessings of the previous pontificate were not exactly the same soothing music to my ears as were the strains of Roma Immortale, the pontifical anthem, played by the military bands that were present. Moreover, bits of information that I later garnered from another journalist friend about anti-Trump criticisms uttered by the cardinal in his pre-pontifical existence troubled me as well.

Once again, however, let us remember that in this article we are still in first impression mode, and in this regard the old Latin saying, nomen est omen, plays a role as an acceptable categorical imperative. We now have a Leo XIV, whose nineteenth and early twentieth century predecessor gave us the St. Michael Prayer. He was elected on May 8th, the Feast of the Apparition of St. Michael in 492. St. Michael’s name appeared in his prayers. Does this mean something? Who knows? But it is all true and it all did happen. May the omen continue and prosper!

It may well be the case that Cardinal Prevost took the name Leo because of that pope’s connection with the development of Catholic Social Doctrine. It may well be that as a man who has a joint American and Peruvian citizenship, this will translate into a continuation of the focus on questions of poverty and immigration that will perhaps justifiably disturb us. It is too early to tell how everything will play out.

Quite frankly, however, what most concerns me is the question of the survival and advance of the cause of the Traditional Liturgy. Here, too, my knowledge of Pope Leo’s attitude towards that question is limited. I do, however, have a testimony from one reliable source in the United States, indicating that he does not seem to have put obstacles in the path of a good friend of mine who wished to say the Mass of the Ages.

If this is true, and if we can simply hold on and grow under the new Pontificate, whatever other directions it may take, there is great hope for the future. The corrupt, naturalist, suicidal civilization in the hands of a tyrannical, perverse global elite and its minions under whose dictatorship we suffer is crumbling all around us. Trump, for all his erratic flaws, has indeed punched a hole in the sick, stupid, arrogant pretensions of the entire dominant Oligarchy, which I have already indicated is the most ridiculous in the history of the world. As an anti-Catholic and irrational assault on God and nature it must fail—although the damage that it can still do and will still try to do with all of its might continues to be incalculable.

There is no alternative for the human race than Christ, the Lord of history. And there is no way that the Church can do the job that the world needs her to do without the victory of the Traditional Liturgy, the best tool for awakening mankind to the eternal possession of the True, the Good, and the Beautiful in the Beatific Vision.

Give us the chance to promote its cause and the Church will inevitably correct everything else that she is doing badly; everything that aids the sinful, “business as usual”, wet blanket of the naturalist Grand Coalition of the Status Quo from draping heavily over our slumbering society and stifling our personal awakening from a living death; everything that prevents the fullness of the joyful but corrective and transforming message of the Incarnation from lifting up our minds, hearts, and souls, and allowing us to construct Christ’s Social Kingship. Christ must triumph. Christ will triumph. As the lyrics of Roma Immortale, played so well yesterday by the bands at St. Peter’s Squaretell us: “Non prevarranno la forza ed il terrore; Ma regneranno la Verità e l’Amore”; “Force and terror will not prevail; But Truth and Love will reign”.

Pray for Pope Leo XIV, and Viva Cristo Rey!