NYT: World Catholics See the First American Pope as Hardly American

NYT: World Catholics See the First American Pope as Hardly American

Catholics around the world were skeptical at first about an American pope.

Who gives a shit, people in America are skeptical of a whole bunch of things, and the NYT doesn’t care much about that.

At a time when President Trump has isolated the United States from its diplomatic allies and trade partners and upended much of the world order, some Catholics worried that an American pontiff might somehow bring the Roman Catholic Church closer to the tumultuous American government.

President Trump didn’t isolate the US from diplomatic allies.  The US is currently negotiating peace agreements between Russian and Ukraine, India and Pakistan, and Israel and Hamas. 

When the NYT says “some Catholics”, they are presenting their editorial opinion.  There are 50 million Catholics in America.  Surely “some Catholics” can be found to embrace any opinion.

Instead, Pope Leo appears to have reassured them, at least for now, that he would preserve the church as a global moral voice calling for peace and justice, especially for migrants, the poor and victims of war, in the mold of Pope Francis.

Some Catholics weren’t so sure about Pope Francis.  According to Pew Research, only 26% of Catholics had a very favorable view of him.  The only pope who had a lower “very favorable” rating is Pope Benedict XVI, and he was a member of the Hitler Youth.

To be fair to Pope Benedict XVI, every 14 year-old boy in Germany was in the Hitler Youth.  He didn’t want to be in it, but didn’t have a choice.  Catholics warmed to him over time and his stats went up.

I’m not criticizing Pope Benedict, Pope Francis or Pope Leo.  The NYT used Pope Leo to do a little Trump bashing, and they did it in a sneaky way.  Their lack of integrity remains intact.

President Trump is upending the world order because America has been carrying too much of the burden, and the rest of the world doesn’t seem to appreciate it. 

The NYT implies that America is in charge of too much of the world, so does not need to be in charge of the Catholic Church.  That’s true.  American Catholics are more progressive than Catholics in South America or Africa.  Pope Leo may have spent enough time in South America to present a more conservative perspective.  We will see.