May 12, 2025
MM#408--I'm STILL in Shock...White Smoke, American Face: Pope Leo XIV and First Impressions
FAN MAIL--We would love YOUR feedback--Send us a Text Message The election of Pope Leo XIV shatters two millennia of Catholic tradition by elevating an American to the papacy for the first time. Born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago, this Augustinian cardinal who spent years serving in the jungles of Peru brings a unique dual perspective to the Chair of Peter—combining Western financial acumen with deep experience ministering to the marginalized. This groundbreaking selection upends longsta...
FAN MAIL--We would love YOUR feedback--Send us a Text Message
The election of Pope Leo XIV shatters two millennia of Catholic tradition by elevating an American to the papacy for the first time. Born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago, this Augustinian cardinal who spent years serving in the jungles of Peru brings a unique dual perspective to the Chair of Peter—combining Western financial acumen with deep experience ministering to the marginalized.
This groundbreaking selection upends longstanding assumptions that an American cardinal could never become Pope due to U.S. superpower status. Yet after 133 cardinals cast their votes, white smoke signaled this historic choice that bridges North and South America. What factors drove this unexpected decision? The search for stability and unity following internal Church divisions appears paramount, with Cardinal Prevost representing a non-ideological figure who might heal rifts while maintaining doctrinal clarity.
Pope Leo XIV's first appearances reveal a thoughtful, measured leader whose traditional vestments, Latin blessing, and emphasis on Vatican II continuity suggest a papacy that honors Catholic heritage while addressing modern challenges. His Augustinian spirituality—focused on community, contemplation, and service—shines through in his humble approach to leadership, exemplified by his citation of St. Augustine: "With you I am a Christian, for you I am a bishop." This servant-leader mindset, combined with impressive academic credentials and grassroots missionary experience, positions him uniquely to navigate the complex terrain of 21st century Catholicism.
Want to understand what this historic papal election means for the future of the Catholic Church? Join us as we analyze Pope Leo XIV's background, selection, and first impressions—exploring how this American Pope might guide 1.3 billion Catholics worldwide while balancing tradition and reform in an increasingly divided global community.
Key Points from the Episode:
• Cardinal Robert Prevost's election represents a bridge between the first world and third world, having been born in Chicago but serving extensively in Peru
• His Augustinian background emphasizes communal living, contemplative spirituality, and service to others
• Four likely reasons for his selection: desire for unity after division, missionary experience, balanced perspective between intellectual rigor and service to the poor, financial acumen
• Traditional vestments, Latin blessings, and emphasis on the Second Vatican Council indicate a balance between tradition and reform
• His early addresses emphasize humility, collaboration, and service, citing St. Augustine: "With you I am a Christian, for you I am a bishop"
• First papal trip abroad will be to Turkey for the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea
Let us pray for Pope Leo XIV in his ministry guiding the universal Church, that his papacy may bring healing and unity to the faithful throughout the world.
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00:00 - Introduction to Pope Leo XIV
05:17 - Personal Experience of the Election
10:07 - Historical Context of American Cardinals
14:56 - Four Reasons for His Selection
19:27 - Pope Leo's Background and First Impressions
26:23 - Looking Forward: First Papal Address
WEBVTT
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Welcome to the Theory to Action podcast, where we examine the timeless treasures of wisdom from the great books in less time, to help you take action immediately and ultimately to create and lead a flourishing life.
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Now here's your host, david Kaiser.
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Hello, I am David and welcome back to another Mojo Minute.
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In today's show we're going to talk about how I'm still in shock of the election of Pope Leo XIV, the 267th successor to the Apostle Peter and the first American Pope.
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I'm going to share a story where I was and when I got the news that we're going to talk about this notion of an American Pope, the history, why the conventional wisdom was always out there that no American cardinal could become Pope, because that seems to be of an interest to a great number of people.
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So we'll go in the history and the intrigue behind those reasons, and then we're going to talk about the four reasons I believe this American was selected as Pope, and then, finally, my initial impressions and where do we go from here.
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So, with that all said, we're not going to cover any books today per se.
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Roughly, we cover about 90% of books on each and every one of these podcasts, but today we're just going to have a regular conversation, you and me all, about Pope Leo XIV and this historic election of an American pope.
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Now my personal story when I got the news was I had gone, I'd just been on vacation, just the first day of vacation, and wanted to go to the 1145 weekday mass in my local parish and everything was going along as normal until at the end our pastor, our friar, made an announcement that there had been white smoke and that he was turning on the TV in our gathering hall, aquinas Hall, and that people were free to wait for the news.
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We knew it was going to be roughly about an hour to the announcement.
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Pope John Paul II it was roughly about 45 minutes from the white smoke to his announcement, and then Benedict was roughly about the same, I think Pope Francis, it was about an hour.
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This one actually was about an hour and 10 minutes, if I can recall correctly.
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But anyhow, we sat there, waited on pins and needles, just like everybody else.
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Finally, when the I think it's the Chamberlain is what they call him he came out, the Cardinal who announces we have a pope.
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He began reading the first name of the announcement.
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I believe he said Roberto, and I think there was a lot of people, including myself, that thought oh, that's Robert, and I had been pulling for Cardinal Robert Serra from Guinea.
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So I was hoping for him.
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He's conservative, but I've read parts of three or four of his books and just really found him very compelling.
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His personal story is just incredible what he grew up with a totalitarian state in Western Africa, guinea, and just anyhow fantastic story.
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Urge all my listeners to read about Cardinal Robert Serra.
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Very good cardinal, very well liked by most of the other cardinals, but anyhow, right when Roberto, I think, is what they announced in Italian, and then it was they finally said the cardinal's last name, prevost.
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That got muffled.
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It was hard to hear there was echoing.
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That got muffled and it was hard to hear there was echoing.
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And anyhow, our friar immediately heard the name, not sure how he did, and then immediately shouted he's an American and I'm like what.
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And so I immediately said what's his name.
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And he gobbled that because he, I think he was trying to search for it on his phone.
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And anyhow, we were all scrambling Everybody was scrambling to get to websites to look at the list of all the American Cardinals.
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Who was the papably Cardinals that were American, because everybody was on that website searching they.
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We could not.
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Nothing was loading, everything was loading very slow.
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But then we heard through the TV that we got it confirmed it was an American, cardinal, chicago.
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The facts start to drip in as the world finds out who he is and the searches go on and evidently he was on a list of some folks but certainly wasn't on any list that I was looking at, even though it actually was on the College of Cardinals report.
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So shame on me for not looking at all 21 or 22 people that are on that probably filter Quite shocking.
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I'm still in shock, frankly.
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It's unbelievable.
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You never just growing up as a Catholic, you never you always are intrigued.
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Why can't an American cardinal become Pope?
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And when I traveled to Rome in 2002 for a canonization mass and you got to see the kind of universal church and you got to speak with other Italians and people from different nationalities, start to understand the Americans are not the most well-liked people around the world.
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So I'm sure the American Cardinals get that.
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Our media, our movies, our music everything American is exported.
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Having grown up in Columbus Ohio, having grown up torn as a Buckeye fan and at the time I was a Notre Dame fan, lou Holtz was there I had a good friend who was a Notre Dame fan.
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So, to be counter-cultural, I hated John Cooper.
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Frankly Sorry, john, if you're listening, I did not like John Cooper as a head coach at the Ohio State University, but so I can understand, having grown up in Columbus and being under that umbrella of everything Ohio State University, ohio State football, ohio State basketball, everything, every commercial, everything is shoved down your throat.
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So I can see where the rest of the world kind of gets tired of Americans.
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That was part of it.
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As an American.
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American cardinals were not looked favorably on the world stage to lead the universal church.
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And then, frankly, it was.
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We were a young country, I think the first cardinal is not.
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You don't have a first cardinal until roughly, I believe, 1875.
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Pius IX selected the first American cardinal, john McCluskey, in 1875.
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So roughly we've only had 150 years, so to speak, if my public high school math is adequate, 150 years of creating cardinals.
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Certainly the Italians who hold the majority of popes.
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They have roughly about 1,900, 1,800 years head start on us.
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Anybody coming to Rome for papal conclaves were getting there by ship.
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That was taking a long time, so they almost never got there in time.
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And then the real reason, especially in the 20th century, was once the United States became a global economic power and then the dominant superpower after World War II was the United States and the Soviet Union.
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Most cardinals did not want to upset that balance of power, trying to understand US foreign policy around the world.
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And then what was happening with the Soviet Union?
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John Paul II helped to create that nonviolent revolution and that superpower, so to speak, and end communism, eastern European communism.
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So since then, the fact that we were the lone superpower in the world it was even more emphatic that we would not have an American cardinal, but the Holy Spirit, and 133 cardinals in 2025 said otherwise.
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So that is historic.
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That's very interesting.
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So we're going to see how this all plays out.
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This is fascinating.
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We are in uncharted territory.
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Let's step back.
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I'll go through my four reasons why I think they chose this man Cardinal Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV.
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Let's just do a little quick background on who this man is.
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I'm sure most people, most listeners, have already seen his biography, but we'll go quickly through that just so we can get a better sense of the man.
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Robert Francis Prevost was born September 14th 1955 in Chicago, illinois.
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His father and mother grew up on the south side of Chicago, suburban Dalton.
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He has two brothers, louis Martin and John Joseph.
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He has a Haitian and Creole ancestry through his maternal great-grandmother, baptized in Louisiana in 1840.
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Prevost was immersed in Catholicism from his childhood he served as an altar boy and attended the parish school.
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Evidently his mother was a huge proponent of saying the rosary.
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She was also part of the altar and rosary society.
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Rosary, she was also part of the altar and rosary society and his parents served as lectors, which he had reflected on helped to shape his vocational discernment.
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He holds dual citizenship, in the United States and Peru.
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He had left home and studied at the minor seminary of the Augustinian fathers at the age of 14 in 1969.
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That helped his discernment of his priestly vocation.
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He says he was obviously influenced by his devout Catholic upbringing and his early involvement in parish life.
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He attends that minor seminary, kind of like a high school, through age 18, then goes on to Villanova, gets his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Villanova in 1977.
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He also studied philosophy there, reflecting on the Augustinian emphasis of integrating faith and reason.
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Then he gets a Master's of Divinity at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago in 1982, preparing for the priesthood.
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And then he goes on to the advanced studies in Rome at the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas the Angelicum, earns his licentiate in canon law in 1984 and a doctorate in 1987.
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His thesis titled the Role of the Local Prior in the Order of St Augustine, order of St Augustine, but in 1985 and 86, he was sent to the Augustinian mission in Chulacanus, peru.
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I believe I'm saying that right Chulacanus Peru.
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I was corrected earlier that I had mispronounced Tagli, cardinal Tagli's last name, so I am doing best, better, trying to do better on these Spanish pronunciations.
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Chulacanes, peru, in 1985, and he served as the territorial prelature there, engaging with rural communities and traveling across diverse terrains, including jungles and mountains, across diverse terrains, including jungles and mountains.
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And just so we can back up a little bit.
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There has been some speculation.
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Who are the Augustinians?
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They come from St Augustine, actually founded in 1244 by Pope Innocent IV, a religious order that follows the St Augustine written by St Augustine of Hippo, author of the Confessions, and we have a book brief out about that.
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We'll put that in the show notes.
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But the order emphasizes communal living, poverty, service and contemplative spirituality rooted in Augustine's teachings on truth, unity and love.
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They operate in 50 countries.
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They focus on education, pastoral ministry and missionary service.
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Augustinians in the past Augustine of Hippo, the founder, spiritual founder, bishop and doctor of the church.
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Also, martin Luther was an Augustinian friar, though he broke later and began the Protestant Reformation.
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Gregor Mandel was an Augustinian monk and scientist known as the father of modern genetics for his experiments with pea plants.
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And just a historical note, while Pope Leo XIV is the first pope from the order of St Augustine, six prior popes belong to orders following the rule of Augustine, including five canons regular Honoris II, innocent Lucius II, adrian IV and Eugene IV.
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So now the choice of name.
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We're going to talk about that a little bit later.
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We're going to talk about his vestments and the symbolism behind all that.
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But my four reasons why I think they selected this American as Pope is first is first, and the major reason, I believe, is because I think most of the cardinals understood the fact of the non-stability or the lack of unity in the church worldwide after the Pope Francis pontificate.
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For a variety of reasons, I think most of the Catholic cardinals, no matter their ideological division, I think they wanted stability and they wanted unity and they first looked to someone who was in love with our Lord, that would not make divisions in the church but would slowly, pragmatically heal the church in its many divides, and I think they found that person in a very non-ideological candidate.
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I think he is unknown on many of the major issues.
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But I think Pope Leo XIV is a person who listens much better than the previous pontificate did.
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I think he was going to encourage many of his cabinet to keep a presidential term.
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I think many within the Roman Curia he's going to explain we have to do much more listening than we do instructing or authoritativeness.
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I think his missionary my second reason his missionary love for his people in Peru came across as a man dedicated to living the gospel with Christ at the center of his life.
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I think that came through loud and clear.
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I think very little, very many people, very many, not very many cardinals knew of him.
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I think I saw an interview where Cardinal Dolan said many of the cardinals were coming up to him saying who is this man, cardinal Prevost?
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And Cardinal Dolan authentically said I don't know, he is an American Cardinal, but he spent the majority of his time in Latin America, in Peru.
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So I think he was unknown and that's the reason he's not on the record on many of these hot-button issues.
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The third reason is, yes, he's a man from the United States, but I think the fact that he spent more time in the third world helping the unfortunate, the downtrodden, the neglected, the poor, all those things are good.
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Things are good.
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I think there was a faction of cardinals that wanted that same direction.
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There was a faction of them that wanted that same direction.
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But yet I think there's another group of cardinals that want the intellectual rigors to be able to lead the whole flock of the whole church, because there's some very deep divides throughout the church in the world.
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And I think the cardinals would balance both of those and in this cardinal, in Pope Leo XIV now, they found this balance of being able to serve the unfortunate, the downtrodden, but yet still being intellectually rigorous enough to provide for the whole flock and lead the whole flock.
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And then, frankly, I think the last reason is the financial situation of the papacy.
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I think a majority of the cardinals, an overwhelming majority of the cardinals, because you can hear and read many of their interviews leading up to the conclave are just despondent about the financial situation of the papacy.
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Pope Francis was elected part and parcel to get that under control.
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Benedict XVI that was a hot-button issue for him as well and John Paul II Many popes have tried to get this financial situation rectified and no one can seem to rectify it.
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So I think the cardinals were swayed a little bit for an American, at least a first world American.
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Certainly they had that in Pope Benedict John Paul II, poland, coming from a communist country, maybe a little bit different but certainly with Pope Benedict a Western or Germany country, very strong economy.
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But I think the Cardinals want a Westerner, someone who understands how the first world runs financial books, how they are kept tidy, how they're kept organized, how debt can be cleared up quickly and deeply and get this issue resolved.
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I think 90% of the worldwide cardinals do not want to be selling properties to get out of debt or be selling paintings or anything.
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That is just.
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We cannot put a dollar amount on how great some of these art is properties or churches and we certainly don't want to be doing that.
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And I think the American cardinals looked at that and said we have to pick a Westerner, somebody from the first world, who can oversee this and be able to point people of good financial virtue and be able to get all this corrected.
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If we get an authoritative book on the Conclave 2025, obviously they can't talk about what happened in the Conclave per se, but I think all those general congregations leading up to the Conclave.
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There is no vow of secrecy there.
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Prudence is going to figure into that, but I think it would be fascinating to get an authoritative book that gets almost to the truth.
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Obviously it's going to be quite hard if some of those cardinals don't participate in the book and in interviews.
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But the conclave, this conclave of 2025, is just going to be fascinating.
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The fact that we get a historic American Pope certainly a Pope from the third world or certainly a pope that has served the third world in Peru.
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But I think that book would be just fascinating.
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Certainly can't be full of rumor and innuendo, but anyhow, my first impressions of the American pope is and maybe that's stretching a little bit, maybe we need to start saying the first pope from the Americas, both North and South.
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I'm reminded of somebody from our Catholic men's group who meets.
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A special shout out to those guys.
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We meet every Saturday after the 7 am Mass each week.
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Bunch of super guys roughly about 20 of us meet each week.
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It's like a think tank, a support group, all rolled into one.
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I've been attending it for 10 years.
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Those guys have certainly made me a better man.
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Iron sharpens iron.
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We have some longtime guys in there certainly have become friends.
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We have some longtime guys in there certainly have become friends.
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But one of them in there just said he's.
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We should probably not think of him as the first American pope, but the first pope from the Americas, born in the United States, in North America, but spent the majority of his time in South America and Peru.
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He's probably right that when history looks back on this time period he will be the first pope from the Americas, both North and South at the same time.
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Certainly Francis was from Argentina and South America, but Pope Leo XIV could have said of him to be from both Americas, both North and South.
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But my first impressions are quite surprised.
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From his traditional vestments he wore in the Logia at his announcement to his Latin papal blessing on that same day to all the faithful of the world.
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His demeanor and the way he carries himself seems to be of a much quieter, unifying nature, certainly not outspoken, seems quite cautious, which is good in my opinion.
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But he does have a commanding presence about him, doesn't he?
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Now, with regard to his first homily, delivered during a mass with the College of Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel, he began in English.
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That was probably a throwback or a move, that was at least to recognize his heritage as being born in the United States.
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He did not do that.
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You will remember.
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He did not do that from the Logia during his announcement, so some people were miffed about that.
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I wasn't.
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I totally understood.
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But he started out in English at his first homily and then went on into Italian.
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He talked about faith in a hostile world.
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He lamented settings where Christianity was and is quote considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent, prioritizing technology, money, success, power and pleasure over faith.
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I thought this line was quite good.
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He warned that reducing Jesus to quote a charismatic leader or Superman equates to practical atheism, even among the baptized.
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Certainly echoes Pope Francis.
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He talked about humility and leadership, which I absolutely loved.
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He cited St Ignatius of Antioch.
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He urged church authorities to make oneself small to glorify Christ, emphasizing humility and self-effacement in ministry.
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Then I thought this was a wonderful line made the personal commitment as the successor of Peter and he spoke of his mission to quote preside in charity over the universal church, saying he would rely on the cardinal's support to help him carry that cross and to proclaim the gospel.
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I thought that was.
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He drew on Scripture, vatican II writings, a little bit of Francis' teachings, but not too much.
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It signaled a nice continuity.
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And then, if we turn to his first formal address to the cardinals the following day, may 10th, it called for the complete commitment to the path of the Second Vatican Council, emphasizing its enduring relevance for the church's mission.
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That's all in continuity with John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
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It talked about collaboration and dialogue.
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He expressed gratitude for the cardinal's support, saying the yoke clearly, far beyond my own limited powers.
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He proposed a dialogue to hear them on advice and suggestions and proposals, building on pre-conclave discussions in those general congregations.
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He referenced John 14, 25 through 27, highlighting the Holy Spirit's consolation during the conclave and urging a united church to pursue peace and justice.
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And then I thought this was a nice touch went back to his Augustinian identity.
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He's part of the Augustinian religious order and he reiterated his role as a servant, aligning with St Augustine's maxim With you I am a Christian, for you I am a bishop.
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Then the address was delivered after a Latin prayer, underscoring his reliance on the cardinals as his closest collaborators.
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Early suggestions is that this papacy will be a balance of tradition and some reform.
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But I thought all this was going in the right direction.
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I just pray for doctrinal clarity, a return away from Pope Francis's radicalism and confusion on some issues and I pray for unity of the church to return to that continuity from John Paul II to Benedict XVI.
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We don't need another rupture.
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We don't need any more instability and, frankly, for the focus to be on leading Christ's church with humility, reverence and a love for the deposit of faith that's been handed down to the church over the centuries, going all the way back to the apostles.
00:26:44.800 --> 00:26:59.483
Now, most likely, his first trip abroad or outside Italy is going to be this will be where the world press will likely be watching him very closely will be at the 1700th anniversary of the first Council of Nicaea in Turkey.
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That's going to be, I believe, may 20th.
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Now.
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You'll remember the Council of Nicaea, convened in 325 AD, primarily addressed the Arian controversy.
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It affirmed the divinity of Jesus Christ.
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It established the Nicene Creed, which is a foundational statement of Christian faith.
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Council also tackled the calculation of the Easter date and issued 20 canons on church governance.
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Most likely there was around 200 to 300 bishops that attended that.
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So certainly we'll be watching for Pope Leo XIV to have a most blessed trip, his first trip as the Holy Father abroad.
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We will pray for his safety, as Turkey is not the most secure and friendly nation to Christians.
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We will also pray that he has a good and faithful and fruitful trip, for that matter.
00:27:59.651 --> 00:28:14.413
So in today's Mojo Minute, my first impressions of this first American Pope or perhaps I should start calling him the first Pope from the Americas, both North and South, the first Pope from the continent of the Americas how about that?
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Yes, that would be better.
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I guess my first impression is quite cautiously optimistic.
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Now, proof will be in the pudding, as they say.
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There's a lot of hot button issues out there, but time will tell, and this pope seems to be a man of prayer, a man of humility, and with those two virtues as his foundation, I believe we could be on the road to a flourishing papacy.
00:28:45.713 --> 00:28:52.828
So with that, let us pray for him in his Patreon ministry and, as always, let's keep fighting the good fight.
00:28:54.961 --> 00:28:56.186
Thank you for joining us.
00:28:56.186 --> 00:29:01.940
We hope you enjoyed this Theory to Action podcast us.
00:29:01.940 --> 00:29:02.983
We hope you enjoyed this Theory to Action podcast.
00:29:02.983 --> 00:29:08.800
Be sure to check out our show page at teammojoacademycom, where we have everything we discussed in this podcast, as well as other great resources.
00:29:08.800 --> 00:29:12.424
Until next time, keep getting your mojo on.
00:29:12.424 --> 00:29:23.917
Thank you.
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