An immaculate conception
Shortly after Pope Francis died, my wife and I did what millions of other people across the world did. We watched the movie “Conclave.” (It was brilliant, by the way.) Afterward we played a game. What nomen would we pick if we were elected Pope? She picked “Leo” because, like me, she is a cat person. It’s also her star sign. So we were astonished when both my namesake (Robert) and her papal name choice (Leo) became Pope.
I hope the nomen is a good omen, if you’ll pardon the play on words. But what makes Robert Francis Provost even more significant is, not only is the new Pope an American, he’s also that rare thing — a Republican who openly disagrees with Trump. He’s also on X, and he speaks his mind there. What an, er, immaculate conception.
The last time Leo XIV posted something to “X” he was just plain old Robert. But the future Pope posted a retweet to X on April 14. He slammed the Trump “administration” for the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador. “Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?” the post read.
Expect Trump to refer to Leo as a RINO any day now. Expect Trump and the leader of the Catholic Church to be at occasional loggerheads. Expect the fact that Leo is the first American to become the Bishop of Rome to play interestingly in general on the world stage.
Trump recently tried to walk back his silly posting of himself as Pope Cheeto on his failing social media platform “Truth” Social. Trump’s subsequent disavowal of the meme was contradicted by the fact that he reposted it. It was yet another example of the endless daily examples of Trump’s bottomless ego.
I cannot mention Catholicism, however, without mentioning both Catholicism’s historic and recent crimes. Letting sixteenth century bygones be bygones, it isn’t just our right but our duty to confront the smiley face that Catholicism presents today with facts. One fact is that the man who was still Pope the year I was born collaborated with Hitler. It is also a fact that the the upper reaches of the Catholic Church knew about and covered up the wholesale rape of children. These are not mere sins, they are crimes, and child rape is chief among the most despicable crimes it is possible for one human being to commit against another.
I will wait for Leo’s verdict on all this. But pardon me for cynicism but I will not be surprised if he eventually capitulates with Trump, the way many others who oppose him have. Furthermore, I will not be surprised if Leo continues to employ brackish euphemism for child rape — it is not “regrettable past child abuse,” your holiness, it is loathsome, despicable child rape, a crime for which there is credible evidence that Trump himself is guilty.
I’ve been in this game too long to expect much in the way of a satisfying response to the monster that Trump is. I am sick to death of diplomatic niceties and “condemnations” of Trump’s actions so deeply buried in euphemisms that they are no longer recognizable. I’ll give this American Pope the due everyone deserves, but I hold out little hope of anything but the usual effective tolerance of this Trumpian blight on humanity.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.