For the first time in the Catholic Church’s 2,000-year history, it elected an American as its next pope on Thursday. Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, a native of Chicago, faces numerous immediate challenges ranging from serving as a unifying leader in a divided and increasingly fragmented world to stabilizing the Church’s finances. “Just days before his death, Pope Francis wrestled with an enormous problem: the Vatican’s dire finances. The world’s smallest country is now facing a budget deficit of millions, and a looming crisis in its pension fund,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
The election of the American was swiftly welcomed by U.S. President Donald Trump. In a statement on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump wrote: “Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was just named Pope. It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope. What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment.”
It is too early to assess what Pope Leo XIV’s appointment means for the global balance of power within the Church, but it should be pointed out that out of the 1.4 billion faithful nearly half of them live in the Americas, compared with about 20 percent each for Europe and Africa.
At a time of hardening geopolitical competition between the U.S. its strategic adversaries – represented by China, Russia, Iran and North Korea who are increasingly aligned – Western Civilization is led by two Americans: Trump and Leo XIV. It is our hope that the two leaders can find common ground to preserve Western Civilization as we know it.
For Trump, this means strengthening the American economy and its military – in partnership with its European and global allies – while Leo XIV can provide spiritual and unifying leadership to the faithful and beyond. The Pope is also uniquely positioned to serve as facilitator of dialogue among civilizations, including between Christianity and Islam.
It is also our hope that Leo XIV will prioritize Catholic-Jewish relations, which could help reverse the global scourge of antisemitism. Not since the dark hours of World War II has the level of antisemitism been as high as it is today.
