This was the long road that brought American Catholics to the heights of power in the U.S., while also leading to their core dilemma: Can one be both a good Catholic and a good American? The foundations of American identity are the beliefs in unlimited individualism and personal freedom, and a reverence for individual success. The foundations of Catholicism – and Christianity more broadly – are belief in Jesus Christ as a unique “bridge” between the human and the divine, and the fulfillment of human life through communion with God.
It seems that American values have won out. According to opinion polls conducted shortly before the election of the new Pope, American Catholics generally hold quite liberal views on most issues: 84% supported the use of contraception; 83% supported the right to in vitro fertilization (IVF); 63% were opposed to celibacy for clergy; and 59% supported the right of women to become priests.
In addition, 60% of American Catholics believed the Church should be more inclusive, even at the cost of changing its traditional teachings. An even greater share – 70% – supported the right to same-sex marriage, while 59% wanted abortion to be legalized in all or most cases. At the same time, paradoxically, two-thirds of American Catholics considered themselves more conservative than liberal.
A new Pope: yours or ours?
On May 8, when the papal conclave ended with the election of the first-ever Pope from the United States, global media were filled with surprised – and sometimes awed – reactions.
“We’ll see what he does, but first of all, it’s just unbelievable – we have an American Pope!”“And we were told there could never be a Pope from a global superpower!”
While Catholics in St. Peter’s Square and around the world were still celebrating the new Pope’s first public address, commentators were already wondering: what kind of Pope will he be, and how might he differ from his predecessor, Pope Francis?
The previous pontificate was marked by concessions to more progressive Catholics while maintaining the core teachings of the Church. For example, Pope Francis allowed for the blessing of same-sex couples, but upheld the traditional Catholic doctrine that marriage is between a man and a woman.
Though he also commissioned a study on the possibility of ordaining women as deacons (a lower tier of clergy), his public statements and actions made clear he wasn’t enthusiastic about granting them full priesthood. Instead, he aimed to enhance the role of women in the Church through more active participation by laywomen and appointments to key positions in the Vatican.
In the U.S., Pope Francis was popular – 76% of American Catholics approved of his leadership. However, the same poll, conducted between Francis’s death and the election of Leo XIV, showed that although 42% hoped the next Pope would continue Francis’s course, 37% wanted more conservative leadership, and 21% preferred an even more progressive approach.
American Catholics immediately began trying to figure out whether the new Pope would be a “leftist” or a “right-winger.” The list of issues on which he would be judged reflected the full range of concerns in American society: LGBT+ rights, abortion, the traditional family, women’s rights and contraception, immigration, poverty, inclusivity in the Church, and environmental issues.
Many also tried to determine the new Pope’s stance on Trump and J.D. Vance. It was claimed that an X (Twitter) account registered under Robert Prevost’s name had previously reposted articles and tweets critical of the immigration policies that Trump andVance (who converted to Catholicism in 2019) have adopted. However, efforts to clearly label the new Pope as “ours” or “theirs” failed.
The first signals a new pope gives the world regarding his approach comes from the papal name he chooses and the vestments he wears during his first public appearance. In 2013, Jorge Mario Bergoglio chose the name Francis (after St. Francis of Assisi) and wore a simple white garment – sending a clear symbolic message to Catholics about his desire to renew the Church, help the poor, and care for the environment.
The name Francis had never been used by a pontiff before, and this was meant to symbolise a fresh start in the life of Catholicism. In the case of Francis’s successor, the choice of the name Leo XIV alludes to Pope Leo XIII, who in 1891 published the famous encyclical Rerum Novarum. In it, the Pope recognised the right of workers to form labor unions and to receive fair wages, and called on the state to protect the rights of the disadvantaged.