Can you believe the luck? Two Americans coronated in a week!
I can honestly say I never thought I'd see a pope from the United States. I'm not Catholic, but some of my cousins are and I've been to enough events to get the implications. The man he replaced got my attention. He seemed to put more emphasis on the thou shalts than the thou shalt nots.
All indications are Leo will follow in the direction of Francis.
It can't be a bad thing to have a Chicago White Sox fan heading up the Vatican, can it? Even for heathens like me? When asked if he had any messages for America, the new Pope Leo said one word: many.
My ears are open.
The interesting dynamic, of course, is the vice president and the new pope have already had a slight scriptural disagreement. Add to that twist, the vice president's boss subtly implied in a tweet he had his own sights set on those papal vestments.
Poor J.D. Will he be true to the Vicar of Christ or to the godfather of the Christian Nationalist? How torn he must be!
Speaking of the godfather, some middle eastern countries where camels have more rights than women have treated him to a consolation prize. The Saudi's honorarium included beachfront property and a royal turban. Qatar gave him a parade and a gold plated jet. Of course, the United Arab Emirates made him an honorary Emirate. Clearly, I have no idea what an emirate is.
But I do know about something called Whitewater, a fun exercise where the Republicans accused the Clintons of taking a million dollar bribe when Bill was governor of Arkansas. After 27 years of hearings and investigations, all they found proof of was something I can't type in this paper.
I don't think they'll be opening any bribery hearings soon.
What I really wonder in this conversation is what drove the Catholic Church, at this time, to choose a man born in the United States to be its head? Would Robert Francis Prevost now be Pope Leo XIV if Kamala Harris had been elected? Is it possible they were sending a message to the one time beacon of liberty?
Make no mistake, we are not that today. A pope who speaks our language might be able to remind us.
Or maybe the message is more direct, to a particular oval office occupant with the blind idiot's audacity to present himself as a holy man. After all, the pope himself said he had many messages for the United States. I'm betting humble yourself will be at the heart of one of them.
A message just delivered by a different religious authority is that the oppressor is not refugee material. The Episcopal church refused to place Afrikaner "refugees" fast-tracked by the Trump administration. The oppressor is never a refugee or, in simpler terms, racism is not in God's grace. Fast tracking white people while turning away brown people is pure racism.
Just like they're fine with a King Donald and a national religion, the party that freed the slaves once upon a time is perfectly fine with racism. I'd rather be an Episcopalian.