"You Give Good Conclave, Bob!" Welcome Pope Leo XIV!


Pope Francis is dead. Long live Pope Leo XIV! 

Elected on the fourth ballot during Conclave, the former Cardinal Robert Prevost has chosen to take as his regnal name Pope Leo XIV and has thus become the spiritual leader of the 1.4 billion Roman Catholics worldwide.

The process of Conclave has been made much of in the media the last two days and was the subject of at least two recent films: "Angels and Demons" and "Conclave."

I therefore will not bore you further with the process.

However, I will point out that Conclave began yesterday and was concluded at noon today, making it one of the shortest in history.

Perhaps the Cardinals hoped to avoid the diet of bread and water if the Conclave got to be too lengthy, as has happened in the past.

Notably, the African and Filipino cardinals who were considered frontrunners for the Papal throne didn't get it.

Instead, American born Chicago native Robert Prevost will step into the shoes of the Fisherman.

Prevost has therefore become the first American born Pope, which has delighted US President Trump more than somewhat.

In President Trump's opinion, two American now are the most powerful men in the world.


Never mind the fact that Prevost spent most of his life outside of the US.

For years he was a missionary in Peru before heading for Rome to become influential in the Vatican.

In 2023, Pope Francis appointed Prevost a Cardinal.

And like the rest of the Cardinals, was largely unknown.

Until now.

The Vatican PR machine has been releasing all sorts of personal tidbits about Prevost to the media to prove his worthiness to wear the shoes of the Fisherman and the Papal Tiara.

Otherwise, we still wouldn't know anything about him.

And I sincerely doubt that most people, Roman Catholic or not, really care one way or the other.

To those devout Roman Catholics who choose to believe that the Pope is God's spokesman on Earth and the sole arbiter of Faith, I say "congratulations."

You have a new leader whom the media is billing as a "moderate," just as they hyped the late Pope Francis, who many Roman Catholics disliked because he was too "progressive" or not "progressive" enough.

Well, you can't please everyone.

Perhaps Pope Leo XIV will fare better.


Well, whatever floats your boat.


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