Full in the panting heart of Rome
Beneath the Apostle’s crowning dome.
From Pilgrims’ lips that kiss the ground,
Breathes in all tongues, one only sound.
“God bless our Pope, the great, the good.”
Nicholas Cardinal Wiseman
On May 8, 2025, Leo XIV was elected pope at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. With the death of his predecessor, a great many Catholics sighed a deep sigh of relief. I myself felt very bad that I did not feel very bad. As a friend said to me at that time, “It’s great now that the beatings have stopped.” It is a tragedy; the greatest tragedy of a tragic pontificate.
When Pope Leo stepped out on the balcony dressed, moving, acting, and speaking like a pontiff, the joy was palpable. Of course, he was the first American pope—more than that, a Franco-American pope (he and this writer are 12th cousins, in company with three quarters of the province of Quebec and half of southern Louisiana). Since then, he has shown himself adept at fitting in—something those of our ethnicity are perforce very good at.
body .ns-ctt{display:block;position:relative;background:#fd9f01;margin:30px auto;padding:20px 20px 20px 15px;color:#fff;text-decoration:none!important;box-shadow:none!important;-webkit-box-shadow:none!important;-moz-box-shadow:none!important;border:none;border-left:5px solid #fd9f01}body .ns-ctt:hover{color:#fff}body .ns-ctt:visited{color:#fff}body .ns-ctt *{pointer-events:none}body .ns-ctt .ns-ctt-tweet{display:block;font-size:18px;line-height:27px;margin-bottom:10px}body .ns-ctt .ns-ctt-cta-container{display:block;overflow:hidden}body .ns-ctt .ns-ctt-cta{float:right}body .ns-ctt.ns-ctt-cta-left .ns-ctt-cta{float:left}body .ns-ctt .ns-ctt-cta-text{font-size:16px;line-height:16px;vertical-align:middle}body .ns-ctt
Read more...
