By James Williams, Editor-in-Chief

In a historic moment for the Catholic Church, Cardinal Robert Prevost, a Chicago native with strong Philadelphia roots, was elected pope on May 8, 2025. Taking the name Leo XIV, he becomes the first American pontiff in the Church’s 2,000-year history. Among the first headlines following his election: his past clashes with prominent U.S. political figures—including Ohio Senator J.D. Vance.

Prevost’s Philadelphia connection stems from his time at Villanova University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics in 1977. He later joined the Order of St. Augustine, took his vows, and earned a Master of Divinity from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago before dedicating decades of service as a missionary and archbishop in Peru.

As head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops under Pope Francis, Prevost built a reputation as a reform-minded but doctrinally grounded figure. That balanced approach brought him into public tension with Senator J.D. Vance, a Catholic conservative known for his nationalist rhetoric and staunch opposition to immigration reforms.

In 2024, Prevost publicly criticized Vance during a Vatican panel on global migration, where he remarked, “When Catholic leaders use fear to divide and exclude, they contradict the Gospel itself. Political power must never come at the expense of human dignity.” The quote, widely interpreted as a rebuke of Vance’s immigration stance, went viral among both supporters and critics.

Vance fired back on social media, writing, “The Church should save its sermons for the pulpit—not the Senate floor. America’s sovereignty and border security are moral obligations too.”

The feud intensified when Vance, speaking at a conservative forum, accused certain Church leaders of “abandoning their spiritual duties for globalist politics,” a thinly veiled jab at Prevost, who had just been elevated to the rank of cardinal by Pope Francis.

Now as Pope Leo XIV, Prevost occupies the highest moral voice in the Catholic world—and his record suggests he will not shy away from confronting political leaders when they cross ethical lines.

“My role is not to endorse parties or platforms,” Leo XIV said in a 2024 interview, “but to remind all leaders—left or right—of the Church’s eternal call to defend the poor, welcome the stranger, and uphold the truth.”

With a papacy grounded in compassion, a Villanova education, and global pastoral experience, Pope Leo XIV begins his reign already seasoned by both spiritual and political challenge—ready to guide the Church in a world increasingly defined by tension, division, and hope.