Is Pope Leo XIV Progressive?

I investigated his views on guns, climate change, women and LGBTQ+ rights.

Last week, everyone went wild over the news that for the first time in history there’s an American pope. A Chicago pope. The memes were instant and everywhere: deep-dish communion, papal baseball fandom, and guesses about Pope Leo’s standard order at Portillo’s.

And the excitement is real, and frankly we needed something to get psyched about right now.

Over the weekend I watched Conclave, the same way so many of us watched Contagion in the early days of the pandemic.

The plot centers on the church’s internal fight between liberal and conservative factions following the death of a fairly liberal pope. Those on the right want to reinstate Latin masses and strip away power from women and people of color and those on the left want to expand women’s roles and LGBTQ rights. Stanley Tucci plays the idealized liberal. Jed Bartlet in a cossack.

The whole movie is ultimately about the power of the Pope to influence culture and values and was strangely prescient.

The pope isn’t just a ceremonial figure; he is the spiritual leader of 1.3 billion people, he shapes doctrine, influences global policy, and sets the tone for what Catholicism and a lot of global culture looks like.

Political influencers were quick to bring up his voting history and retweets, but I wanted to pause and ask: What does Pope Leo XIV actually believe in?

According to NPR Leo has voted in multiple Republican primaries in Illinois. It’s unclear who he supported. But he has also publicly pushed back on conservative politicians. Earlier this year, he shared op-eds criticizing Vice President JD Vance’s comments about “ranking love” in a Christian hierarchy, saying:

“Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.”

He’s also retweeted support for vaccines, expressed solidarity after George Floyd’s murder, and called for the Church to “reject racism and seek justice.” The articles he’s shared criticizing Trump‘s immigration policies earned him the ubiquitous moniker of “woke” from Lara Loomer. In the first Mass he expressed an interest in the church focusing on healing the “wounds that afflict our society” and placed himself on the side of ordinary people in the fight against the rich and powerful.

But looking beyond the tweets, where does he land on LGBTQ rights, abortion, gun control, climate change, and women’s roles in the Church?

On Reproductive Rights

According to Newsweek Pope Leo has consistently equated abortion with euthanasia in his homilies and public statements. This quote from 2019 sums it up:

“We cannot build a just society if we discard the weakest—whether the child in the womb or the elderly in their frailty—for they are both gifts from God.”

He has reposted anti-abortion articles, including one highlighting Mike Pence’s message to pro-lifers: “Win hearts with compassion and love.” So while the language may sound softer than some hardliners, the stance is firm. This papacy is unlikely to usher in any change when it comes to reproductive rights.

On Gun Control

After the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, Leo reposted a call from Cardinal Blase Cupich for stronger mental health care access and common-sense gun control laws. He also shared Senator Chris Murphy’s blunt tweet:

“Your cowardice to act cannot be whitewashed by thoughts and prayers.”

That’s…a surprising move for someone climbing the Vatican ladder. It suggests that Leo might be more progressive on this issue than the typical Church hierarchy—and more willing to publicly challenge political inaction.

On Women in the Church

This reel from CBS news of an American Catholic sister’s excitement at being at the conclave and her hopes that the new pope will FINALLY give more power to women in the church brought me to tears.

cbsnews

A post shared by @cbsnews

“If there’s a problem and women are not part of the solution it will not be solved in a long term meaningful way,” Sister Rose says in the interview. All hail Sister Rose!

But don’t expect women in clerical robes anytime soon. Leo has said that ordaining female deacons could “create a new problem” rather than solve existing ones.

But, in line with Francis, he does support expanding women’s roles in Church leadership. He oversaw the historic addition of three women to the office that vets bishop nominations and said:

“Women can add a great deal to the life of the Church on many different levels.”

Which is…nice-ish. But in reality it is deeply frustrating for those who believe inclusion means more than advisory roles (raises hand).

On LGBTQ+ Rights

Pope Leo may be in the not-conservative wing of the Catholic church, but he’s still Catholic. According to the Guardian in a 2012 speech, Leo lamented the growing acceptance of the “homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families.” He said:

“Western mass media is extraordinarily effective in fostering within the general public enormous sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the Gospel – for example abortion, homosexual lifestyle, euthanasia”.

There’s no indication that Pope Leo XIV plans to soften Church teachings on same-sex marriage or queer families. If anything, his record suggests he’ll hold the line—or double down.

On Climate Change

Here he’s giving major Pope Francis energy. Leo has called out the "tyrannical" misuse of nature and is here for all the practical changes, like the Vatican going solar and switching to EVs.

He talks about reciprocity with Earth rather than domination. We love to see it. But here's the thing—while this is encouraging, it's still playing it pretty safe within the Vatican's existing environmental framework. No major boat-rocking here, just steady-as-she-goes eco-policy that builds on what's already in place.

How this Connects to American Politics

JD Vance is famously a Catholic convert who was one of the last people to see Pope Francis before he died. JD recently tried to dismiss the Pope’s political power, telling a conservative radio host “ my attitude is, you know, the Church is about saving souls, and about spreading the Gospel. It‘s going to touch public policy from time to time as all human institutions do, but that‘s not really what it‘s about.”

JD isn’t the only high-profile Catholic convert in the MAGA universe, Candace Owens is one as well. One of Turning Point USA’s top girly pop influencers, Isabel Brown, is also Catholic (though I belive cradle). Both women have been at the forefront of the new right’s war to re-define feminism, which Katherine Dugan, the author of “Millennial Missionaries: How a Group of Young Catholics is Trying to Make Catholicism Cool” told the 19th is connected to the church’s efforts in the 90’s:

[While their] political ideology may not represent the majority of contemporary Catholics, a recent concerted movement to bring more young people into Catholicism has focused on young women — and offered them “a version of feminism that is different than second wave and even third wave feminism.”

This push stems from work done by Pope John Paul II in the early 1990s around what became known as “JPII feminism.” It was a kind of rebuke of the contemporary feminist movement, a disavowal of the idea that the way for women to assert greater power was to be thought of as like men.

I used my highly technical photo editing skills to smush two photos Glennis sent me together. #Journalism

I asked my friend Glennis Meagher, noted internet personality and someone Catholic enough to fly to Rome for the Conclave what she thought about all this. She told me that she’s excited about Pope Leo XIV’s selection not because he is progressive, but because it was a clear slap on the wrist to the conservative Catholics who hijack biblical teachings for their own political prerogatives.

He’s Catholic through and through. And make no mistake, this is not a “woke” Pope. He’s not politically liberal, but what he can do is teach and lead Catholics on how to be more in line with the actual teachings of the faith which outline being kind to your fellow men and women, taking care of the sick, the poor and and having respect for all the creatures of the Earth.