I could not help but feel a sense of admiration as I watched the announcement of the new Pope, Robert Francis Prevost, who took the name Leo XIV, last week — even though I myself am an observant Jew.
The Catholic Church is like no other faith in its embrace of ceremony, ritual, and physical beauty. Much that it does is spectacular, elevating human art and artisanship in a manifestation of God’s glory on Earth.
But beyond the ceremonial grandeur of the Pope’s election, there was also the man himself. Prevost was born in Chicago, where I grew up, and I have been unable to stop thinking about his remarkable life’s journey.
Though he has spent much of his career abroad, as a missionary and as a Church official, he stayed in touch with his roots.
Among the many amusing Chicago-themed memes that circulated online after Pope XIV emerged on the balcony at the Vatican, one brief clip stood out: a shot of Prevost in the stands at the 2005 World Series, wearing the pinstriped jersey of the Chicago White Sox, enjoying the game like a regular fan.
Though I am a Cubs fan, that video has replayed over and over again in my mind, recalling the 1995 song “What If God Was One of Us?”, by Joan Osborne. The dude next to you at the game could be … a future Pope.
Then someone found the Pope’s old yearbook photo from Villanova, where he studied … mathematics.
As a Jew, I could not help but think of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, one of the most significant religious leaders of the past several centuries. The Rebbe studied at secular universities in Paris and Berlin in the 1920s — not focusing on theology or philosophy, but mathematics and engineering.
All of this suggests a Pope who can relate to ordinary human beings, and who has a solid foundation in the scientific and practical worlds. Though his election does not affect me personally or directly, it is a great benefit to the world to have such an individual as the leader of one of the largest religious denominations.
Finally, there is the fact that Pope Leo VIX is an American, the first pontiff from the United States. He will be the Pope during the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence next year. Even though his office transcends national boundary, that feels significant. It is an acknowledgment that the U.S. is not just another country, but one that has a moral, philosophical, and even metaphysical place in the great story of humanity.
This Jew, at least, feels inspired by the rise of Pope Leo XIV, and shares hope for the success of his papacy.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of Trump 2.0: The Most Dramatic ‘First 100 Days’ in Presidential History, available for Amazon Kindle. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
