" woke pope woke pope arouse pope . "
A new pope has been chosen: Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost. He has made history as the first American to ascend to the papacy. He will take on the name Pope Leo XIV.
Prevost, who was born in Chicago and spent two decades in Peru as a bishop, has been described as “reserved and discreet.” Pope Leo has widely beenregardedas a centrist, and his positions on major political issues are still taking shape.
Still, like Pope Francis, he maintains a commitment to the poor and migrants, and supports climate action. He has remarked that “the bishop is not supposed to be a little prince sitting in his kingdom.”
Now, his support for migrants and climate action has resurfaced through past social media posts, including tweets critical of JD Vance and policies associated with Donald Trump.
His most recent post on X is a retweet that asks whether Trump and his administration “see the suffering” caused by wrongfully deporting migrants. “Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?” the post reads.
Scrolling down his X account, in February 2025, Pope Leo shared anop-edtitled, “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others,” which directly challenged Vance’s views.
Other past posts people dug up include one from 2018, where Pope Leo retweeted, “There is nothing remotely Christian, American, or morally defensible about a policy that takes children away from their parents and warehouses them in cages. This is being carried out in our name and the shame is on us all.”
He also retweeted a post criticizing Trump’s “bad hombres” line as fueling “racism and nativism” and a post in favor ofDeferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a US immigration policy that protects people who arrived in the US as children from deportation and allows them temporary work authorization.
He retweeted a tweet praying for George Floyd in 2020.
And in 2017 retweeted a post urging Trump to act on climate change.
In light of the new pope’s stances resurfacing on social media, people have started reacting:
“An American pope who fights with JD Vance on Twitter? I am so in,” said Jon Favreau, the former director of speechwriting for Barack Obama.
“Excellent job of maintaining continuity by picking another Pope who personally hates JD Vance,” someone else said.
“ok I’m on board,” another said.
“on the bright side hes NOT considered a conservative! the conservatives in my family are upset over this theyre calling him a woke pope lolol,” this person said.
“woke pope woke pope woke pope,” joked Rob Flaherty, a campaign manager for Kamala Harris.
Well, it remains to be seen what kind of legacy the new pope will shape. In the meantime, Donald Trump shared his thoughts on Truth Social: “Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was just named Pope. It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope. What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!”
We’ll see how it all plays out.
