Pope Leo XIV and America's Role in the World

Conventional wisdom used to be that neither the UN leader nor the Pope should come from superpower countries. The idea was to prevent undue influence by or collaboration with a superpower government that would undermine the mission of the UN or the Papacy. The election of Pope Benedict XVI threw out the norm for the Papacy. Germany, maybe not a superpower, is a very powerful and influential country, and electing a Pope from there and with a history as a combatant during the war was norm shattering.

However, the norm of preventing an American pope still lingered. The U.S. is an unusually influential culture. It is empire-like, which means it is irrestitible. Now, one can try to ignore its influence, and ignoring it does not diminish the influence. So the option is to lean into it.

Leaning into American influence has become even more pressing in the age of polarization and in the age of President Trump. First, you need someone who is American and who can be a counterweight to President Trump. Pope Leo XIV, a man from Chicago with some African blood in him :), a polyglot, who lived in South America, is not afraid of President Trump (His X account proves this). And, we'll see, but President Trump will be wary of picking a fight with an American Pope for fear of turning people against him. 

The other thing is that President Trump has shown just how vital America is to a law-based order in the world. It was something that was taken for granted, but now everyone realizes that the U.S. was the cornerstone of the international order--that a massive superpower like the US embraced a law-based system and upheld certain norms in the world was vital. But now that President Trump has shattered that assurance, the world realizes what it's lost. The symbolism and promise of American leadership and ideals were the oxygen that maintained a fragile system. So one would see how important it is to try to retrieve and revive that symbolism by electing an American Pope.

Pope Leo XIV, by all accounts, appears to be an impressive man. Just like Barack Obama fit the bill as the first black US president, this Pope seems like he's the kind of person the world expects from an American leader. His ancestry is varied. He speaks many languages. Appears to be very intelligent. Was a Bishop in Peru(!!!!). Strong administrator. Powerful but not overbearing. We'll see how he leads as Pope, but the symbolism for now is more important and a refreshing reset to restoring the right symbolic balance in the international order.