Indianapolis archbishop says new pope likely to emphasize Catholic social teaching 

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Archbishop Charles C. Thompson on Thursday said the new pope’s selection of the papal name Leo might offer some hint as to what kind of pope he’ll be.

Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, the newly elected pontiff now known as Pope Leo XIV, is the first pope from the United States, and the new leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

Thompson, who leads the Indianapolis Archdiocese, said he did not expect an American to be named pope. Historically, he said, conventional wisdom suggested an American would never be pope due to the vast power of the United States in more worldly matters, but he said he did not believe either politics or geography played a role in the Chicago-born cardinal’s elevation to the papacy.

“The cardinals got together and identified what are the needs, what do we need to be focusing on and then who had those gifts,” he said. “They were looking for the person that had those particular gifts to meet those particular challenges at this particular time and I think that’s what they look for regardless of what his nationality happened to be.”

Thompson said one should never assume what a new pope will do. He said no one could have predicted Pope Francis’ actions when he became leader of the Roman Catholic Church, nor could anyone have predicted Pope John XXIII would convene the Second Vatican Council. Still, Thompson said, Prevost’s decision to be called Pope Leo XIV suggests a commitment to Catholic social teaching. The most recent pope to bear that name, Leo XIII, was a strong advocate for workers’ rights and unions at the turn of the 20th century.

Pope Leo XIII “was known for Catholic social teaching when it really brought along modern understanding of catholic teaching focusing on rights of workers, rights for unions, solidarity, some of the key Catholic social principles that we are guided by today so it points to some of that,” Thompson said. 

The archbishop said he was a little surprised the new pope was chosen so quickly: three ballots in barely 24 hours. It takes a two-thirds vote to elect a new pope, so Thompson said the rapid election suggests the cardinals knew who they wanted.