The new pope has issued an eerie warning about technology in his first mass amid 'anti-Trump' claims.
On Thursday (May 8), the world welcomed Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost to take on the role of the head of the Roman Catholic Church, taking the name Pope Leo XIV.
The 69-year-old is relatively young for a pontiff and comes as the only American to become pope in a long line of 266 others, which President Donald Trump was quick to celebrate.
Taking to his Truth Social platform, the POTUS wrote: "It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope. What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country."
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However, Pope Leo's Twitter history suggests he hasn't exactly been a Trump ally over the years - and according to his big brother, John Prevost, we can expect to see Pope Leo following in the 'progressive' Pope Francis' footsteps, with an exception perhaps to LGBTQ+ sympathy.
Now, the pontiff has issued a dire warning in his first-ever mass that gives us a brief glimpse into his political stance.
The Peruvian missionary, who is fluent in both Spanish and Italian, spoke some of his words of wisdom in English during the mass, touching on faith, power and corruption.
He said: "These are environments where it is not easy to bear witness to, and announce, the Gospel, and where believers are mocked, opposed, despised or at best tolerated and pitied.
"Yet, precisely for this reason, they are the places where mission is urgently needed. Because the lack of faith often carries with it tragedies such as the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, violations of human dignity in the most dramatic manners, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society."
He went on to warn that people were turning away from faith in favor of 'technology, money, success, power [or] pleasure'.
"A lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society," he added in Italian, reports BBC.
The sermon comes as he reposted a tweet recently which read: "As Trump & Bukele use Oval to Feds’ illicit deportation of a US resident, once an undoc-ed Salvadorean himself, now-DC Aux +Evelio asks, 'Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?'"
Pope Leo also appeared to call out Vice President JD Vance, sharing an opinion piece from the National Catholic Reporter back in February titled: "JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank out love for others."
Reacting to the apparent criticism, the Catholic convert said he tries 'not to play the politicization of the Pope game', as per The Independent.
Vance said to radio host Hugh Hewitt: "I’m sure he’s going to say a lot of things that I love. I’m sure he’ll say some things that I disagree with, but I’ll continue to pray for him and the Church despite it all and through it all."
"My attitude is, you know, the Church is about saving souls, and about spreading the Gospel. And yeah, 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," he added.
Meanwhile, New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan said he believes Pope Leo will be a 'darn good one' and that the pontiff will seek to build bridges with leaders around the world, including Trump.
Topics: Catholic Church, Donald Trump, New York, Politics, Pope Leo, Religion, Technology, US News, World News
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