Thank you for this article. It is hard to not express anger at the atrocities that are going on. It is hard not to lash out at those that think that that’s OK. It is hard to love those that hurt others. In expressing the outrage sometimes we’re not kind in our words.
He’s a greater person than I will ever be but he does give us something to aim for, something that, of course, would help us in our own lives.
I am so thankful for Pope Leo and the fact that he is so in touch with the realities that we are dealing with in this day and age and his ability to guide us.
Christopher, thanks for keeping us up to date on the actual Pope Leo--what he actually does and says.
Your substack is not only a look at how his pontificate may be a counter-balance to our horrific political situation in the U.S,, but also serves as a kind of "fact check place" when it comes to Pope Leo.
Vaticanmedia.va needs to have a daily column listing the DeepFakes of the Pope. Literally millions of Catholics now think he has fired 6 Cardinals because it is out there somewhere on youtube,
YouTube is full of Deep Fake pieces on him. Eg. The so- called encounter with an atheist Prof which never happened but which was produced by what appears to be an ultra conservative evangelical group trying to spread what they consider to be good messages of hope. Millions of people clicked on it.
The fact that the Pope is portrayed as a " good guy" and defender of Christianity does not excuse their using him-- his images and his voice and words taken out of context-- to concoct their own messages.
(It is a short step from " good guy" to "satanic" if, as the newness wears off, his actions start to gather critics. )
In your otherwise excellent pieces you may want to be extra careful with language about him. Case in point, some people will read your headline and actually think the Pope said " stop being online assholes"!!!! That was probably exactly what Robert Prevost was thinking but as Pope he would choose other words, I think! Don't you?
( I admit it is catchy but.....)
He is very savvy diplomatically, as evidenced by his not making the U.S. his first visit or even speaking English right away in his first public reflections. After all he was chosen because he was "the least U.S. American of the Americans"-- and he knows that Chiclayo is in some ways more important than Chicago in his global arena of responsibility.
Welcome to the world of AI and a future of unimagined amounts of manipulated mis- and dis- information!
Finally. A papal mic drop that doesn't just echo through cathedrals, but ricochets off TikTok algorithms and Twitter tantrums.
“Mend the nets” isn’t just a quaint Gospel callback. It’s a spiritual kick in the pants to everyone who’s turned comment sections into confessional dumpsters and theology into weaponized cosplay.
The Pope didn’t come for your likes. He came for your ego, your outrage addiction, and your subtle pride in being right all the time while mercy starves in the margins.
What a wild idea... that maybe communion is holier than clout.
May we all put our keyboards in sackcloth and ashes.
Virgin Monk Boy
(cyber monk of comment section repentance and apostle to the algorithmically damned)
It would be great if the pope elevated women from second class status to full on human beings. Women as priests like Mary the mother of Jesus.
It would also be great if the Catholic Church stopped demonizing the LGBTQ in this world. Because homosexuality is found throughout God’s creation. If it’s found in the natural world it’s part of God’s plan.
I hope that nasty man Bill Donohue from the Catholic League was in the audience. He needs to take Pope Leo’s advice.
Re deep fakes of Pope Leo. I saw a video criticising Pope Leo and the poster accused Pope Leo saying that Robert Prevost is the Anti Pope and a Protestant not a true Catholic. The poster constantly referred to Pope Leo as Robert Prevost and not to Pope Leo.
The claim that Robert Prevost is a Protestant is a deliberate insult. My previous academic research looked at how Catholics lived in the landscape of the Weald & Downland a geographical area in southern England in the later C16th. In this period Catholics who refused to go to Protestant church services were called Recusants from the Latin word recuse to withdraw. The label ‘Recusant’ was an insult. I understood exactly how calling Pope Leo by his birth name and that he is a Protestant was a deliberate insult to Pope Leo.
My impression of Pope Leo is that he has a thick skin which coupled with his diplomatic skills means that he won’t loose any sleep over the insults that people such as the poster of the video that I saw hurled at him.
I need this reminder! I am in the United States and so filled with anguish over what is happening to our country, our democracy, our shining Light upon a hill that I find myself lashing out online. God gave us a Trump to teach us spiritual lessons
At the same time, we cannot normalize the hate and cruelty we see from the administration and applauded by the right-wing. It is past time to be angered by the many cruel actions that continue to play out in front of our eyes.
I removed myself from Twitter long before it became X. I found that a simple post I made was singled out by someone trolling for attention and to belittle me; no one I knew or followed. I would get so enraged, especially when I would read "Veteran, Christian," etc.... in their bio. I had trained myself to rant back, reread what I typed and then delete it without posting. It took so much out of me, I began to drop off public sites.
The urge to not delete my posts is getting harder to resist these days. So, I guess scaling back once again is the thing to do. That and the confessional.
Pontiff Pope Leo, I KAWilliams admire your aspirational ability to communicate with the people who are truly open-minded to your philosophy and concerns about the Internet, and how flamboyant users who are using flammable rhetoric and unnecessary propaganda to create a false narrative of unneeded information that should be advocating for a better understanding of how they can be influenced by a positive attitude towards creating standards of moral values rather than superficial and incoherent materials that are unsubstantial and unacceptable to be incorporated into the minds of young people who are not able to decipher the different types of information that can cause conflict with reality and a positive mindset! I appreciate your support and inspiration for being flexible and open to the many diversities of the culture worldwide! And I thank you for being down to earth, understanding community issues, and paying attention to the needs of the people who can not speak for themselves. You are a Godsend, and I hope you continue to serve the world with the courtesy and generosity that you were blessed with. Moreover, and I believe that you will not judge people on the basis of their appearance but on the content of their character and I truly believe that you will represent the people with clarity and honesty and love for humanity! I will be forever thankful for your service to all of us! May God through Jesus Christ inspire us all to live together in spirit and truth! KAWilliams
Thank you for this article. It is hard to not express anger at the atrocities that are going on. It is hard not to lash out at those that think that that’s OK. It is hard to love those that hurt others. In expressing the outrage sometimes we’re not kind in our words.
He’s a greater person than I will ever be but he does give us something to aim for, something that, of course, would help us in our own lives.
I am so thankful for Pope Leo and the fact that he is so in touch with the realities that we are dealing with in this day and age and his ability to guide us.
I hear you! Lord, I hope he doesn't go through my 15 years of tweets for some non-charitable takes!
Me, too! Especially would be embarrassed if he heard my daily rants! Not charitable at all!
Christopher, thanks for keeping us up to date on the actual Pope Leo--what he actually does and says.
Your substack is not only a look at how his pontificate may be a counter-balance to our horrific political situation in the U.S,, but also serves as a kind of "fact check place" when it comes to Pope Leo.
Vaticanmedia.va needs to have a daily column listing the DeepFakes of the Pope. Literally millions of Catholics now think he has fired 6 Cardinals because it is out there somewhere on youtube,
YouTube is full of Deep Fake pieces on him. Eg. The so- called encounter with an atheist Prof which never happened but which was produced by what appears to be an ultra conservative evangelical group trying to spread what they consider to be good messages of hope. Millions of people clicked on it.
The fact that the Pope is portrayed as a " good guy" and defender of Christianity does not excuse their using him-- his images and his voice and words taken out of context-- to concoct their own messages.
(It is a short step from " good guy" to "satanic" if, as the newness wears off, his actions start to gather critics. )
In your otherwise excellent pieces you may want to be extra careful with language about him. Case in point, some people will read your headline and actually think the Pope said " stop being online assholes"!!!! That was probably exactly what Robert Prevost was thinking but as Pope he would choose other words, I think! Don't you?
( I admit it is catchy but.....)
He is very savvy diplomatically, as evidenced by his not making the U.S. his first visit or even speaking English right away in his first public reflections. After all he was chosen because he was "the least U.S. American of the Americans"-- and he knows that Chiclayo is in some ways more important than Chicago in his global arena of responsibility.
Welcome to the world of AI and a future of unimagined amounts of manipulated mis- and dis- information!
Thanks for doing this!
Thank you for reading, Carol! It means the world to me!
You had me til “Though his brother may be eligible”.
Fair enough! Thank you for reading, Ellie!
Thank you Christopher! The "dailyies" of the new Pope are great. The aspects of what he is actually doing speaks well of his tenure to come.
Love this! Excellent article.
Finally. A papal mic drop that doesn't just echo through cathedrals, but ricochets off TikTok algorithms and Twitter tantrums.
“Mend the nets” isn’t just a quaint Gospel callback. It’s a spiritual kick in the pants to everyone who’s turned comment sections into confessional dumpsters and theology into weaponized cosplay.
The Pope didn’t come for your likes. He came for your ego, your outrage addiction, and your subtle pride in being right all the time while mercy starves in the margins.
What a wild idea... that maybe communion is holier than clout.
May we all put our keyboards in sackcloth and ashes.
Virgin Monk Boy
(cyber monk of comment section repentance and apostle to the algorithmically damned)
Absolutely, well said 🙌🏼
Ask “Is Christ here?” If not, invite Him in.
Physician heal thyself.
It would be great if the pope elevated women from second class status to full on human beings. Women as priests like Mary the mother of Jesus.
It would also be great if the Catholic Church stopped demonizing the LGBTQ in this world. Because homosexuality is found throughout God’s creation. If it’s found in the natural world it’s part of God’s plan.
I hope that nasty man Bill Donohue from the Catholic League was in the audience. He needs to take Pope Leo’s advice.
Re deep fakes of Pope Leo. I saw a video criticising Pope Leo and the poster accused Pope Leo saying that Robert Prevost is the Anti Pope and a Protestant not a true Catholic. The poster constantly referred to Pope Leo as Robert Prevost and not to Pope Leo.
The claim that Robert Prevost is a Protestant is a deliberate insult. My previous academic research looked at how Catholics lived in the landscape of the Weald & Downland a geographical area in southern England in the later C16th. In this period Catholics who refused to go to Protestant church services were called Recusants from the Latin word recuse to withdraw. The label ‘Recusant’ was an insult. I understood exactly how calling Pope Leo by his birth name and that he is a Protestant was a deliberate insult to Pope Leo.
My impression of Pope Leo is that he has a thick skin which coupled with his diplomatic skills means that he won’t loose any sleep over the insults that people such as the poster of the video that I saw hurled at him.
He is entirely correct. A piece of pastoral advice I often don't heed to my sorrow.
I need this reminder! I am in the United States and so filled with anguish over what is happening to our country, our democracy, our shining Light upon a hill that I find myself lashing out online. God gave us a Trump to teach us spiritual lessons
At the same time, we cannot normalize the hate and cruelty we see from the administration and applauded by the right-wing. It is past time to be angered by the many cruel actions that continue to play out in front of our eyes.
No one can say they don't know what is happening.
I removed myself from Twitter long before it became X. I found that a simple post I made was singled out by someone trolling for attention and to belittle me; no one I knew or followed. I would get so enraged, especially when I would read "Veteran, Christian," etc.... in their bio. I had trained myself to rant back, reread what I typed and then delete it without posting. It took so much out of me, I began to drop off public sites.
The urge to not delete my posts is getting harder to resist these days. So, I guess scaling back once again is the thing to do. That and the confessional.
Amen brother
Even though I am an ex-Catholic, I’m starting to really like this pope.
Pontiff Pope Leo, I KAWilliams admire your aspirational ability to communicate with the people who are truly open-minded to your philosophy and concerns about the Internet, and how flamboyant users who are using flammable rhetoric and unnecessary propaganda to create a false narrative of unneeded information that should be advocating for a better understanding of how they can be influenced by a positive attitude towards creating standards of moral values rather than superficial and incoherent materials that are unsubstantial and unacceptable to be incorporated into the minds of young people who are not able to decipher the different types of information that can cause conflict with reality and a positive mindset! I appreciate your support and inspiration for being flexible and open to the many diversities of the culture worldwide! And I thank you for being down to earth, understanding community issues, and paying attention to the needs of the people who can not speak for themselves. You are a Godsend, and I hope you continue to serve the world with the courtesy and generosity that you were blessed with. Moreover, and I believe that you will not judge people on the basis of their appearance but on the content of their character and I truly believe that you will represent the people with clarity and honesty and love for humanity! I will be forever thankful for your service to all of us! May God through Jesus Christ inspire us all to live together in spirit and truth! KAWilliams