A week into his papacy, Pope Leo XIV has affirmed the Catholic Church’s teachings about the sanctity of human life and marriage as concerns persist that he will be a “woke” pontiff.
In remarks to the Vatican Diplomatic Corps on Friday, Leo XIV listed “peace,” “justice” and “truth” as the “three essential words that represent the pillars of the Catholic Church’s missionary activity and the aim of the Holy See’s diplomacy.” When discussing the topic of “justice,” he stressed the “responsibility of government leaders to work to build harmonious and peaceful civil societies.”
“This can be achieved above all by investing in the family, founded upon the stable union between a man and a woman,” he said. “In addition, no one is exempted from striving to ensure respect for the dignity of every person, especially the most frail and vulnerable, from the unborn to the elderly, from the sick to the unemployed, citizens and immigrants alike.”
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In addition to demonstrating his support for upholding Church teachings on abortion and marriage, Leo XIV cited “migration, the ethical use of artificial intelligence and the protection of our beloved Planet Earth” as “the challenges of our time.” He credited the “truth” with enabling the shared confrontation of “the challenges that require commitment and cooperation on the part of all.”
“The Church can never be exempted from speaking the truth about humanity and the world, resorting whenever necessary to blunt language that may initially create misunderstanding,” Leo XIV added. “Yet truth can never be separated from a charity, which always has at its root a concern for the life and well-being of every man and woman.”
“Furthermore, from the Christian perspective, truth is not the affirmation of abstract and disembodied principles, but an encounter with the person of Christ himself, alive in the midst of the community of believers.”
Leo XIV also shared his belief that “religions and interreligious dialogue can make a fundamental contribution to fostering a climate of peace.” According to the pontiff, “This naturally requires full respect for religious freedom in every country since religious experience is an essential dimension of the human person. Without it, it is difficult, if not impossible, to bring about the purification of the heart necessary for building peaceful relationships.”
Leo XIV’s conversation with diplomats from around the world comes amid concerns that he will be a woke pope. The pontiff’s brother, Louis Prevost, attempted to put to rest these concerns in an interview with Piers Morgan earlier this week. Prevost insisted that his brother abides by a philosophy centered on the idea that “you have to maintain the rules of the [Catholic] Church.” When asked specifically about his brother’s views about homosexuality, Prevost predicted that he would not “endorse gay marriage.”
“Because of his studies in canon law and his background, he’s still, at his roots, he’s Catholic and he follows the rules of the church,” Prevost maintained.
Concerns that Leo XIV would embrace a progressive agenda stem from screenshots shared on social media after news surfaced that he had become the 267th Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church last week. Screenshots from then-Cardinal Robert Prevost’s X account, compiled by Sean Davis of The Federalist, showed the now-pontiff sharing an article from the progressive publication National Catholic Reporter titled “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus does not ask us to rank our love for others.”
The article rejected Vice President J.D. Vance’s assertion that “There is a Christian concept that you love your family and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that, prioritize the rest of the world.”
Screenshots documenting Prevost taking issue with the Trump administration’s illegal immigration policies and the rhetoric used during Trump’s first presidential campaign prompted worship artist Sean Feucht to remark, “This feels like Woke Pope 2.0.” Feucht’s comment refers to a common criticism of the late Pope Francis.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
