The brother of the new pope is pushing back on critics’ claims that his brother will be a “woke” pontiff, making the case that Pope Leo XIV won’t go out of his way to radically alter Catholic Church teaching.
Louis Prevost appeared on Fox Nation’s “Piers Morgan Uncensored” Monday, where he was asked if he believes his brother is “going to be a very liberal pope.”
“No, I do not,” Prevost responded, adding that he also doesn’t think his brother will “roll back the changes that [Pope] Francis made.”
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Prevost predicted that Leo XIV would take the approach of “here we are, let’s continue down this path,” insisting that his brother is not “super political.”
“He’s not left; he’s not right,” Prevost declared.
“He looks at the whole scene, takes information from both sides and somehow finds a way to go down the middle and not ruffle too many feathers,” he added. “As far as church law goes, he’s very well-versed in canon law, church law, religious theories, theology.”
Addressing his brother’s documented criticism of the Trump administration’s immigration policies, Prevost said that many in the Catholic Church believe … “people have a right to exist wherever they’re at.” He said the new pontiff “understands there’s laws involved” when it comes to facilitating immigration policy and suggested that Leo XIV “may take offense with the method in which they’re moving people out.”
Morgan brought up another criticism of Leo XIV, stemming from claims by conservatives that he will be a “woke” pope. Prevost pushed back on that idea: “I don’t know that I’d even go that far to say he’s woke. He’s probably much more liberal than I am, but that’s us.”
Prevost doesn’t believe his brother will make major changes to traditional Church teaching. When Morgan asked for his thoughts on women priests, Prevost replied, “I don’t think you’ll see that.”
“I don’t see allowing priests to marry or women to be priests,” he continued.
“He’s not that liberal that I’ve seen,” Prevost stressed.
When pressed for his brother’s views on homosexuality, Prevost said he doesn’t think Leo XIV will “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 stressed. “And he may be able to change some rules or modify some rules as pope.”
Reiterating that “I don’t see him going there” regarding same-sex marriage, Prevost summarized his brother’s political views.
“He may be liberal on some things, but there’s still that basic ‘you have to maintain the rules of the Church.'”
Leo XIV, formerly known as Cardinal Robert Prevost, became the first American pope in world history last Thursday, prompting mixed reactions from religious leaders and other public figures.
Evangelical worship leader Sean Feucht was among the Protestants who voiced their concerns about the new pope’s philosophy. In a series of X posts last week, Feucht called Leo XIV “Woke Pope 2.0,” reflecting the belief that the new pontiff would take the Catholic Church in a more progressive direction similar to the late Pope Francis.
Feucht shared screenshots of social media posts made by Robert Prevost before he became pope, which relayed criticism of the Trump administration’s immigration policies and the rhetoric used during Trump’s first presidential campaign.
Sean Davis of The Federalist posted screenshots from Robert Prevost’s X account, including a repost of an article published in National Catholic Reporter’s progressive outlet titled “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus does not ask us to rank our love for others.”
The article took issue with Vice President JD 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.”
Additional screenshots shared by Davis showed Prevost reposting a message from Cardinal Blase Cupich of the Archdiocese of Chicago condemning the Trump administration’s policy of separating illegal immigrant children from their families and advocacy on behalf of the group of illegal aliens brought to the U.S. as children.
In an interview with Hugh Hewitt last week, Vance, who is Catholic, offered his support for Pope Leo XIV, saying that most Catholics “are not thinking about whether the pope is a Republican or a Democrat or a conservative or a liberal.”
“The church is so much bigger than politics. … It’s a big institution with a lot of members,” Vance said. “There are a lot of views the Catholic leadership holds that are, you know, you might consider on the right side of the spectrum. There are a lot of views they’re going to hold that might be more traditionally on the left side of the spectrum. And then there are a lot of views that don’t map easily onto politics at all.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
