By Gabriel Kim Leal
(May 9, 2025) – Filipinos took to social media to express approval of the election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of the United States as the new pope on Friday, citing his outspoken views on social justice.
The 69-year-old Prevost, who took the name Pope Leo XIV, was chosen by the College of Cardinals as the 267th pontiff, making him the first pope from North America.
Pope Leo XIV was born in Chicago, Illinois and became a longtime missionary of the Augustinian Order in Peru. His advocacies for workers’ rights and immigrant welfare have been hailed in the past.
Netizens said Pope Leo XIV could give a much-needed voice for justice and compassion.
“We have to look together how to be a missionary Church, building bridges, dialogue, always open to receiving with open arms for everyone, like this square, open to all, to all who need our charity, our presence, dialogue, love,” said Pope Leo XIV in his first papal message.
In his recent posts on X, Pope Leo XIV criticized United States Pres. Donald Trump and Vice Pres. JD Vance for their rhetoric against immigrants and views on due process.
“Do you (Trump) not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?” wrote Pope Leo XIV, as translated in English, in April.
Filipino priest Fr. Ferdinand Santos, a former rector at St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami, also expressed his support for Pope Leo XIV. He compared him to Pope Leo XIII, who was known for modernizing the Catholic Church.
“Pope Francis is rejoicing in heaven! Leo XIII wrote the first modern social encyclical (“Rerum Novarum”) and revived Thomism in his encyclical, “Aeterni Patris,” said Santos on X.
Some, however, also expressed mixed feelings about the outcome of the conclave. Many Filipinos rallied behind Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, who was widely seen as a heavy contender.
(PM)
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