Holy Smoke: Does Pope Leo XIV represent continuity or change?

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🗓️ 9 May 2025

⏱️ 20 minutes

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Summary

From Rome Fr Benedict Kiely and Damian Thompson react to the election of Cardinal Robert Prevost as the successor to Pope Francis. The first American Pope, Prevost is also a citizen of Peru, having spent years working as first a parish pastor and teacher, and later as a bishop. The 267th Bishop of Rome is also the first native English-speaking pope for almost 900 years.

The election of Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, is seen as a surprise but is being heralded by both liberal and conservative factions of the Catholic Church. Does he represent continuity or change with his predecessor? On this episode of Holy Smoke, Fr Benedict and Damian take us through what clues are available to understand what we can expect from the new Pope, from his choice of clothes and papal name to his views on issues like homosexuality and the traditional mass. Could Leo XIV surprise us?

Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Transcript

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0:00.0	On Thursday the 15th of May, the Spectator is hosting a live book club event. Sam Leith will be joined by
0:07.0	former Telegraph Editor-in-Chief and military historian Max Hastings. It will be an opportunity to talk
0:12.3	about Max's new book, Sword, D-Day, trial by battle, as well as mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day.
0:19.7	The full details are as follows. 730 on Thursday
0:22.8	15th of May at the Shaw Theatre in Houston, London, and tickets start from £27.50, although I
0:29.3	believe there are ticket options that include a signed copy of the book. For those tickets,
0:34.1	go to www.spector.com.com.com.com. We look forward to seeing you there.
0:45.6	Welcome to Holy Smoke, the Spectator's Religion podcast.
0:50.3	I'm Damien Thompson.
0:55.0	Annuncio Vobobis Gaudium magnum.
1:02.0	Abbeus Papam. Pappam Pappam
1:14.6	Eminentissimum,
1:17.6	and reverendissimum
1:19.6	Dominum
1:22.6	Robertum Francis
1:24.6	Saint-Romane
1:26.6	Ecclesia Cardinalinalem Prevost.
1:30.3	Who, Sibinomen, imposed, Leonem december quartum.
2:07.6	With those words, the papal election of 2025 came to an extraordinary and unprecedented end with the election of the first American Pope, Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo the 14th. A surprise, I think, both for liberals, conservatives and those in the center of the church, both sides of the conflict, if you like,
2:15.4	claiming him, if not necessarily as one of their own, as somebody who will be sympathetic to them.
2:20.7	Some people saying that Pope Leo, who spent nearly all of his ecclesiastical career as an Augustinian administrator and bishop in Peru,
2:31.7	is a continuity candidate, a sort of Francis II. I don't actually believe that for a
	...

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