The newly elected Pope Leo XIV has reassured conservative Catholics and Protestants alike by expressing ardent support for traditional Christian values, including opposition to abortion and gay marriage, although resurfaced posts on X have left some speculating about his stance on other issues.
For context, on May 16, 2025, Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, addressed the Vatican Diplomatic Corps and affirmed key Catholic teachings, including the sanctity of life at conception and the sanctity of marriage. In addition, Leo XIV made the case that truth is “an encounter with the person of Christ himself” before emphasizing the importance of respectful dialogue between Christians and adherents of other religions.
During his May 16 address, Leo XIV thanked the crowd for their “many messages of good wishes following my election, as well as those expressing condolence for the death of Pope Francis.” He added, “Some of those messages also came from countries with which the Holy See does not have diplomatic relations, a significant sign of esteem that indicates a strengthening of mutual relations.”
Continuing, Pope Leo emphasized his belief that peace and flourishing “can be achieved above all by investing in the family, founded upon the stable union between a man and a woman.” He continued, “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.”
Furthermore, Pope Leo made it clear that he recognizes that Christian doctrine contains hard truths, saying, “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.” However, he clarified that “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.”
Later, Leo XIV said that he believed that “from the Christian perspective,” truth is more than “the affirmation of disembodied principles” and is instead “an encounter with the person of Christ himself, alive in the midst of the community of believers.” He added that discussions on truth should take the form of “religious and interreligious dialogue.”
However, on May 8, conservative journalist Sean Davis drew attention to X posts from Prevost that appeared to express liberal sentiments that could be perceived as contradicting traditional values. Davis wrote, “According to his X/Twitter feed (@drprevost), the newly selected pope trashed Trump, trashed Vance, trashed border enforcement, endorsed DREAMer-style illegal immigration, repeatedly praised and honored George Floyd, and endorsed a Democrat senator’s call for more gun control.”
In addition, Davis shared several posts from Prevost, including one from February 3, 2025, in which he wrote, “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others,” along with a repost of a May 30, 2020, statement from a Bishop expressing sympathy for George Floyd and his family in the wake of Floyd’s death. However, the @drprevost account has been deleted since Pope Leo XIV’s election, and Prevost now uses the @Pontifex account.
Featured image credit: Sean Davis via X