Pope Leo XIV made it crystal clear that he believes in several key traditional Christian doctrines, including the sanctity of life and the sanctity of marriage during a recent address to the Vatican Diplomatic Corps, but the pope’s overall beliefs continue to be the subject of intense scrutiny from both inside and outside the Catholic Church.
For context, during a May 16, 2025, address to the Vatican Diplomatic Corps, Leo XIV asserted that societies thrive based on the amount of investment put into the traditional family, clearly stating that he believes a family is built on the union between “a man and a woman.” Furthermore, Pope Leo affirmed the doctrine of the sanctity of life, including the life of the unborn, but speculation continues over his online activity prior to his election, which has been highlighted by conservative journalists.
In his address, Pope Leo argued that “no one is exempted” from the responsibility to make sure that every person within a society is respected, adding, “especially the most frail and vulnerable, from the unborn to the elderly, from the sick to the unemployed, citizens and immigrants alike.” In addition, Leo expressed empathy for immigrants, saying that he himself is “the descendant of immigrants, who in turn chose to migrate.”
Building on his point, the pope said that every person can find themselves “healthy or sick, employed or unemployed, living in our native land or in a foreign country, yet our dignity always remains unchanged.” He added that human dignity is “the dignity of a creature willed and loved by God.”
Moving on, Pope Leo emphasized the need for truth as the foundation for “truly peaceful relationships,” saying, “Where words take on ambiguous and ambivalent connotations, and the virtual world, with its altered perception of reality, takes over unchecked, it is difficult to build authentic relationships, since the objective and real premises of communication are lacking.” The pope added that the church can “never be exempted from speaking the truth about humanity and the world.”
Concluding his address, Pope Leo said that from the Christian point of view, 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.” He also emphasized the need for humanity to “leave conflicts behind” in support of the parts of the world that “suffer most grievously, like Ukraine and the Holy Land.”
While Pope Leo’s May 16 address displayed a commitment to traditional Christian values and Catholic doctrines, some have speculated about his beliefs based on his social media activity. For example, conservative journalist Sean Davis highlighted in a May 8, 2025, X post that the pope, prior to his election, had, according to his X history, “repeatedly praised and honored George Floyd, and endorsed a Democrat senator’s call for more gun control.”
On the other hand, Vice President JD Vance, who was notably rebutted by Pope Leo before his election, defended the newly elected pope from criticism, saying that “the church is so much bigger than politics” in an interview on the Hugh Hewitt Show on May 9, 2025, and adding, “It’s very hard to fit a 2,000-year-old institution into the politics of 2025 America.” Furthermore, on May 19, 2025, the vice president and his wife met with the pope at the Vatican after attending his inaugural mass.
Watch VP Vance’s meeting with Pope Leo:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video