"The cool thing is, the more you think about the miracle itself, Father Valera lives in the 19th century. He never came to the U.S. We have no knowledge of him coming here. Never came to Rhode Island."

"And yet, because the doctor called out and called upon his name for help in the situation back in ‘07 on behalf of that little baby, he decided to intervene and ask God for a miracle."

Said Reverend Timothy Reilly of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, quoted in "Pope Leo XIV declares a miracle at Rhode Island hospital, crediting prayer with saving baby’s life in 2007" (NY Post).

The baby, Tyquan Hall, was delivered in Rhode Island and expected to die, but the doctor, Juan Sanchez, who was from Huercal-Overa, Spain, prayed for intercession from his region’s patron, Father Valera Parra, who lived in Huercal-Overa from 1816 to 1889.

"The Pope’s decision to holiday at Castel Gandolfo is one of several breaks with the choices of his predecessor."

"Singing in Latin, wearing a traditional red shoulder cape known as a mozzetta, putting a brake on personal charisma and taking respite in the Alban Hills all distinguish him from the dour intensity of Francis."

From "Pope Leo to take two-week holiday in break with ‘pauperism’ of Francis/The pontiff, a keen tennis player, has also ordered a court to be installed in the extensive grounds of a 17th-century villa where he will escape Rome."

Tell me about the "pauperism" of Pope Francis. A question for ChatGPT. Answer: "The 'pauperism' of Pope Francis refers to his radical focus on poverty and simplicity, both personally and theologically. Admirers see this as a prophetic return to the Gospel’s core, while critics worry it may neglect the complexity of economic life or idealize poverty in unhelpful ways."

"Through one Canadian ancestor, Louis Boucher de Grandpre, who was born in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, the pope is related to... Angelina Jolie, Hillary Clinton, Justin Bieber, Jack Kerouac and Madonna."

The NYT informs in an article that seems mostly concerned with whether the Pope is — in some sense — black.

We're told the article is written "by Henry Louis Gates Jr. in collaboration with American Ancestors and the Cuban Genealogy Club of Miami."

The article contains an amazing — and amazingly wrong — assertion: "Every one of us descends from an astounding number of recent ancestors: two parents, four grandparents, eight great grandparents, 16 great great grandparents, 32 third great grandparents and 64 fourth great grandparents — that’s 126 unique ancestors through two parents. Go back to our 12th great grandparents, and everyone has a whopping 32,766 forebears."

As if the 32,766 positions on the family tree are always — and for everyone — going to be 32,766 different individuals! I think it's unlikely that anyone has 32,766 different individuals on a family tree going back to the 12th great grandparents.

The terms for this very well known issue is "pedigree collapse."

"President Trump’s tone after the call with President Putin was once again emollient."

"Rather than punishing Russia with the 'bone-crushing' sanctions some had hoped for, he hailed an 'excellent' call and said Russia had a 'tremendous opportunity' to do business with the US if the war ended. Even better for Putin, he also appeared to backtrack from US involvement in talks, speculating that they could be hosted by the Pope in the Vatican and saying it would be 'negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be.'"

The London Times reports.

What role have popes played in bringing about peace? Some examples, here, at Grok.

The privilege of white — le privilège du blanc.

The Queen of Spain was the opposite of "disruptive":

Why did Queen Letizia of Spain wear all white in the presence of Pope Leo XIV, while all the other women wore the traditional black? Many media outlets praised the Queen's 'disruptive' all-white style.

They are, unfortunately, ignorant of the tradition of Le privilège du blanc.… pic.twitter.com/5czbpkq3k8

— Dr Taylor Marshall™️ (@TaylorRMarshall) May 18, 2025

Who are the dummies Marshall is pushing back? Is he simply imagining other people getting it wrong to add spark to his assurance that the Queen got it perfectly right? 

"You can often find the eldest brother of the Successor of the Prince of the Apostles down at the Twisted Fork restaurant in Port Charlotte, Fla., where, on Honky-Tonk Thursdays..."

"... he is most likely boot-scooting along with the rest of the line dancers. His ringtone plays the opening riffs of Led Zeppelin’s 'Immigrant Song.' He incurred $20,000 in roof damage from Hurricane Ian. And until recently, anyone could read his Facebook posts, which included vulgar potshots at Nancy Pelosi and her husband and a pronouncement that supporters of Joseph R. Biden Jr. suffered from a 'mental affliction.'..."

I'm reading "The Pope’s Florida Brother, a MAGA Disciple, Plans to ‘Tone It Down’/Louis Prevost’s Facebook posts — no longer publicly viewable — suggest that he has embraced some of the most common complaints and conspiracy theories of the right" in the NYT. 

The writing is snazzy, but I'm uncomfortable with something so close to doxxing. You're giving a place and time where this man has heretofore enjoyed simple social pleasures, displaying his photograph, and giving your readers reason to feel antagonistic toward him, using Facebook material that he has tried to take private. Why?

But Louis Prevost went on Piers Morgan and talked about the Facebook posts, and he's answering questions from the NYT. "Well, I posted it, and I wouldn’t have posted it if I didn’t kind of believe it," he says.

"This is a very significant choice, because it’s a vote against America since he has been a leading opponent of Donald Trump."

Said Franca Giansoldati, "a Vatican expert at Italy’s Il Messaggero newspaper," quoted in "Who is Robert Prevost? New Pope hit out at Trump administration weeks ago/Robert Prevost, now Leo XIV, is the first American chosen to lead the Catholic Church, having steered a moderate path with the Augustinian mission in Peru" (London Times).

How did Prevost, now Leo, "hit out"? J.D. Vance, justifying the adminstration's immigration policy, had said, "There is a Christian concept that you love your family and then you love your neighbour, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that, prioritise the rest of the world. A lot of the ­far-left has completely inverted that." In response, on X, Prevost reposted a link to an article titled "JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others." And — with respect to the treatment of ­Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Prevost retweeted "Do you not see the ­suffering? Is your conscience not ­disturbed? How can you stay quiet?"

We discussed that Vance quote on this blog back on February 2, here. A podcaster, Rory Stewart, had said "Nowhere does Jesus suggest that love is to be prioritised in concentric circles. His love is universal."

Vance had responded to Stewart: "Does Rory really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger who lives thousands of miles away? Does anyone? This false arrogance drives so much elite failure over the last 40 years. Rory Stewart thinks he has an IQ of 130 when it’s really 110.'"

I'd said: "It's not a question of what Rory really thinks but what Jesus really said. What IQ does Vance ascribe to Jesus?"

"We feel threatened by them. So it would’ve been a total disaster and a cold slap in the face if the pope had been full-on American."

Said Araceli Torres Hallal, 64, "a Catholic entrepreneur in Mexico City," quoted in "World Catholics See the First American Pope as Hardly American/Catholics around the world were skeptical at first about an American pope. But Pope Leo XIV’s multicultural and multilingual identity has put them at ease" (NYT).

We're also told:

Even calling Pope Leo “American” has bothered those Latin Americans who resent the use of the word to describe someone from the United States, because they see it as a form of imperialism. They think “American” should apply to anyone from the entire continent — that is, from North, Central or South America.

Isn't that 2 "continents" — North America and South America? Central America is not a continent. It's part of North America, though I've heard educated Americans deny it. And I mean to say Americans for United Statesians, because we don't say "United Statesians." There's the Esperanto "Usonians." There's "Yankees." These are never going to happen. We don't have another word for saying who we are. Show a little empathy for our plight. Read the Wikipedia article "Demonyms for the United States." It's been a problem all along.

But the NYT writes "the entire continent — that is, from North, Central or South America," and maybe that means it has adopted the theory that the whole landmass — south and north (and central) — is one continent. I don't think the NYT has adopted that nomenclature. And I wonder if Trump would like it. He looks at a map and insists that it's some kind of manifest destiny that Canada should be part of the U.S. And he came up with Gulf of America. And if you want to say it's one continent because we're all here on one tectonic system, remember who's on our plate: Greenland. The Trumpian dinner is served!

"Robert Francis Prevost, the Chicago-born cardinal selected on Thursday as the new pope, is descended from Creole people of color from New Orleans."

"The pope’s maternal grandparents, both of whom are described as Black or mulatto in various historical records, lived in the city’s Seventh Ward, an area that is traditionally Catholic and a melting pot of people with African, Caribbean and European roots. The grandparents, Joseph Martinez and Louise Baquié, eventually moved to Chicago in the early 20th century and had a daughter: Mildred Martinez, the pope’s mother. The discovery means that Leo XIV, as the pope will be known, is not only breaking ground as the first U.S.-born pontiff.... It’s unclear whether the new pope has ever addressed his Creole ancestry in public, and his brother said that the family did not identify as Black.... Creoles, also known as 'Creole people of color,' have a history almost as old as Louisiana. While the word Creole can refer to people of European descent who were born in the Americas, it commonly describes mixed-race people of color. Many Louisiana Creoles were known in the 18th and 19th centuries as 'gens de couleur libres,' or free people of color. Many were well educated, French-speaking and Roman Catholic...."

From "New Pope Has Creole Roots in New Orleans/His ancestry, traced to a historic enclave of Afro-Caribbean culture, links Leo XIV to the rich and sometimes overlooked Black Catholic experience in America" (NYT).

ADDED: Haven't there been Popes of mixed race before — in all this long history? Grok offers 3 possibilities:

White smoke!

New pope about to show his face. 

ADDED: "The cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church elected Robert Francis Prevost as their 267th pontiff on Thursday, ending a two-day conclave in Rome with the election of the first pope from the United States" (NYT).

AND: Some background from the National Catholic Reporter, published  last week: here. Excerpt: "He is a polyglot who speaks English, Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese and can read Latin and German, giving him abilities to communicate with his fellow cardinals in ways that others cannot. The language ability, his international travel experience as head of his religious order, and his work in identifying Latin-rite bishops around the world mean that he will be among the best-known candidates going into this conclave. While fluent in languages, he is not garrulous. When he speaks, he does so with caution and great deliberation. A private man with a reserved style, he will not score high on the charm offensive. But his steely determination and clarity might comfort those looking for a leader who knows where he wants to go and how to get there."

ALSO: "Pope Leo XIV, Born in Chicago, Is the First American Pontiff/Robert Francis Prevost, who led the Vatican office that selects and manages bishops globally, has spent much of his life outside the United States" (NYT).

Trump as Pope — posted by Trump himself and by The White House.

pic.twitter.com/x2HrR939tn

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 3, 2025

What is he trying to say? I see "White House posts AI image of Trump as pope/'I’d like to be pope,' Trump jokingly told reporters this week, soon after attending the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome" (Politico):

When asked who should succeed Francis, Trump told a reporter on Tuesday: “I have no preference,” after joking that “I’d like to be pope.” Trump said he himself would be his “number one choice.” He then added: “I must say, we have a cardinal that happens to be out of a place called New York who’s very good.”

The AI-generated picture has been met with some amusement as well as criticism, with a large swath of social media users seeing it as a clear insult to the just-deceased pontiff....

Well, it seems pretty simple. Someone asked him who should be the next Pope. He made an offhand comment, which makes some sense, in that he feels capable of running things and he knows himself and doesn't know much about the various cardinals. Then someone made the AI image, and he passed it on because it was funny and provocative. It's something to think about and to distract us from other things. Look, here I am posting it first thing this morning instead of something else. It will get his haters running down a blind alley. An insult to the just-deceased pontiff? How is it an insult? The President of the United States is essentially saying there is one job in the world that's a step up from mine. 

"Some progressives within the church worry that the dozens of new cardinals Francis chose around the world will be less versed in Vaticanese..."

"... and may be taken in by the sweetness of the unity siren. 'It sounds really good,' said Cardinal Michael Czerny of Canada, who was one of Francis’ closest advisers, but 'it means reversal.' For those who opposed Francis, many of them appointed by his predecessor, Benedict XVI, unity means a 'new introversion' with the promise of 'unity solving all our problems,' he said. 'If you ask me, "How would you name the wrong track for the conclave?" I would say the idea that unity is the priority,' said Cardinal Czerny.... 'Unity cannot be a priority issue.'... Those like Cardinal Czerny put priority on another word: Diversity...."

From "As Cardinals Prepare to Elect a Pope, One Motto Is ‘Unity.’ That’s Divisive. Some see the byword as a rallying call in a conservative campaign to reverse Francis’ push for a more inclusive church" (NYT).

ADDED: For the annals of Things I Asked Grok: The "unity" the cardinals are considering is unity within the Catholic Church (at the cost of alienating some who are outside of the Catholic Church), right? But if the Church leans instead toward "diversity" of opinion (on social issues, etc), is that a better or a worse strategy for attracting newcomers? What's the point of the Church if it's an amalgam of what various people believe instead of a strong and required set of beliefs?

"As a boy, he was intelligent, deeply religious and loved to dance the tango."

"When he was 16, Jorge was rushing to meet friends but paused at the Basilica of St. Joseph in Buenos Aires, feeling an urge to go inside. In the sanctuary, it felt as though 'someone grabbed me from inside,' he said, adding, 'Right there I knew I had to be a priest.'... Francis died on Monday at 7:35 a.m., less than a day after blessing the faithful who had gathered for an Easter Mass in St. Peter’s Square. He appeared on a balcony on Sunday, looking frail, and after blessing the crowd, he deferred to a Vatican aide to address the crowd on his behalf...."

From the NYT obituary for Pope Francis.

There's also this: "Francis repeatedly sought to stand up to nationalism. During the U.S. presidential election, he suggested that Donald J. Trump, the Republican candidate, was 'not Christian' because of his preference for building walls rather than bridges. Mr. Trump responded: 'For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful. I am proud to be a Christian.'"

ADDED: Francis had seemed to be doing better but perhaps he was only determined — massively determined — to make a strong showing for Easter (and to target the United States for criticism over its treatment of migrants):

"Vance in Rome trying to meet the Pope? What a theatrical performance. Hypocrite. Viper."

That's the 3rd most highly rated comment at the WaPo article "Vance meets with pope as Francis’s Easter message decries ‘logic of fear’/The visit at the Vatican brought together the ailing head of the Catholic church and a high-profile convert who has criticized the pope’s social teachings."

Second most highly rated comment: "I’m surprised Vance didn’t burst into flames."

Most highly rated: "Vance is just one of many fake religious politicians. They run around boasting of their faith, but practice none of the Christian values Jesus and the bible preached."

And here's the "logic of fear" statement in the Pope's Easter message: "How much contempt is stirred up at times towards the vulnerable, the marginalized and migrants. I appeal to all those in positions of political responsibility in our world not to yield to the logic of fear which only leads to isolation from others, but rather to use the resources available to help the needy, to fight hunger and to encourage initiatives that promote development. These are the ‘weapons’ of peace: weapons that build the future, instead of sowing seeds of death."

"Once considered revolutionary, the notion of empathy and advocacy for the poor is now a central tenet of Roman Catholic social teaching."

"Once considered revolutionary, the notion of empathy and advocacy for the poor is now a central tenet of Roman Catholic social teaching.... Father Gutiérrez’s theology was not without its detractors. It was criticized by scholars living in capitalist countries for its use of Marxist social analysis to expose unjust political systems in the third world, many of them supported by first world powers.... More recently, his theology found favor with Pope Francis.... [T]he pope declared that liberation theology can no longer 'remain in the shadows to which it has been relegated for some years, at least in Europe.'... [Father Gutiérrez wrote:] 'Latin American misery and injustice go too deep to be responsive to palliatives.... Hence we speak of social revolution, not reform; of liberation, not development; of socialism, not the modernization of the prevailing system. "Realists" call these statements romantic and utopian. And they should, for the rationality of these statements is of a kind quite unfamiliar to them.'"

From "Gustavo Gutiérrez, Father of Liberation Theology, Dies at 96/Once considered revolutionary, his notion of empathy and advocacy for the poor has become a central tenet of Catholic social teaching" (NYT).

"The woman is more important than the man, but it’s bad when the woman wants to be a man."

Said Pope Francis, quoted in "Pope criticized for giving ‘reductive’ view on women’s role in society/A Catholic university took the rare step of criticizing Pope Francis, saying that he called women 'a fertile welcome, care, vital devotion.'"

Andrea Grillo, professor of sacramental theology at the Anselmianum, a pontifical university in Rome, said that Francis’s statements sounded “as if a woman can only be a mother, wife, daughter or sister — roles that are always beholden to man. Whereas men are free to be what they will. … It’s a very old kind of 'wisdom' that the contemporary world has walked past.”

"A campaign has been constructed around a mood, rather than the other way around. The mood is Obamacore..."

"... the outburst of brightness and positivity that took over pop culture upon the election of our first Black president in 2008, and that continued until the wheels fell off eight years later. This was the age of Glee, Taylor Swift’s 1989, and Hamilton, seemingly disparate art born out of the same impulse: the feeling of a new dawn, a generational shift, a national redemption.... ... Obamacore positioned itself as sensitive, non-threatening, and relatable. It was Aziz Ansari writing a book on modern dating alongside a Berkeley-trained sociologist, porn star James Deen talking about bacon, Louis C.K. playing a cop on Parks and Recreation.... The fandom that had sprung up around Obama’s presidential campaign expanded to embrace New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and later, Hillary Clinton. For a moment, bodies as hidebound as the Supreme Court and the papacy looked as if they might be rehabbed into vehicles for social justice.... This summer’s sudden reappearance of hope and positivity has spurred split reactions. Do you embrace your inner cringe, or try to tamp it down?... The optimistic case is that, against all odds, we seem to have heeded the lessons of Obamacore. Generation Z is willingly climbing the coconut tree."

Writes Nate Jones, in "That Feeling You Recognize? Obamacore. The 2008 election sparked a surge of positivity across pop culture. Now hindsight (and cringe) is setting in" (NY Magazine).

See also "100 Pieces of Pop Culture That Defined Obamacore/You know them when you see them — whether they were genius or, well, not," by Nate Jones (in NY Magazine). Just to select one:

"It was the third papal meeting for Laura, 57, a saucy Paraguayan sex worker who, in her realest moments, described herself as 'una travesti'..."

"... outdated Spanish slang for 'a transgender woman.' She lived by a code: Tough girls don’t cry. But the first time Pope Francis had blessed her, she couldn’t suppress her tears. On their second meeting, they chatted over lunch. He came to know her well enough to ask about her health. On top of her longtime HIV, she’d had a recent cancer diagnosis. During treatment, the church sourced her a comfortable hotel room in the shadow of the Colosseum and provided food, money, medicine and tests...."

From "How Pope Francis opened the Vatican to transgender sex workers/The outreach, reflecting the most radical stage of his papacy, has prompted backlash while also altering the lives of the nearly 100 people he has met" (WaPo)(free access link).

"'Groups of trans come all the time,' Francis told fellow Jesuits in Lisbon last August. 'The first time they came, they were crying. I was asking them why. One of them told me, "I didn’t think the pope would receive me!" Then, after the first surprise, they made a habit of coming back. Some write to me, and I email them back. Everyone is invited! I realized these people feel rejected.'"

"But I think that the strongest one is the one who looks at the situation, thinks about the people and has the courage of the white flag, and negotiates."

"The word negotiate is a courageous word. When you see that you are defeated, that things are not going well, you have to have the courage to negotiate."

Said Pope Francis, quoted in "Pope says Ukraine should have 'courage of the white flag' of negotiations" (Reuters).

"I consider despicable the practice of so-called surrogate motherhood, which represents a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child, based on the exploitation of situations of the mother’s material needs."

Said Pope Francis, quoted in "Francis Urges Ban on Surrogacy, Calling It 'Despicable'/The pope said that an unborn child must not be 'turned into an object of trafficking,' expanding his condemnation of a practice already illegal in Italy and some other European countries" (NYT).

Surrogacy is already illegal in Italy and compensated surrogacy is also illegal or restricted in much of Europe.... Surrogate mothers in the United States and Canada are often hired by Europeans, including same-sex couples, seeking to have children, though some American states have outlawed the practice. 

Francis, a constant critic of consumerism’s corrosive effects on humanity, is deeply wary that a profit motive will warp the traditional creation of life....