What we know about Pope Leo's politics

🏛️ Plus: Former SCOTUS justice has died

12:30 REPORT 12:30 REPORT Friday, May 9 | By Cate Martel Today in DC: ☁️ 59°  Sign up Happy Friday! And an early Happy Mother's Day to all the moms reading this! 💐 In today's issue: Political implications of Pope Leo's selection Interviews with the pope's brothers Former Supreme Court justice dies Biden's return to the spotlight frustrates Democrats ⛪️ IN VATICAN CITY A Chicago pope, can you believe it?: Vatican Media via Associated Press Pope Leo XIV officiated his first Mass as the new leader of the Catholic Church this morning. What we know about him: The 69-year-old Robert Prevost, a Villanova alum from just outside Chicago, spent several decades in Peru as a missionary. He holds Peruvian citizenship and speaks fluently in both Spanish and Italian. Pope Leo began his first homily in English:  📹 Watch ; 🔎 Read his homily Cheers at the end of Mass: Children in the Sistine Chapel choir applauded him at the end of Mass. He waves at them. 📹 Watch Throwback — this was prescient: The New York Times's Motoko Rich published an article May 2 that reads, "There's Never Been a Pope From the U.S. Could This Cardinal Change That?" 📝 Five things to know about Pope Leo's selection ➤ POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS — WHAT DOES LEO'S SELECTION MEAN FOR THE CHURCH?: It is widely seen as a progressive move by the Catholic Church. His priorities are expected to build off Pope Francis's legacy. His social media posts offer some insight into his political leanings. Several of his recent X posts are critical of President Trump and Vice President Vance. He has a history of voting in both parties, per CBS News. He advocated for action to address climate change and wants to help migrants. He may not be as progressive on LGBTQ issues, though. Read The Washington Post's reporting on his political views Fascinating read, via The New York Times: 'How Will Pope Leo Approach the Rising Right Wing of the U.S. Church?' Excerpt: "Now the new pope, Leo XIV, faces the task not just of shepherding the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, but of unifying a fractured American church where the church hierarchy, ordinary Catholics, an influential right-wing Catholic media ecosystem and Catholic power in Washington are often at odds." Did you know?: More than a third of Trump's Cabinet is Catholic and so are two-thirds of the Supreme Court justices. ➤ SIGHTS AND SOUNDS — AN AMERICAN POPE!: This was a cool moment: A priest, who went to school with now-Pope Leo, appeared on CNN shortly after the announcement. He referred to the pope as "Bob." 😂 📹 Watch the clip 📹 Watch the moment the smoke turned white I wonder what his thoughts on Italian vs. Chicago pizza: Last August, then-Cardinal Prevost visited a pizza shop in Homewood, Ill. 📸 He posed for a photo 📸 Today's cover of the Chicago Sun-Times 📸 Time Magazine's new cover A White Sox fan!: The Chicago Sun-Times 📸 obtained a photo of Prevost at the 2005 World Series. Want to see his Villanova yearbook?: The Hill's Alex Gangitano (a fellow Villanova alum!) 📸 posted a photo of the 1977 yearbook featuring Prevost, who went by "Lou." He has New Orleans roots: "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," reports The New York Times. How does the new pope immediately have a custom garment?: Raniero Mancinelli has been the pope's tailor for decades. He pre-made several sizes. 📹 Watch ; Read more: 'Meet the Roman tailors who will make the pope's official attire' ➤ MY FAVORITE PART OF THIS WHOLE THING: The pope's brothers are such regular people. Can you imagine being able to say your brother is the literal pope? His brother, John Prevost, spoke with ABC News. He said that as a kid, his brother would play "priest" and use an ironing board as his altar. He also confirmed the pope is a White Sox fan. 📹 Watch his interview Leo's other brother, Louis Prevost, spoke with WWSB News. 📹 Watch his reaction ➤ SOME LIGHT-HEARTED JOKES: Social media lit up with light-hearted jokes about the pope being from Chicago. Here are some of my favorites: Portillo's hot dogs posted, "How quickly can we ship Italian Beef to Vatican City?" "American Pope sounds like an HBO series," remarked X user @elamin88. And @jbarro joked, "Chicago Pope, Tuesdays on NBC." "This is a load off Marco Rubio, who had been serving as the interim pope," the Washington Examiner Magazine's Jim Antle joked. @lukasbattle joked, "New Pope calls soda 'pop' we are international baby!" Popeyes posted, "pope yes." 🎤 GETTING TRACTION Joe Biden just can't stay away: Former President Biden is back in the spotlight, sitting down for two major post-presidency interviews. He appeared on "The View" on Thursday: He denied reports of his mental decline and took blame for Trump winning in 2024. "I was in charge, and he won," he told the hosts. And his interview with BBC aired earlier this week. The Hill's Julia Manchester and Amie Parnes report that Democrats are fuming over Biden's return to the spotlight. They argue Democrats are trying to rebuild, and Biden is a drag on those efforts. 🕊️  NEWS THIS MORNING Retired Supreme Court Justice Souter has died: Retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter died Thursday at the age of 85, the Supreme Court announced. He "died peacefully" at his home in New Hampshire. 📃 Read the Supreme Court's announcement What to know about him: Former President George H.W. Bush appointed Souter to the court in 1990. He served for nearly 20 years and stepped down in 2009. He migrated to the court's liberal wing over his time on the bench, prompting backlash from Republicans. "Souter was part a coalition that upheld the essential holding of Roe v. Wade, which established a constitutional right to abortion, and Souter also sided with the court's liberals on major issues like affirmative action and religion." (The Hill) A lighter tidbit — he had too many books for his house to structurally support: "After he retired, Justice Souter sold the family farmhouse and moved to a substantial in-town house in Concord," according to The New York Times's obituary of him. "The reason, he explained, was his large book collection, which the old farmhouse could neither hold nor structurally support." (h/t Pluribus News's Reid Wilson) COMING UP The House and Senate are out.✌️ President Trump is in Washington. (All times EST) 1 p.m.: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt briefs reporters. 💻 Livestream 4 p.m.: Trump signs executive orders. 🐝 INTERNET BUZZ 🍷 Celebrate: Today is National Moscato Day.   🍭This is hilarious and SO wholesome: An 8-year-old boy accidentally ordered 70,000 Dum Dums Lollipops on his mom's phone. It cost $4,200 (!) His mom eventfully got a refund, but the 📸 photo of the lollipop delivery has me laughing out loud. 👋 AND FINALLY… To get your weekend off to a fun start, watch this man battle a crab.  Stay Engaged  📺 Miss yesterday's newsletter? Catch up with a 1-minute video. I love hearing from you — send your feedback, tips and favorite cookie recipes 🍪 to cmartel@thehill.com. Check out more newsletters here. See you next time! Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe |  View Online  | Sign Up for Other Newsletters 400 N Capitol Street NW Suite 650, Washington, DC 20001 © 1998 - 2025 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved.