Pope Leo XIV Already Showing Positive Signs

David Martin | The Daily Knight

The world’s Catholics can count their blessings that a genuine pope has emerged from the May 2025 conclave. Cardinal Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, is already showing some positive signs. Early clues give us a nice glimpse into what he is about.

For instance, in his address from the Balcony following his election he exhorted the people not to be taken up with the world but to be absorbed in God. Accordingly, he is Christ centered and back in 2012 he said that the liturgy is not supposed to be a spectacle but is meant to draw us into the Sacred Mysteries of Religion. Already, we see him doing the Sunday Papal Blessing and Regina Caeli in Latin at St. Peter's.

Note too, that this pope has been a personal close friend of Cardinal Raymond Burke who says exclusively the Latin Tridentine Mass. We now learn that Leo XIV as a cardinal had also been saying the Latin Mass in his private quarters. Hopefully, he will resurrect Summorum Pontificum and end any restrictions against saying the Tridentine Mass.

Cardinal Burke had this say about our new pope on May 8.

Please join me in thanking Our Lord for the election of Pope Leo XIV, Successor of Saint Peter, as the Shepherd of the Church throughout the world. The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe at La Crosse has a particularly strong bond with the Roman Pontiff, especially through its affiliation with the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major. I urge all pilgrims and friends of the Shrine to pray fervently for Pope Leo XIV that Our Lord, through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Saint Peter Apostle, and Pope Saint Leo the Great, will grant him abundant wisdom, strength, and courage to do all that Our Lord is asking of Him in these tumultuous times. May God bless Pope Leo and grant him many years. Viva il Papa!

Imploring Our Lord, through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, to bless you, your homes, your families, and all your labors, I remain

Yours in the Sacred Heart of Jesus

and the Immaculate Heart of Mary

and in the Purest Heart of Saint Joseph,

Raymond Leo Cardinal BURKE

May 8, 2025

As a cardinal, the new pope had been a strong defender of the sanctity of human life and in the 70s he even founded a campus right-to-life organization “Villanovans for Life,” which is the oldest college prolife group in America.

Pope Leo might have Cardinals Parolin and Tagle to thank for his election. The two reportedly got into a heated argument at the conclave about which of the two should be pope. This disgusted some of the cardinals who then turned their attention more to Prevost. We really dodged the bullet at this conclave.

Providential Timing of the Election

We might note too that Leo XIV was elected pope on May 8, 2025, which was the Feast of the apparition of St. Michael the Archangel commemorating the 6th century appearance of St. Michael on Mt. Gargano in southern Italy. A Church was built in his honor at the site.

Of all the popes of history, Leo XIII was the one who especially honored St. Michael because of his cause to chase Satan from the Church. In 1884, Pope Leo under inspiration composed the beautiful prayer to St. Michael hoping it would invoke the great Archangel to do just that.

It appears that the prayer has been answered. On May 8, the Feast of the St. Michael apparition, Prevost was made pope against all expectations. He chose to take for himself the name Leo IV, from which we might infer that his plan all along was to continue the fervent legacy of Leo XIII.  

However, some are queasy that Cardinal Prevost played a chief role for Francis in cancelling the exemplary Joseph Stickland as bishop of Tyler, Texas, but it could very well be that Prevost already knew he would be pope and that to secure his position as pope he would have to ‘play the game’ for Francis to prevent his own cancelation. If in fact this new pope is genuine, he will restore the full honor to Strickland and may even call him to Rome to assist him in chasing Satan from the Church.

And yes, Provost made two mistakes by assisting Francis in removing Bishop Strickland from the Tyler Diocese and also by assisting him in installing the disgraceful sex-predator Cardinal McElroy as head of the DC Diocese, but it appears that Francis forced his hand on him against his will. Provost was never a bully, and we can be sure that Leo XIV will revisit this matter with justice and charity. 

We must remember too, that popes do make some mistakes as did Benedict, John Paul II, and Paul VI, but they always meant well in what they did. And of course, if they do err we are never obliged to honor it but should always support them along with prayer. The papacy is the most persecuted institution on earth today so let pray for the true intentions of Pope Leo XIV that he may be the humble and holy Vicar of Christ he is called to be.