I would really love to know how the international Catholic community feels about the new pope, Pope Bob aka Pope Leo XIV. Bob took over after Pope Francis passed away in April of last year, and Bob is the first “American Pope.” My sense is that Bob is nowhere near as popular as Francis, but Bob is respected in general. Bob doesn’t seem to have a problem with getting more political, which is really riling up American right-wingers, which is always a plus. Basically, America gave the Catholic community a special gift: a mild-mannered midwesterner named Bob. Take him into your hearts.
Well, as you might remember, in the last year of Francis’s life, there were two incidents where Francis used an Italian anti-gay slur in various closed-door speeches. It was the same Italian slang word both times, basically the Italian equivalent of the f-slur in English. Well, Pope Leo is taking a different approach. One of Leo’s senior liturgical aides used a homophobic slur and it was picked up by a hot mic. Leo fired the guy.
Just days ago, a routine holiday event in Rome turned into a minor scandal with major implications. During Pope Leo XIV’s Christmas greetings to the Roman Curia, one of his own masters of ceremonies was caught on a hot mic muttering a homophobic slur.
The Vatican watchdog outlet Silere Non Possum first reported the audio earlier this week, and by this morning our sources in the Vatican confirmed their reporting: Pope Leo had swiftly removed the priest — Monsignor Marco Agostini — from his liturgical post.
Outside of niche Catholic circles, this story has barely made a blip. But it speaks volumes about how the first American pope is handling the Church’s internal culture wars, and where he draws the line. Pope Leo’s decisive response to an ugly comment is more than just a personnel matter; it’s a window into how he intends to govern a divided Church.
I brought up the Francis backstory because there were questions about who leaked Francis’s homophobic slurs – it wasn’t like Francis said that slur into a microphone at a public event. He was in closed quarters surrounded by senior aides and such. Meaning, people within the confines of the Vatican were mad that Francis was saying offensive things in any capacity. Leo is not the same at any level – all it took was one hot mic slur and Leo said “pack your bags.”
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- ITALY – POPE LEO XIV CELEBRATES NEW YEAR S DAY MASS ON WORLD DAY OF PEACE IN ST PETER S BASILICA AT THE VATICAN – 2026/1/1 Italy, Rome, Vatican, 2026/1/1 . Pope Leo XIV celebrates New Year s day during a mass on World Day of Peace in Saint-Peter s Basilica at the Vatican. EDITORIAL USE ONLY – NO BOOKS Copyright: xALESSIAxGIULIANIx,Image: 1062672102, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/ALESSIA GIULIANI/Avalon
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- ITALY – POPE LEO XIV CELEBRATES NEW YEAR S DAY MASS ON WORLD DAY OF PEACE IN ST PETER S BASILICA AT THE VATICAN – 2026/1/1 Italy, Rome, Vatican, 2026/1/1 . Pope Leo XIV celebrates New Year s day during a mass on World Day of Peace in Saint-Peter s Basilica at the Vatican. EDITORIAL USE ONLY – NO BOOKS Copyright: xALESSIAxGIULIANIx,Image: 1062672210, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/ALESSIA GIULIANI/Avalon
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- ITALY – POPE LEO XIV LEADING THE VESPERS AND TE DEUM PRAYER ON THE DEUM PRAYER ON NEW YEAR S EVE IN ST PETER S BASILICA AT THE VATICAN – 2026/12/31 Italy, Rome, Vatican, 2026/12/31 Pope Leo XIV leading the Vespers and Te Deum prayer on New Year s Eve in St. Peter s Basilica at the Vatican EDITORIAL USE ONLY – NO BOOKS Copyright: xALESSIAxGIULIANIx,Image: 1062692604, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/ALESSIA GIULIANI/Avalon
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻. So proud of Pope Bob!!! Bravery is in such short supply these days it’s wonderful to see it!
Agreed! It is awesome to see someone stand up for what’s right, especially the Pope.
I didn’t know Pope Francis said those things, it is horrifying to hear. Go Pope Bob,long may he Pope!
100%!! May we have brave leaders and may they keep fighting the good fight!
I’m a Catholic in a Boston suburb and I think he’s really popular. I might live in a bubble though- our local priests have been preaching about showing kindness to immigrants since before the election and continue to do so… I know that’s contentious in some circles these days.
Chicago Catholic here and same! But then you hear about the really extremist Catholics – I don’t even know what to call them because what they believe doesn’t historically align with what I know of Catholicism and Catholic values – and I wonder if I’m in a bubble.
If Agostini will say that during an official function, imagine what he says behind closed doors.
I’m in Texas and go to a conservative Catholic church (which is how most churches are here in Texas – conservative to the core.) Among liberal leaning Catholics like myself, Pope Leo is very, very popular. We are cheering! Go, Pope Leo, go! I also have begun to notice that the priests, in my church at least, are beginning to speak more boldly to their flock about “Jesus, Mary and Joseph being immigrants” and about the Church lately being composed of “practical atheists”….showing up in church, but not living life and caring for the poor, weak, and vulnerable as Jesus would want us to. I am very heartened. I think Pope Leo is making a small difference. Time will tell…
As an older lefty Catholic who hasn’t been to Mass in years because of these tradCath nonsense converts (and priests), this warms my heart. Pope Bob and I are about the same age, and he makes me so proud of the Chicago Catholicism I was raised in.
I’m in Texas too, not catholic, but some maga ppl I interact with at a company Christmas party once a year were complaining about he’s a communist pope. I think he’s great. My MIL just retired from 40+ years working for her parish and she likes him, although shockingly is unconnected to him. She did know someone who ended up in pope Francis…. I don’t know what you call it, but group.
As a lapsed Catholic, I’m all for Pope Bob if he can clean house of the pedos and be all inclusive to women and LGBTQ people. Do that and I might come back. Disappointed in Francis. Thought he would do this.
As a Catholic who decided to stay in the church because I want the church to (slowly) move in the more liberal direction, I absolutely love pope Leo. The things I love about the church (making the actual teachings of Jezus central, instead of the old testament and stuff outside of the gospels) seem to be the things he’s championing. This firing particularly makes me very happy, because it is not a given that the pope reacts this way and this would sooner cause an uproar within the church than if he chose to ignore and look away.
I would love to go back to the church but as long as my queer child can’t marry in it, I won’t. Still, I’m cheering on Leo from the outside and I know of dozens of other former Catholics who are doing the same. He’s a hot topic of conversation among us.
Good for Pope Leo!
Now do all those Catholics working to dismantle American democracy!
Ooh! Maybe he could excommunicate JD Vance!!
As a not-very-good Catholic (attend Mass only sporadically, 2-3 times a year), I’m heartened by Pope Bob’s willingness to banhammer the homophobes. As a proud liberal, I’m absolutely delighted to read that he’s incensing the right wing of the Church. And as a Chicana, I’m overjoyed at his emphasis on loving kindness and mercy for immigrants.
I’m not Catholic but that’s awesome. As it should be. I’m happy as can be that he fired that guy.
I grew up in the Catholic Church but am not really a practicing one these days. But I love Pope Bob!!!
I am a liberal, but still weekly mass-going Catholic and I can say that the one-two punch of Francis and Bob (Leo) has absolutely given me hope and renewed my faith in the ability of ancient institutions full of older people to bend in the direction of justice over time. The military is like this too…sometimes they lag behind due to the scope and entrenched tradition (and, again, generationally older leadership) but when the needle finally shifts, it tends to stay AND bring along other aspects of society.
I am not a Pollyanna about this, and in a more comprehensive discussion we’d get into what still needs fixing, but in discussing this one thing, I am seeing what I need to see to feel things are moving where they should. And because religious faith IS important to many people (not everyone, and that’s a good thing, too…live your truth), I want a world where people of faith aren’t denied access and engagement to something they need in their lives because folks have tightened the circle and are excluding them.
So hopeful, cautiously, but pleased so far.
I was raised Catholic, and my impression is that he is more popular in the US, for the rest of us He is quiet and does not have anything interesting to say or do. But that is my feeling.
I am hoping he stays around for a long time. Hopefully he can break the US Catholic Church from its inappropriate and disgusting relationship with the Republican Party. The party commandeered the church to focus on abortion and gay rights. They turned the church into an exclusive club when it’s supposed to be a place where all of us can gather and worship. Like everything the Republicans touch though, it will be hard to undo the damage.
This is very nice, but I’m curious whether he would have done this if it had not been picked up by a hot mic.
I love Pope Bob! He seems mild in manner but I think he is quietly formidable, takes no sh*t and doesn’t suffer fools or bullies. I love @BeanieBean’s comment on Vance, Bob should kick him out, he’s a phony tool! Go Bob!
Christopher Hales has a great column on Substack called Letters From Leo. I recommend it for those who want to know who the pope is and what he’s doing.