“Watch and Pray” (Matthew 26:41)
Pope Leo XIV wore the Red Mozetta when he was declared Pope, similar to that last worn by Pope Benedict XVI during his pontificate (which was discarded and abandoned by his predecessor, Pope Francis). He chose a traditional sounding papal name (Leo XIV). He sung the Regina Caeli followed by the recitation of the prayer in Latin as well. He went back to the Papal apartment, (one that was rejected by his his predecessor in search of more ‘humble’ and ‘austere’ accommodation) indicating a return to traditional practices of a Pope.
What more could a Conservative/Traditionalist ask for right?
Now that the conclave is done with, what next for Pope Leo XIV? Before we get to answering this, it is important to probe into what went on during the conclave. Given the rules of secrecy of the Conclave, this information will have to be gleaned and discerned during the rest of this pontificate. But this much is clear, that to deliver an American Pope, it would have needed a lot of backing and push from the Modernist camp in America especially the USCCB Bishops, who have been shaping to be a dominant hegemony over the course of the last several years, eclipsing their European counterparts, who have all but bought about their own extinction after the spring time of Vatican II in their heady search for rationalistic and post-enlightenment driven self-annihilation; such are the ways of Kantian, Hegelian, and Descartian philosophical liberalism; It is useful for shooting oneself (or one’s philosophy) in the foot; a self-defeating excursion at best.
Why America? Because, after Europe, America is shaping to be the biggest driver of Catholicism. Be it Traditional Catholicism, Sedevacantism, or the Novus Ordo; From the Rad Trad to the liberal USCCB, from the MAGA Catholics, to the liberal Catholics, America is quite a polarized hive of Catholic buzz. I believe it thus imminent for the current Pope to be an American.
The legacy of Francis:
It has been clear that Pope Francis had been instrumental in allotting modernist/synodal Bishops to replace those that retired and had submitted their resignation in America (due to the age factor). From the current four cardinals of the USCCB, three cardinals, i.e. Cupich, Tobin, and McElroy, were elevated by Pope Francis, McElroy being the last of those promoted by Francis, while only Cardinal Timothy Dolan was promoted by Pope Benedict XVI. Similarly, Francis had also promoted Edward Weisenburger as Archbishop of Detroit recently in February 2025; In March 2025, Bishop Michael McGovern was selected to lead the Archdiocese of Omaha, Nebraska and in February 2025, three new US bishops were appointed by Francis: Bishop Robert Casey as Archbishop of Cincinnati, Msgr. Richard Reidy as Bishop of Norwich, & Rev. John Keehner as Bishop of Sioux City. Thus, within a short time, there were a slew of appointments, particularly an unhealthy lot of a very ‘synodality-eager’ Bishops (in the vein of Cardinals Cupich, Tobin, Dolan and Fr. James Martin SJ), that followed the resignation of outgoing retired Bishops. And most of these Bishops were installed while Pope Francis was reported to have severe health issues, being hospitalized for most of the period from February 2025 onwards until his demise in April 2025, during which most of these appointments seemed to have picked up speed. So, if Francis was hospitalized, who was making these appointments on his behalf? – not to say that with Francis making the decisions, things would have been very different.
The New York Times also reported that Cardinal Dolan from the New York Archdiocese, played a vital role in Prevost becoming Pope Leo XIV. According to Rorate Caeli, the Italian newspaper, Corriere Della Sera, reported that Cardinal Robert Prevost (now Pope Leo XIV) was one of the few cardinals that met secretly with Cardinal Raymond Burke, in his private residence, just before the conclave (which is understandably also a private and secret meeting). The Catholic commentator, author, and evangelical convert to the Catholic Church through Anglicanism, Shane Schaetzel on X (previously Twitter), writes that,
“Francis stacked the college with liberal cardinals. There was no way the conservative cardinals could win, no way at all. So, as suspected, it’s becoming more and more apparent that cardinals Burke, Sarah, Müller and Dolan orchestrated a resistance to scuttle the preferred Francis successor (Cardinal Parolin) who would have become Francis II.”
If this is true, it seems that the conservative heavyweights of probably the most experienced and oldest Cardinals, Burke, Sarah, and Müller preferred to snub old Pietro Parolin who was quite the worry for most Conservative/Traditional Catholics who were in the know of Vatican politics.
So, it is thus clear that the USCCB have grown to a stature where they will now start calling the shots in the Vatican. Thus, for Pope Francis, what was the Saint Gallen mafia, for Prevost, it seems to be the USCCB cabal that has now implanted their own man. The question now is, who holds the leash on dear Pope Leo XIV? Is it the combined liberal cabal of the USCCB Cardinals? Or do the Conservative Cardinals, Burke, Sarah and Müller, have a say in things? The problem is also complicated by the fact that the Conservative Cardinals, while they may not have been particularly fond of the papacy of Pope Francis, are mightily hinged to Vatican II policies through that bewildering and controversial Benedict XVI magnum opus: ‘Hermeneutic of Continuity’, which when translated, implies that Vatican II will always remain the back bone on what every theological enterprise in the future is based on. That sounds fine, until another modernist Pope like Francis comes along and starts citing Vatican II as his license for the novelty and chaos he wants to introduce.
The problem is also that such backroom deals are setting a precedent. If the ‘few good men’ like Burke and Sarah have indeed resorted to these kind of ‘deals’, what can the lay faithful expect from the pure modernists in future? Future Cardinals, men who are like (or worse) Martini and Daneels, and who are agenda-driven modernists, can draw from this experience to shore themselves up and justify their own actions by citing what went on in this conclave. Sure, some cases are exceptional, but for how long will the end justify the means? I empathize with Cardinals Burke, Sarah and Müller if this is true; it must have been ‘their call’ (and a tough one) to avoid a Parolin papacy, which could have been twice as worse as Francis’s. But the problem is that this is a short-sighted approach. This papacy will give Catholics a respite and some breathing space from the ‘long collective nightmare’ (as cited by Rorate Caeli on their X handle) of the Francis papacy, sure. But wouldn’t it be more relevant to weed out the problem from it’s roots? This question needs to be dealt with all honestly as possible by all Catholics. For unless the issues of Vatican II are addressed, the future of Catholicism will keep experiencing men such as Pope Francis, or those from the Saint Gallen Mafia, or a Cardinal Parolin, or/and the USCCB cabal, having conclaves that are decided based on a quid pro quo.
Having said the above, we need to ‘watch and pray’. Maybe Pope Leo XIV could be inspired, similar to Pope Pius IX (Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti), who saw the dangers of political liberalism first-hand, and who came back all guns blazing, after turning away from it. May God grant Pope Leo XIV the grace to re-examine his predecessors errors and rescind them, including those that originated as a result of even so grand a council as Vatican II.
Today being the 13th May, on the anniversary of her apparitions to the three Fatima seers, may Our Lady of Fatima pray for the Church and our Pope. May Saint Peter and the past papal Leos in heaven intercede for our current vicar, and may Archangel Michael pray and defend our Pope from all the wickedness and snares of the malignant enemy.
Ave Maria
A Concerned Catholic
