(The Hill) – On Thursday, Cardinal Robert Prevost made history as the first American to become pope, assuming the name Pope Leo XIV. A look at his past social media activity on the platform X shows that he has often used his presence there to quietly challenge the Trump administration and its policies.
Pope Leo XIV (formerly Prevost) engaged with various topics, such as criticizing Vice President Vance’s interpretation of the Christian concept of “ordo amoris” or the hierarchy of love in February. In 2015, he drew attention to an article condemning Trump’s harsh anti-immigrant rhetoric. He also amplified messages opposing the death penalty, the deportation of migrants, and criticized Congress for its lack of action on gun control following mass shootings.
He discussed his approach to and careful use of social media in a 2023 interview with the Vatican News Service.
“Social media is a powerful means to share the teachings of the Gospel with vast audiences,” Prevost commented. “However, in today’s fast-evolving world, it urges us to carefully consider before speaking or crafting a public message on Twitter, using the platform thoughtfully to engage in public discourse.”
“Sometimes there is a risk of fueling divisions and controversy,” he added.
Prevost is a Chicago native but rose the ranks of the Catholic church through his work in South America and has dual citizenship in the U.S. and Peru.
He used his first address as Pope Leo to emphasize unity.
“We have to seek together to be a missionary church, a church that builds bridges and dialogue, always ready to accept, like this great piazza, with its arms, we have to show our charity, presence and dialogue with love,” he said.
Trump wrote in a social media post shortly after the new pontiff’s introduction that he looks forward to meeting the first American pope.
“It will be a very meaningful moment!” the president wrote.
Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019 and is the nation’s second Catholic vice president, was among the last people to meet with Pope Francis, a close confidant of Prevost, before the pope’s death on April 21.
Vance later said he took the happenstance as “a great honor and a sign from God to remember that you never know when your last day on this Earth is.”
