Thursday, May 8, 2025 at 6:16 PM
I was baptized in the Catholic Church two weeks before my wedding day. My in-laws were steadfast Catholics and couldn’t see their daughter marrying a pagan. I was not baptized as a child, so if I had died before my baptism and marriage, I’d be burning in hell right now. The priest who married us turned up in Chicago a few years later with his wife, so I don’t think I could be held to my commitments if the shepherd himself had lost his way. I wasn’t, and could never be, the religious type anyway; but I’m still a Catholic, I presume.
The word polyglot sounds menacing, but it means that a person is conversant in several languages. Our new Pope, Leo XIV, is a polyglot; he is a man of the people, especially the poor and disenfranchised. I hope he doesn’t change, overwhelmed by the gilded cage he will be living in. I hope he stays faithful to his true calling of giving aid and comfort and compassion to the less fortunate of the world. He is different from all the other popes, because he was born and grew up in Chicago. He is different because he ate Polish sausages and Italian beef dipped in that special sauce. He ate hotdogs without ketchup, which is a blasphemy in itself. He is familiar with Chicago politics, which will serve him well in his new post. Take no prisoners. Wat a ting!
The reason I am so excited about this new pope is because MAGA and the right-wing media hate him. They have already started to attack him for his “wokeness.” Makes me want to go back to church. If he makes Trump and his band of zombies uncomfortable, then he is the right man for the job, in my opinion. He is apparently following in the footsteps of Francis; hopefully he remains on that path; power has a strange way of confusing you. I have no doubt that the Christian nationalists (we don’t have ordinary Christians in America anymore; well, hardly any), they will try to destroy his credibility. According to them, you have to hate a bunch of people to prove your Christianity, so I don’t think Leo will stray from his righteous path.
I’m glad that a man from humble beginnings has reached the highest level of power and glory. It gives every child the hope that they can reach for the stars, and succeed. Trump is already mad because he did not dominate the news cycle today. That distinction went to a poor boy from southside Chicago, who oversees a flock of approximately 1.5 billion souls. That should give him (Trump) reason to pause, but it won’t. He will still believe he is the king of the world. Delusional as usual.
Good luck, Pope Leo! You will need it. And I’m still not going to church.
Glen