A Historian Thinks About the Election of an American Pope

Back when I was teaching undergraduates, I used to tell them that there would never be an American Pope. The reason: the UN General Secretary and the Pope are two international leaders who serve as helpful, if light, counterweights to the most powerful world leader, the President of the United States.

So why was American Robert Francis Prevost elected pope? Three good reasons:

• He is not parochial. He has spent most of his life in Peru and became a citizen of that country.

• He spent the last few years as head of the Vatican office for vetting new bishops, meaning that the cardinals of the world had come to know and trust him. Typically, cardinals nominate candidates to fill empty bishop positions in their countries, the Vatican office vets the candidates and makes a recommendation to the pope, and the pope appoints the new bishop.

• Finally, and critically, our current international landscape demands an American Pope who will act as a SANE counterbalance to Mad King Donnie. Our world needs at least one sane American in a very high place.

I am looking forward to many good things from Leo XIV. I have to say I don't like the name choice. Maybe he will give us an enlightening explanation.