Pope Leo – a Chip Off the Old Block (of Ice)

For us Roman Catholics, the early days of a new papacy are always tense, and no more so than in the early days of the papacy of our latest incumbent Pope Leo XIV. The question for liberals is “will he continue what Pope Francis started?” and the question for conservatives, like me, is the same. The only difference is that the liberals say it with gleeful anticipation and that we conservatives say it with dread.

Sadly, the story so far would suggest, notwithstanding some hopeful signs regarding the traditional Latin Mass, that it is very much business as usual, Franciscan style. There were signs, within days of Pope Leo assuming the Papal Seal, that he was, as I reported in these pages, going to be soft on migration without distinguishing legal from illegal.

Showing no consideration for the countries and communities that are adversely affected by migration, he blithely dismissed US Vice-President J.D. Vance’s use of the ordo amoris to justify love of family and neighbour before others. Pope Leo is entitled to his opinion but, noticeably, there are no migrants in the Vatican City.

At the end of last month, he expressed support for Cardinal Cupich of Chicago. Cupich, a Franciscan appointment, is considered one of the most liberal cardinals in the US showing support for all the usual suspects, from LGBTQWERTY activists to divorced couples and migrants. Most recently he plans to honour Left-wing Illinois Senator Dick Durbin for his work on immigrant human rights issues.

In comments related to Cardinal Cupich’s plans, Pope Leo responded to journalists, saying that being opposed to abortion yet not being concerned about the human rights of immigrants did not constitute being pro-life. He compared it with being opposed to abortion but supporting the death penalty (the official position of the Catholic Church until Pope Francis introduced changes to the Catechism), which, he also reckoned, did not constitute being pro-life. Clearly, while a case can and has been made by the Church against the death penalty, it is not morally equivalent to abortion.

Until recently, Pope Leo had not pontificated on climate change. But it all changed when October arrived, and he was invited to address the Laudato Si’ conference held to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Pope Francis’s execrable encyclical of the same name, Laudato Si’. Following in the carbon footprints of his predecessor, he went ‘full Greta’. He mouthed all the usual platitudes about climate change and listening to the ‘cry of the Earth’ and berated those who downplayed the alleged threat of global warming. He claimed, against all the evidence, that the adverse impact of global warming was “increasingly evident”.

It seems that Pope Leo has fallen hook, line and Holy Spirit for the nonsense about climate change promulgated by his predecessor. That the signs of climate change are “increasingly evident” is lifted directly from Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum in which he doubled down on his climate change message from Laudato Si’.

Pope Leo’s visit to the Laudato Si’ conference ended with the ridiculous spectacle of him blessing a massive lump of ice with the words: “Lord of Life, bless this water. May it awaken our hearts, cleanse our indifference, soothe our grief and renew our hope.” While that is not the officially released text of his blessing it seems to be the most widely reported. According to Gavin Ashenden, Pope Leo was provided with a card to read by the Laudato Si’ activists who were able to have the Vatican Secretariat fix his diary to ensure his attendance at the conference. 

Popes and, indeed, bishops and priests bless all sorts of things, inanimate and animate, and blessing water to be used as holy water happens frequently. But this seems to be the first recorded blessing of ice and quite how it could “awaken our hearts, cleanse our indifference, soothe our grief and renew our hope” is unclear. At least to this Catholic. Things that are blessed are set aside and treasured for religious purposes. But presumably, as the second law of thermodynamics dictates, the ice has just melted.

According to the podcast Catholic Unscripted, the ice was chopped off an iceberg in the Arctic and flown to Italy especially for the event. Moreover, the 500 activists present at the conference had flown in from across the world. Words are not enough…

As John Ellwood said in TCW Defending Freedom, “I await my excommunication.”

Dr Roger Watson is Academic Dean of Nursing at Southwest Medical University, China. He has a PhD in biochemistry. He writes in a personal capacity.