It is understandable that many Catholics feel offended and scandalized by the statements made by the President of the United States regarding Leo, even if one certainly cannot claim that Jorge Bergoglio refrained during his “reign” from launching attacks and provocations against Donald Trump.
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When asked by journalists about Donald Trump’s post, Leo replied: “I am not afraid of the Trump administration, nor of boldly proclaiming the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am called to do, and what the Church is called to do.” These words, can however shift sharply in meaning depending on how they are interpreted. They may simply mean, “I have no fear of civil power,” thereby asserting the superiority of the Catholic Church’s spiritual authority over any earthly authority. Or, in a diametrically opposite sense, they may mean, “I have no fear of this administration” – implying that, in other instances, he deems it legitimate to feel fear and to refrain from “boldly proclaiming the message of the Gospel.” And immediately, one is reminded of how often we have seen the Vatican “fear” other administrations, both in Washington – especially when the interference of Hillary Clinton and John Podesta went so far as to block in the Vatican banking transactions via the SWIFT network – and in Beijing, <...> through a secret Agreement, not to “forcefully proclaim the message of the Gospel,” rubber-stamping the episcopal appointments of the Chinese Patriotic Association.
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The unanimous chorus of the mainstream media and the neo-papists serves as proof that Leo is not speaking as a pope but rather as a standard-bearer for anti-Trumpism. This is because the accolades come from figures – both within and outside the ecclesial body – who possess nothing of the Catholic spirit, and who would be the very first to crucify Prevost were he to dare express even the slightest doubt regarding the untouchable “dogmas” of the radical Left.