The Coming Trumpian Pope
May 7, 2025 | 171 words | Papal Politics
As 133 Cardinals from around the world gather in Rome this week for a sequestered conclave to select the new Pope, some American Catholics are hoping the next guy will be an arch-conservative disrupter in the mold of our current President.
One such American is the writer Austin Ruse, who shared his thoughts in a piece published on February 28 in Crisis magazine, entitled The Coming Trumpian Pope. It’s a fun read – with a breezy, almost jaunty tone – and Mr. Ruse comes across as a good-natured contrarian. In other words, just my sort of fellow.
But in hoping the next Pope will be a “bull in the China shop” who will “make a mess” and “fire a lot people” Mr. Ruse seems to be missing the obvious. Isn’t this just the sort of reckless behavior conservatives have consistently accused Francis of, and have been fuming over these last 12 years?
The coming Trumpian Pope? Wasn’t the pontiff who just shuffled off this mortal coil positively Trump-like in his unpredictability?
Robert J. Cavanaugh, Jr.
bobcavjr@gmail.com