Robert Francis Prevost Martínez, American cardinal born September 14, 1955 in Chicago, Illinois, is the new pope. It was confirmed this Thursday, after two days of conclave at the Vatican and with four votes among the cardinals. Member of the Order of Saint-Augustin since 1977, ordered a priest in 1982, he had a long career behind him, spent in Peru for decades.
The new pontiff took the name of Léon XIV in reference to Léon XIII (1878-1903). The latter presented himself as the “Pope Workers” and had developed the social doctrine of the Church, the essential objective of which was to thwart the influence of socialist ideas over the working class, which developed at the end of the 19th century. Léon XIII is the author of the Encyclical Rerum Novarum (1891), which explicitly defends this perspective and attacks the socialist point of view. [1]
In this sense, the new Pope could give continuity to the social speeches that marked the pontificate of François. As we have already analyzed, Jorge Bergoglio’s mandate was intended to restore the coat of arms of a Catholic church deeply questioned by the many cases of sexual abuse and financial scandals. One of the most virulent criticisms against this pontificate precisely concerns the impunity which the perpetrators of sexual abuse continued.
As the 2025 conclave approaches, organizations such as the SNAP (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Prests) which bring together the victims of these abuses had also demanded the appointment of a cardinal not involved in the concealment of business. Among the people denounced is prevost himself, targeted for having guaranteed the impunity of priests in the United States but also in Peru. In a press release, the SNAP denounced its appointment.
Prevost, who was in Peru until 2023, was not an opponent of the coup who took place in December 2022 against Pedro Castillo either. Although he launched generic calls to “peace” and “reconciliation”, he did not denounce the brutal repression which has made many victims. In January 2023, with other bishops, he also met the president in fact Dina Boluarte, who went to the headquarters of the Peruvian episcopal conference in search of allies.
Less disruptive and more institutional than Bergoglio, of which he is a disciple, Prevost will have managed to maintain a balance which ultimately allowed him to become sovereign pontiff. Representative of a politico-religious organization with ultra-conservative values, he is also the new face of a discourse that wants to believe that this institution would be engaged in favor of victims of social injustices. A posture of self-preservation characteristic of a reactionary institution like the Catholic Church in times of crisis, war and revolution.
[1] He is underlined that ” Not only does the employment contract, but also trade relations of all kinds are subject to the power of a minority, to the point that an extremely reduced number of rich and opulent people imposed on an infinite multitude of proletarians a yoke which is hardly less hard than that of slavery. To remedy this evil, the socialists, attributing hatred of the destitute against the rich, seek to abolish the private property of the goods, believing that it is better that all the goods are common and administered by the people who direct the commune or govern the nation. They believe that by transferring the property of individuals to the community, by distributing riches and well-being equally among all citizens, one could remedy the current evil. But this measure is so unsuitable for resolving the conflict that it even ends up harming the workers’ classes themselves; It is also extremely unfair, because it exercises violence against legitimate owners, alters the mission of the Republic and fundamentally agitates nations ».
