(LifeSiteNews) — Joining me on this episode of The John Henry Westen Show from Rome is Michael Matt, editor of The Remnant newspaper. We discussed the election of Cardinal Prevost as Pope Leo XIV, whether he would be a pope traditional Catholics can work with, the need to pray for the pontiff, and more.
This episode was recorded the day after the election of Pope Leo XIV.
I began the episode by asking Matt for his thoughts on Pope Leo XIV following his election to the papacy. Matt stressed that while Leo’s pontificate will likely not signal the end of the revolution in the Church, he believes traditional clergy will no longer have to live under a “climate of fear” as they did under Francis’ pontificate.
“I’ve spoken to many people in this town over the past week … including priests and bishops who’ve described the last 12 years as living in a ‘climate of fear.’ So there was an iron-handedness to [Francis’] pontificate,” he said.
“Of course, we pray for the repose of Francis, but that’s just the reality. And so in that climate of fear, many [churchmen] were doing things … almost in a fearful sense,” he added. “[They thought,] ‘Yes, I’m going to obey. I’m going to do whatever he wants.’ Because if you don’t, it’s going to get ugly. And he had a way of sort of bouncing people out. I think that’s come to an end.”
READ: 5 worrying things about Pope Leo XIV you need to know about Pope Leo XIV
Matt recalled speaking with then-Cardinal Prevost, who was willing to answer tough questions and address the concerns of traditional clergy during the Synod on Synodality.
“Of all of the representatives who came and approached us as members of the press and gave us declarations or explanations for what was happening with the Synod, [Cardinal Prevost] seemed to me to be the one who actually was interested in talking to people, not just giving platitudes, not just shutting down tough questions,” he said. “He answered difficult questions, for example, with respect to the African bishops’ conferences and homosexuality. He tried his best. I remember thinking, ‘He seems like a man of faith.’”
A bit later, Matt emphasized that there is also hope in Pope Leo’s first appearance on the loggia, just as there was concern in the way Francis first appeared to the world in simple vestments after becoming pope 12 years ago.
“We were standing right here when … Francis was selected. And what happened on the loggia was something all of us put a lot of [importance] on that, ‘What’s he trying to do? What is the signal?’ Now we know what he was signaling,” he said. “So if we were to do that with Francis to say, ‘Look what’s going on, look how he’s dressed, look how he says, ‘Bless me…’ and all that kind of strange stuff that happened that night.”
READ: New Pope Leo XIV – hints of hope and THE sign to watch out for
Matt further underscored how, if we look at Pope Leo’s first appearance on the loggia, he seemed to be sending signals of being a more traditional pontiff.
“In fairness, we have to look at what happened on the loggia yesterday. And what happened on the loggia yesterday, especially the way he was dressed, which does mean something, this is the visual, this is the optic that the whole world sees,” he said. “And that optic was traditional.”
“He did things, for example, he said the confiteor, the old traditional confiteor, I couldn’t believe it. I mean, the parts that had been left out of the Novus Ordo, he actually prayed,” he added. “[He prayed] the Hail Mary in Latin, lots of Latin, the blessing was beautiful. We have not seen a blessing like that since Pope Pius XII. … What does it mean? That’s what we’re trying to find out.”
To hear more from Michael Matt, tune in to this episode of The John-Henry Westen Show.
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LifeSiteNews readers are invited to continue praying for our new pope.
