(LifeSiteNews) — Joining me on this episode of The John Henry Westen Show is Anthony Abbate, Catholic podcaster and co-founder of the YouTube channel Avoiding Babylon. We discussed the election of Pope Leo XIV, the need for the faithful to give the new pontiff a chance, the praise he is receiving from both conservative and heterodox Catholics, the trauma faithful Catholics endured under Francis’ pontificate, and more.
I began the episode by asking Abbate for his initial reaction to the election of Cardinal Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XIV. He noted how, at first, he thought the Church was doomed after the conclave. However, he has since realized the importance of giving the new pontiff a chance and is encouraged by some of the traditional gestures in the first weeks of Leo XIV’s pontificate.
“I think it was important for us to make sure that the new pope didn’t come into a climate of hostility, especially being an American pope,” Abbate said. “I think he’s given little gestures to signal towards us that, ‘Look, the war is over.’ And it’s been very nice to once again feel like our father doesn’t hate us, because the last 12 years were very traumatic for all of us.”
READ: How Bishop Strickland cured my dejection over Pope Leo XIV’s election
Abbate recalled some of the specific traumas conservative Catholics have had to endure under Francis’ papacy and how it seems we now have a Holy Father who doesn’t hate the faithful who adhere to traditional Church teaching.
“It’s a difficult thing to discuss, because people still think it’s odd for us to criticize the pope, but it was a very hard time to live through for 12 years of the constant comments of ‘Backwardness, rigid, breed like rabbits.’ I mean, it was just a nonstop barrage for us,” he said. “And it wasn’t just traditionalists who lost their Latin Mass. … All conservative Catholics felt this. And any of the good priests or bishops [who] spoke out, they were punished.”
“The few gestures [Pope Leo XIV’s] given have felt a lot like, I would imagine, [how] a child who has a very overbearing parent feels a sense of relief after that period of time is over,” he added. “And it’s been just interesting to just be Catholic again and not have this hostility towards the hierarchy again.”
I agreed, given that I’ve likened the last 12 years under Francis to having a psychologically abusive father who causes his children to cringe whenever he speaks.
Later in the episode, I asked Abbate about this strange phenomenon of both conservative Catholic prelates like Cardinal Gerhard Müller and heterodox clergy like Father James Martin praising Pope Leo XIV.
EXCLUSIVE: Cardinal Müller says Pope Leo XIV’s election was the work of the Holy Spirit
“There’s an interesting thing happening right now … where the pope will give an address, and he will say some good things about Francis, he will say some good things about synodality. And then maybe a little bit later on he’ll speak against ruling as an authoritarian or a dictator,” Abbate said. “And you watch the people who loved Francis will highlight the synodality stuff, and then those of us who are more on our side of the spectrum will highlight the comment about the authoritarianism.”
“These two sides are both claiming Pope Leo right now, and there is this relative peace in the Church right now, but in some way, I don’t think that will last,” he added.
Abbate stressed that ultimately, despite some of the pontiff’s mixed signals, the faithful need to avoid having an attitude of suspicion towards Pope Leo XIV and instead view his pontificate with cautious optimism.
To hear more from Anthony Abbate, tune in to this episode of The John-Henry Westen Show.
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