Remembering
James Robison

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The Brew: New Pope, Leo XIV: American Who Opposes Border Control But Favors Gun Control

Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, in 2014 when he served in Chicago.

By John Zmirak Published on May 9, 2025

History has been made, no doubt about it. The Roman Catholic Church on Thursday chose its first American pope, Leo XIV — Cardinal Robert Prevost, 69, a Chicago native and friar of the Augustinian order, which once included Martin Luther. Prevost also holds dual citizenship in Peru.

What should we expect of the successor to Pope Francis, who was history’s first South American pope? Obviously, we must wait and see. But conservative commentators (Catholic and Catholic-friendly alike) are troubled by Prevost’s track record of public comments.

On the one hand, he seems to genuinely oppose abortion:

Leo in the past has expressed conventionally orthodox Christian opinions on the Sexual Revolution:

Leo has also repeated the apostolic Christian teaching that only men may be ordained as pastors. So expect feminists who wish to reinvent the Catholic priesthood to be disappointed in his selection.

So much for the good news. The bulk of public commentary that Leo has made in the past leans far to the left, alas, on issues where genuine Catholic teaching is either neutral or actually conservative, as John West, author of Stockholm Syndrome Christianity, noted yesterday:

Evangelical worship leader Sean Feucht helpfully compiled several of Leo’s most alarming social media posts and shares:

As the author of a book on the intimate links between religious liberty and gun rights, I’m alarmed to see that Leo retweeted a post from a pro-choice Democrat senator scorning “thoughts and prayers” after a mass shooting, and demanding new draconian restrictions on our Second Amendment rights:

In his last post before the Conclave, Leo attacked the Trump administration for deporting a gang-affiliated illegal immigrant:

Perhaps most important is this post, in which Leo endorsed a column attacking Vice President J.D. Vance for his (classically Christian) position that we owe love first to our families, neighbors, and fellow citizens over distant aliens and strangers:

Here’s a choice quote from the column, which the new pope saw fit to share:

Colonial ideology has conditioned us to think in binaries and hierarchies — who is in and who is out, who is first and who is last. We struggle to fathom a love that is not ranked, that does not sort people into categories of worthiness. But Jesus seemed to be inviting us into a different world altogether — one where love moves freely and without hierarchy, breaking down the borders we’ve been taught to build.

Given his endorsement of attacks on the Trump administration’s deportations of gang-linked illegal immigrants, don’t expect the Vatican under Leo to walk back the recent statement by its highest doctrinal authority that deporting immigrants, for any reason, is evil akin to slavery and sex trafficking.

Did globalist cardinals who want to dissolve national borders and cripple populist movements deliberately choose an American who agrees with them as a rebuke to Donald Trump and other nationalist leaders? We can’t know for sure, but doing so would make a certain kind of sense. Just as only Richard Nixon could go to China, only an American can really help counter the America First agenda. Stay tuned, and keep praying.

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Trump Backs Down Over U.S. Attorney Pick

Revolver News reports:

President Trump has withdrawn the nomination of DC prosecutor Ed Martin. Ed is an America First fighter with the grit and skills to take on the Swamp, and that’s exactly why the Uniparty was so scared of him.

Now we know why so many Republican senators were stalling. One of our own was secretly working with the Democrats to sink Ed Martin’s confirmation.

President Trump just revealed the reason he’s pulling Ed Martin’s nomination. Apparently … Senator Thom Tillis was secretly working with Democrats to block the confirmation.

Trump chose as an interim appointee TV personality and solid conservative Judge Jeanine Pirro:

Will Tillis’ defiance of Trump goad to the president to oppose Tillis’s reelection next year?

U.S. Senator Calls on America to Stop Sharing Intel with Germany Over Political Repression

We reported here this week that Germany has labeled its largest opposition party, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), an “extremist” organization, weaponizing post-war anti-Nazi laws to target the patriotic party that opposes mass Muslim immigration but strongly supports the State of Israel. Both Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President J.D. Vance condemned the German government’s decision to surveil, spy on, and essentially prepare to outlaw that party.

Now a GOP senator is proposing concrete action to counter Germany’s crackdown on political dissent. Reuters reports:

The Republican chairman of the U.S. Senate intelligence committee called on Wednesday for American spy agencies to “pause” intelligence sharing with Germany’s domestic intelligence agency that could be used to target the far right Alternative for Germany party (AfD).

“I understand that liberal elites on both sides of the Atlantic loathe the AfD, but AfD’s platform has resonated with many Germans,” Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas wrote in a letter to Tulsi Gabbard, President Donald Trump’s director of National Intelligence. …

Cotton’s letter follows a series of expressions of support for the AfD from members of Trump’s circle. In it he asked that, until Germany’s government “treats the AfD as a legitimate opposition party,” Gabbard pause sharing of intelligence that could be used to target the party and refuse requests for assistance from German intelligence that could be used to surveil the AfD.

Given the role that European (especially British) spy agencies played in the lawfare aimed at Donald Trump and his supporters, it’s good to see that American assets won’t be used to help Germany’s new woke Gestapo hunt down dissidents.

FBI Opens Probe on NY Attorney General Letitia James

The highly political New York Attorney General Letitia James, who waged relentless lawfare against critics of unbridled immigration, the National Rifle Association, and Donald Trump himself, now faces potential jail time for the very type of fraud of which she accused Trump in court. The New York Post reports:

The FBI and US Attorney’s Office in Albany have launched a criminal investigation into mortgage fraud claims against New York Attorney General Letitia James, a source familiar with the probe told The Post.

The investigation, first reported by the Albany Times Union, follows a request that the Justice Department investigate James, sent by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte to the Justice Department last month.

New York’s Northern District, where Pulte’s referral was steered, is led by US Attorney John Sarcone III, an ally of President Trump.

Note to self: Maybe it isn’t a good idea to politicize law enforcement, make up fake crimes, and bankrupt citizens with frivolous litigation when you’re in fact committing crimes yourself. The Book of Esther recounts that Haman was hanged on the gallows that he’d planned to use for the Jews.

Along The Stream…

How can we know when we are being led by God and walking in His will? Pastor Shane Idleman tries to answer that question in this thought-provoking video.

For years, Israel’s enemies have been planning another pan-jihadist coordinated attack to wipe it off the map. The Jewish state has had to endure several of these already in its short history. Later this morning, learn what a 21st-century version would look like — and why one appears to be imminent.

 

John Zmirak is a senior editor at The Stream and author or coauthor of 14 books, including The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Catholicism. His newest book is No Second Amendment, No First.