Thom Nickels: Can Pope Leo XIV undo the confusion of the Francis era?

When Robert Prevost became Pope Leo XIV, I had high hopes for his pontificate. He was American, a Villanova (known as a party vibe school) graduate, and as a priest he worked with the poor in Peru. I was hoping as pope he would clear up a lot of the ambiguous teachings of his predecessor, Pope Francis, who said a lot of weird things like “God wills a diversity of religions,” and, “All religions are a path to God.” 

If all religions are a path to God, then there’s no reason to become Catholic. Why bother even to be Christian? Francis’s statement seemed to contradict Christ’s contention that there’s no way to the Father except through Him. Christ left no wiggle room here, but Francis left quite a lot. Since both statements cannot be true, the question becomes: should believers follow Francis or Christ? 

Pope Francis confused many people with the things he said. (Os Justi Press just published an 845-page critique of Francis’ papacy entitled, “The Disastrous Pontificate,” by Dominic J. Grigio.) 

I attend an Orthodox Church — its liturgy is traditional and beautiful with no stylized innovations like secular-sounding hymns and altar girls — but because I grew up Catholic, I have a deep interest in Catholicism. Both Churches hail from apostolic times: the Orthodox Church was the Catholic Church of the East, the (Roman) Catholic Church the Church of the West. In 1054, there was a mutual divorce: both Churches excommunicated one another although those excommunications were lifted in 1965 by Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople. 

Since Leo became pope, I have watched his governing style with some trepidation and disappointment. He has stated that sacramental marriage is only between a man and woman, yet he appoints wildly liberal pro-LGBT bishops to positions of great power. The men he promotes are not talking about welcoming LGBT people into the Church (everyone has always been welcome), but in many cases their agenda is to change the catechism to “welcome” and bless sex in whatever form outside of marriage.  

Pope Francis championed what he called the Synodal Church, which is a new, updated form of Catholicism, a so-called “listening” Church where the laity is consulted when it comes to legitimate Catholic practices and teaching. An example of this is the German Catholic Church, the inventors of the Synodal Way, where bishops have approved sacramental gay marriage, female deacons, female priests, and divorce and remarriage. The German Church stands ready to implement all these changes with or without the approval of Pope Leo.

Will Pope Leo act? 

Leo’s record in this area has been very weak. He often approves the censure of traditional and conservative priests and bishops while promoting progressive renegade clergy who advocate things the Church has always condemned.   

Why?

I know Pope Leo has many American fans. People like his smile. He takes babies in his arms and kisses them. He likes pizza. He wears American baseball caps. He tries to be cool and easy. Anti-Trumpers like the way he defends illegal migrants and digs at the president’s immigration policies. Many of Leo’s statements have a superficial, banal appeal (except when he says the far right is the greatest threat to humanity.) Take away his white papal cassock, and he could easily be a liberal Democrat from California. It’s very clear that one of his main goals is to be loved and admired by the world.  

Sadly, Leo has only offered lip service to Catholic traditionalists. In fact, he’s done nothing so far to safeguard the status of the Fraternity of Saint Pius X, a Catholic group that does not preach heresy like those rascally Germans bishops.  

Recently, the New York Times published a cover story on the attraction of young people to Orthodox Christianity. The article detailed the preponderance of young men — usually Protestants but many unaffiliated agnostic types — joining Orthodox parishes because they likened the Church to a kind of “muscular Christianity” with values that oppose those celebrated in secular culture. The Times stressed the attraction of young men — not women — to both Orthodoxy and Catholicism. 

Months ago, I asked an Orthodox Christian nun and Mother Superior about this phenomenon. I wanted to know why young women were being left out of the equation, and she told me she felt it was because of what the culture has done to young women. The culture, as in the false promises of feminism, have left many women in a sorry state.

“Years ago it was different,” this nun told me. “Women’s monasteries were overflowing with recruits; today, men’s monasteries are overflowing with monks while the women’s side is practically empty.” 

While feminism has moved young women away from Christianity, it has also incorporated itself into many churches. 

Lucas Miles, author of the book, “The Christian Left: How Liberal Thought Has Hijacked the Church,” writes how critical race theory and liberation theology are being pushed in many Christian denominations. 

“We’re seeing things like critical race theory and liberation theology very strongly pushed, and it’s becoming more and more concerning. The Gospel is not something that’s legalistic, and it’s important that we not fall into fundamentalism, either. But if we begin to downgrade Scripture to something other than the Word of God, Christianity begins to erode,” he writes. 

The Christian Left, Miles writes, “is good at hijacking terminology in order to ooze their way into being recognized” as Christian. One way they do this is by increasingly pushing for “a ‘Christian Universalism’ that says all paths lead to Christ.”

Which brings us right back to Pope Francis and Pope Leo and the new Synodal Catholic Church that champions “a diversity of religions,” where Catholicism is just another denomination among many, with nothing special to offer. 

Thom Nickels is Broad + Liberty’s Editor at Large for Arts and Culture and the 2005 recipient of the AIA Lewis Mumford Award for Architectural Journalism. He writes for City Journal, New York, and Frontpage Magazine. Thom Nickels is the author of fifteen books, including “Literary Philadelphia” and ”From Mother Divine to the Corner Swami: Religious Cults in Philadelphia.” His latest work, “Ileana of Romania: Princess, Exile and Mother Superior,” will be published in May 2026.