Pope Leo XIV is "going to be a real player in the geopolitical conversations that are occurring," Fr. Patrick Flanagan, chair of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Saint John's University, said.
"I think the excitement of having an American is the fact that he was one of us," Flanagan told Newsmax TV’s "Saturday Agenda."
"So, we see all these reports going on over and over again about his brother John and Luis constantly being interviewed by reporters and recognizing that he's a very normal guy," he added. "But at the same time, he also observed the fact that as much as he's an American, he's spent a good bit of his time in Peru and another part of that time in Rome.
"So, he really is a global citizen. And he's going to be a real player in the geopolitical conversations that are occurring," he added.
Robert Prevost, the Chicago-born missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and took over the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops, was elected the first Pope from the United States in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church.
Prevost "knows the issues that are part and parcel of our own political reality as well as our moral concerns," Flanagan told Newsmax.
"And he'll be able to speak well to them and speak comprehensive comprehensively to them. He'll also be a great help to Rome itself and the Vatican, who experiences some great challenges, both personnel wise as well as financial problems in connecting Americans, as he did in Peru, to some of the causes of the church."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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