Pope Leo XIV's name gives clue to how he'll handle social, political divides, bishop says

American author, talker and theologian Bishop Robert Barron was astatine the Vatican this week to witnesser the predetermination of a caller pope, and helium shared his thoughts with Fox News Digital astir Cardinal Robert Prevost's "intriguing" caller papal name.

Papal names are often precise symbolic with respect to however a Pope volition service arsenic the person of the Catholic Church. Typically, Pope's prime the names of predecessors they respect oregon privation to emulate. Prevost yet went with Leo XIV successful grant of Pope Leo XIII, who served from 1878 to 1903.

"He could person been Francis II, and we would person said, ‘Oh, determination helium is intelligibly successful the enactment of Francis.’ He could person been John Paul III, past we would person thought, ‘Oh, he’s precise overmuch successful that much blimpish line.' He could person been John XXIV, and we accidental ‘Oh, present he’s a existent revolutionary liberal, et cetera,'" Barron said. "The information that helium went back, good implicit 100 years, to this precise absorbing and pivotal fig … our caller pope was saying, I too, privation a captious engagement with the modern world, not simply a ‘no,’ but besides not simply a ‘yes,’ not simply an acquiescence to it."

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From near to right: Pope John XXIII, Pope John Paul II, Pope Francis I, Pope Leo XIV (Getty Images/Fox News)

Barron pointed retired that Leo XIII was a pivotal fig owed to the timing of his reign, which came during a infinitesimal erstwhile the Church was contending with the tremendous governmental and philosophical upheavals of the 18th and 19th centuries, specified arsenic the French and American Revolutions, and the instauration of philosophies specified arsenic Marxism. 

"The church's archetypal absorption [to these changes] was precise negative. It was a large ‘no’ to modernity. By the extremity of the 19th century, I think, with a definite region and a definite captious intelligence, the religion was consenting to participate into a more, telephone it, originative engagement with modernity. And I deliberation Pope Leo the 13th represents precisely that," Barron said. 

The bishop pointed to the Rerum Novarum to further his point, an encyclical missive issued by Pope Leo XII successful 1891.

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"In that document, [Leo XII] is simply a fierce hostile of Marxism, a fierce hostile of socialism and communism, a large defender of backstage spot and of the marketplace economy," Barron said. "So you say, 'Okay, there's that large ‘no’ to the left-wing economical revolutions.' At the aforesaid time, successful that aforesaid letter, [Leo XII] comes retired powerfully successful favour of the close to form unions. He comes retired precise powerfully successful favour of what we telephone the cosmopolitan destination of goods."

Newly elected Pope Leo XIV (Right) took his papal sanction from the late-19th period Pope Leo XIII (Left). (Getty Images/Fox News)

"In fact, Pope Leo says successful that letter, erstwhile the requirements of necessity and propriety person been met successful your life, the remainder of what you ain belongs to the poor," Barron continued. "That's not a conscionable a standard, boring, mainstream constituent of view. That's a beauteous revolutionary statement. But announcement the beauteous equilibrium successful that missive betwixt ‘yes’ to backstage property, the large ‘no’ to socialism and Marxism, but the large ‘yes’ to the cosmopolitan destination of goods. Leo sets the code thereby for the remainder of Catholic societal teaching that followed him."

In conclusion, Barron said helium thinks Prevost's enactment of Leo XIV makes the caller pope "a precise absorbing player" successful presumption of the statement betwixt the Right and the Left successful politics. 

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"[Leo XVI] doesn't acceptable – and I've said this 1,000 times – helium and different large representatives of Catholic societal teaching don't acceptable into our categories of near and right," Barron said. "They don't acceptable into Democrat-Republican, they're successful a abstraction beyond those distinctions. So, I deliberation that's what's possibly astir absorbing astir him."