'America First': Far-right MAGA Catholics declaring war against 'globalist' Pope Leo

When the Vatican announced that 69-year-old Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, would be replacing the late Pope Francis, many moderate and liberal Catholics in the United States applauded the choice as historic. Chicago native Prevost is now the first American pope in the long history of the Catholic Church.

But far-right MAGA Republicans responded to the announcement with anger and are disappointed that Pope Leo has similar views to Pope Francis and isn't a far-right social conservative.

In an article published on May 21, The Guardian's Julian Coman notes the ideological differences between far-right MAGA Catholics — including Vice President JD Vance and "War Room" host Steve Bannon — and the new pope.

READ MORE: MAGA Catholics 'not a fan' of Leo as new Pope calls 'for a united church'

MAGA conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer was quick to attack Pope Leo after the announcement, describing him as "anti-Trump, anti-MAGA, pro-open Borders, and a total Marxist like Pope Francis" on X, formerly Twitter. Loomer is Jewish, not Catholic, but according to Coman, MAGA Catholics share that view of him.

"The comic-book casting of the new pope as a globalist villain in the U.S. culture wars is traceable back to his predecessor's impact on liberal opinion a decade ago," Coman explains. "Pope Francis' sometimes-lonely championing of progressive causes, such as the rights of migrants, gave him a kind of liberal celebrity and led Time Magazine to name him 'Person of the Year' in 2013. Pope Leo, born in Chicago, has been pre-emptively caricatured by much of the MAGA right as a continuity pontiff who will, in effect, front up the religious wing of the Democratic Party."

Coman continues, "Leaving the simplistic conflation of religious perspective and political positioning aside, the truth is far more interesting than that. It may also be more challenging for Catholic MAGA luminaries such as the vice-president, JD Vance, the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and Donald Trump's sometime adviser Steve Bannon if they are serious about their faith."

The Guardian journalist describes Vance (who was raised Protestant but converted to Catholicism) and Bannon as "representatives of a traditionalist movement in the church" that "sought to undermine Francis' papacy at every turn and has become a kind of theological vanguard for the America First era."

READ MORE: 'Open up those archives': Abuse survivors demand accountability from Pope Leo

"Enter Pope Leo," Coman writes. "The most geographically diverse conclave in church history was surely aware that in choosing an American to succeed Francis, it was setting up a potential showdown between the Vatican and Trumpian nationalism."

Nonetheless, some right-wing Catholics are defending Pope Leo, including Philadelphia-based immigration attorney and political columnist Christine Flowers.

In a May 9 column for Broad & Liberty, Flowers stressed that while she was hoping for a more "conservative" pope and has disagreements with Pope Leo, she admires him as a person. Flowers wrote, "This Pope is one for the 21st Century, and if he is the last one that I encounter before I am consecrated with last rites, I will die a happy woman."

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Read Julian Coman's full article for The Guardian at this link.