# The 2025 Papal Conclave **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 5, 2025, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913 "2025-05-05T17:40:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/181 "2025-05-08T18:43:32Z")
> [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > Boris Johnson was a natural born US citizen, born in New York City to British parents. According to Wikipedia, he renounced it in 2016. Wasn’t Churchill’s mom American? ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/182 "2025-05-08T18:44:09Z")
yes, she was. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/183 "2025-05-08T18:46:23Z")
The Elder Ottlet just showed me a Xit from Laura Loomer: > WOKE MARXIST POPE So my impression of him just went up a notch. Hopefully his attitude toward LGBTQ+ issues has moderated since 2012. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/184 "2025-05-08T18:53:26Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > How many Americans have ever been heads of state of any other countries? If any, did they renounce their citizenships? William Walker in the 1850’s. He took over Nicaragua and became its president in an effort to build an empire for slavery in Central America. > **[William Walker (filibuster)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Walker_(filibuster))** > > William Walker (May 8, 1824 – September 12, 1860) was an American physician, lawyer, journalist, and mercenary. In the era of the expansion of the United States, driven by the doctrine of "manifest destiny", Walker organized unauthorized military expeditions into Mexico and Central America with the intention of establishing colonies. Such an enterprise was known at the time as "filibustering". > After settling in California, motivated by an earlier filibustering project of Gaston de Raousset-Bou... He kept trying to run back to the U.S., so I’m sure there was no renunciation of citizenship. If anything, he considered himself part of the project of Manifest Destiny. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/185 "2025-05-08T19:00:43Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > wonder why he went with leo It’s his sign. I personally would have prefered a saggitarius. > [@Babale](#): > > Will the new pope have to renounce US citizenship? Of course, otherwise the Vatican Treasure(s) would be subject to taxation by the IRS. > [@Dinsdale](#): > > Let’s look at that 2 ways: > -What potion of the media coverage/public interest has been focussed on - or even mentioning - The Vatican City’s diplomatic policy or other “state” actions? > -How much media coverage is given to the deaths of other states’ heads? If people are surprised by the media attention given to the Pope’s succession just wait until the Dalai Lama’s succession comes up. And the method for determining his successor is even more convoluted and obscure than the conclave. > [@Dinsdale](#): > > Just curious - and definitely not trying to threadshit - but are most of the folk in this thread RC? I am most definitely not Remotely Controled or Radio Controlled! I write nonsense out of my own free will. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/186 "2025-05-08T19:00:46Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Public HS? What class? Public and it don’t matter because some events transcend what subject you’re in. I told my students hat they may be witnesses to history and they were. We as teachers need to take advantage whenever we can to widen a child’s experience. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/187 "2025-05-08T19:02:05Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > yes, she was. In fact. when he addressed Congress, he joked that if his father were American and his mother British, instead of the other way around, I might have gotten here on my own. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/188 "2025-05-08T19:03:43Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > If people are surprised by the media attention given to the Pope’s succession just wait until the Dalai Lama’s succession comes up. And the method for determining his successor is even more convoluted and obscure than the conclave. And considering the current situation with China, that will be a much more dramatic succession, too. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/189 "2025-05-08T19:04:26Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > And the method for determining his successor is even more convoluted and obscure than the conclave. Especially how the Chinese government arrested the 4 year old Panchen Lama for treason and presented another child as the “real” Panchen Lama. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/190 "2025-05-08T19:05:58Z")
I see I expressed myself with unusual (for me) clarity. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/191 "2025-05-08T19:13:47Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Public and it don’t matter because some events transcend what subject you’re in. I told my students hat they may be witnesses to history and they were. We as teachers need to take advantage whenever we can to widen a child’s experience. Not really seeing what the “historic” value is here. Some smoke came out of a chimney and someone almost nobody has ever heard of was announced as Pope. At some point in the future, they’ll do it all over again. I would be unimpressed if a teacher decided watching that was a good use of my kid’s class time, particularly if it wasn’t a social studies class. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/192 "2025-05-08T19:14:16Z")
Dear Lord, I’m as old as the Pope > **[Robert Francis Prevost Makes History As First U.S. Pope Chosen To Lead...](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/new-pope-elected-conclave_n_681a84dde4b0c2b15d969f56)** > > Plumes of white smoke streaming from a Sistine Chapel chimney Thursday signaled that a new leader of the Roman Catholic Church had been selected. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/193 "2025-05-08T19:38:50Z")
The new Pope seems less liberal than the previous one- > **[Pope Leo XIV](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_XIV)** > > Pope Leo XIV (born Robert Francis Prevost, September 14, 1955) is an American Catholic prelate who has been head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 8 May 2025. He served as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America since 2023. He previously served as Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru from 2015 to 2023, and was prior general of the Order of Saint Augustine from 2001 to 2013. In 2015 Cardinal Prevost became a natu... _Prevost has opposed the [ordination of women](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordination_of_women) to the [diaconate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deacon),[[35]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_XIV#cite_note-38) stating not only that it “doesn’t necessarily solve a problem” but that “it might make a new problem”.[[36]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_XIV#cite_note-39)_ _As a bishop[_[when?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Dates_and_numbers#Chronological_items)_] Prevost opposed the inclusion of curriculum regarding “teachings on gender in schools” in [Peru](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peru), stating that the “promotion of gender ideology is confusing, because it seeks to create genders that don’t exist”.[[37]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_XIV#cite_note-Rich2025-40)_ _An acquaintance of Pope Leo XIV, Jesus Leon Angeles, noted that he cares for Venezuelan refugees in Peru.[[38]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_XIV#cite_note-McElwee2025-41)_ _In 2012, Prevost lamented that popular culture fostered “sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the Gospel”, citing the “[homosexual lifestyle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexual_lifestyle)” and “alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children”.[[37]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_XIV#cite_note-Rich2025-40) After Pope Francis’s 2023 declaration [Fiducia supplicans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiducia_supplicans) allowed Catholic priests to [bless](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blessing_in_the_Catholic_Church) couples who are not [married according to church teaching](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_in_the_Catholic_Church) (including [same-sex couples](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_relationship)), he criticized the practicality of the declaration in parts of Africa where homosexuality is still illegal, saying “our cultural situation is such that the application of this document is just not going to work”.[[39]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_XIV#cite_note-42)_ _Prevost previously criticized President [Donald Trump](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump) and Vice President [JD Vance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JD_Vance) through his posts on [Twitter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter). He also expressed sympathy for [George Floyd](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Floyd) after [his murder in 2020](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_George_Floyd).[[40]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_XIV#cite_note-43)_ ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/194 "2025-05-08T19:49:04Z")
Everyone knows that deep dish communion wafers are for out-of-towners. Chicagoans eat tavern style wafers. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/195 "2025-05-08T19:57:39Z")
> **[Pope Leo XIV: ‘There Couldn’t Be A Better Time To Get The Fuck Out Of America...](https://theonion.com/pope-leo-xiv-there-couldnt-be-a-better-time-to-get-the-fuck-out-of-america-forever/)** > > Est. reading time: 1 minute ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/196 "2025-05-08T20:00:30Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Public and it don’t matter because some events transcend what subject you’re in. I feel like it kinda does matter? Sure, if you’re teaching history, or world politics, then this is relevant to what your kids are studying, but I’d be pretty pissed if my kid’s teacher was taking time out of algebra class to watch a religious ceremony. > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > I told my students hat they may be witnesses to history and they were. Were they, though? I don’t mean this as a threadshit - certainly, a new Pope is a big deal to Catholics, and non-Catholics can, of course, be interested in the process as well, but is anything really going to change under a new Pope? If Frances had had five more years of good health, what really changes in the world, versus what happens under the new guy? > [@DrDeth](#): > > The new Pope seems less liberal than the previous one In what way? The last pope was also against women priests, “gender identity,” and homosexuality. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/197 "2025-05-08T20:02:09Z")
Ok, this garnered an honest-to-goodness belly laugh out of me. Thanks for lifting the mood! ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/198 "2025-05-08T20:05:05Z")
Eh, when I was a kid we spent more time in one class watching the OJ trial than we did on middle school science. That seems much more pointless than maybe an hour to see the introduction of a new pope. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/199 "2025-05-08T20:14:58Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > It’s his sign. Nonsense, it’s an obvious homage to Messi. (Francis/Bergoglio was from an older generation, had he been 20 years younger we would’ve have Pope Diego I) ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/200 "2025-05-08T20:25:51Z")
I stand corrected. BTW: His mother was Spanish, that is why he speaks Spanish with a rather European accent, not a Peruvian one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913.md?page=11)