Pope Leo Sets a New Example for American Leadership

The College of Cardinals of the Catholic Church have done a favor not just to America, but to the world. Whatever one’s opinion may be regarding the dogma and tradition of the Catholic Church, it is safe to assume that its Cardinals are men of good conscience. Whatever one’s opinion may be regarding the present policies of the current American President, it is safe to assume that the majority of Americans and the vast majority of the world are offended by his boorish behavior.

Pope Leo IV gives America and the world a vision of a level-headed and admirable leadership style. Additionally, it gives the world a more nuanced image of what it means to be an American. Pope Leo has a golden opportunity to be a role model for the type of person we want our present and future leaders to become. He can be the leader we can either agree with or disagree with, yet admire as a person.

What are the odds of utterances like the following being spoken by Pope Leo IV of his detractors: “very stupid,” “sleepy,” “crooked,” “lunatic,” “low IQ,” “crazy”? What are the odds, for example, of him referring to “low energy Lutherans”?

Pope Leo IV has spent around twenty years in what by some could be labeled “a shit hole country.” That label has been repeated by virtually every media source on earth, so please forgive the scatological reference.

Conveying the message of peace, love, forgiveness, and redemption to “rapists, killers and some very fine people” probably didn’t improve the pontiff’s golf game or his financial portfolio. That said, his presence on the world stage should be a welcome boost to the world’s image of America.