Pope Leo XIV
papacy 2025–

Pope Leo XIV (the first American pope, elected May 2025) has been explicit: pro-life and traditional on marriage, but also pro-migrant, anti-war, pro-AI-regulation, pro-environment, anti-Wall-Street-excess, and openly critical of MAGA on immigration ('JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others'). Cornyn lines up better with Leo than Paxton does on civility, on institutional Republican non-alignment with the most aggressive populist-nationalist mode, and on the Russia-China hawkishness that maps to Leo's calls for democratic-institution defense. But Cornyn opposes the legal-pathway immigration reform Leo has championed, supports an enforcement-heavy posture, and has voted against the kind of expanded social insurance Leo's anti-Wall-Street framework calls for. Talarico lines up on migrants, peacemaking, AI regulation, environment, Wall Street critique, and care for the sick. He misses on abortion and traditional marriage, which Pope Leo treats as non-negotiable.