Historian Paul Kengor joined Jeanne Ives and Jim Iuorio on Chicago’s Morning Answer to discuss his new book American Pontiff: Pope Leo the 14th and His Plan to Heal the Church.
Kengor clarified that Pope Leo (Chicago native Robert Francis Prevost) holds a balanced immigration view: every country has the right to control its borders, while urging humane treatment of long-term residents. He noted Trump’s Truth Social criticism was overblown, often fueled more by liberal U.S. cardinals like Cupich and McElroy than the Pope himself.
The Pope, a longtime Republican voter, is conservative on moral issues like marriage and life—more so than Trump on some fronts. Kengor highlighted Leo’s remarkably diverse heritage and deep Chicago Catholic roots as fitting for a “universal” pontiff. A call for nuance amid political friction.