Pope Leo XIV’s conservative brother said in an interview this week that while the new pontiff is “much more liberal than I am,” he’s not “woke.”
Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected as the first American pope last week, taking the name of Pope Leo XIV. He has been described as a compromise candidate between the more traditional and progressive factions of the Roman Catholic Church.
One of his two brothers, Louis Prevost, an outspoken social conservative, has pushed back against accusations that Pope Leo will serve as a so-called “woke” successor to the late Pope Francis. On Monday, “Uncensored” host Piers Morgan pressed him multiple times on whether he believes his brother will be a “very liberal pope.”
“No, I do not,” Prevost said, arguing that while he will not roll back changes that the late Pope Francis made, he will certainly not be a far-left leader.
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“He wasn’t, like, super political,” Prevost said of knowing him as they grew up together. “He’s not left, he’s not right, he looks at the whole scene, takes information from both sides, and somehow finds a way to go down the middle and not ruffle too many feathers.”
He acknowledged that Pope Leo, like other members of the church, has criticized President Donald Trump’s methods amid the migrant crisis, but at the same time, he “understands that there’s laws involved.” He added, “He may take offense with the method in which they’re moving people out and comment on that,” but nonetheless, “you still have to follow the rules of the law.”
“If and when he meets with President Trump, I don’t doubt there will be some bumps in the discussion and some heated conversation,” he said, but “I don’t think either of them will blow up like we saw with Trump and Zelenskyy in the White House.”
Morgan replied, “The suggestion is your brother may be a touch on the ‘woke’ side. I know you’re pretty ‘anti-woke’ yourself. Can you confirm or deny that your brother is ‘woke’?”
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“I don’t even know that I’d go that far to say he’s ‘woke,’” Prevost answered. “He’s probably much more liberal than I am, but that’s us.” He noted the pope’s work with the poor in Peru as important to him.
When asked about the pope’s beliefs about hot-button issues in the Church such as people petitioning for female priests and endorsement of gay marriage, Prevost said that was not going to happen.
“No, I don’t see him allowing priests to marry, or women to be priests. I don’t see him-he’s not that liberal that I’ve seen, no,” he said, later suggesting, “I don’t think we’ll see him endorse gay marriage.”
“I think because of his studies in canon law and his background, he’s still-at his roots he’s Catholic, and he follows the rules of the Church, and he may be able to change some rules or modify some rules as Pope, I don’t see him going there,” Prevost said. “I just in all the years we’ve grown up together, he may be liberal on some things, but there’s still that basic, ‘you have to maintain, you know, the rules of the Church.”
“It sounds like he might actually be a little bit more conservative than Donald Trump when they finally get together,” Morgan replied.
“Well, I don’t know that I’d go that far,” Prevost said. “He understands the laws are there for a reason, and they’re meant to be followed.”
