By Michael Robinson, Executive Director
White smoke rose. The bells rang. The world met Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost. And while the media scrambled to Google his biography, many of us in the pro-life movement paused with curiosity: who is this man, and will he be a lion for life in a culture that casually discards it?
As Executive Director of SPUC, and as a Catholic, I won’t pretend to know how his papacy will unfold. But here’s what I do know: the world doesn’t need a papal administrator. It needs a shepherd. A man unafraid to say what must be said about abortion, euthanasia, and the throwaway culture we’re all drowning in.
No Time for Soft Voices
Cardinal Prevost didn’t mince words before becoming pope. In 2012, he publicly criticised the media for portraying abortion and euthanasia as moral options, calling them out for what they are: attacks on human dignity. He has spoken out against “ideologies that reduce the person to a disposable object.”
This is the same man who, as Bishop in Peru, stood with Venezuelan refugees, defended the right of children not to be indoctrinated by gender ideology, and said flatly:
“We must never tire of proclaiming the truth about the human person – loved by God, created with dignity, and never to be treated as disposable.”
In a world where too many leaders dance around life issues or are instruments of the Culture of Death, Pope Leo XIV has already shown a willingness to speak with clarity.
We’re Watching & Hoping
At SPUC, we are non-confessional. But we know that moral clarity transcends religion. It’s about truth. And the Pope – any Pope – has a unique global platform to remind the world that every human life matters, especially the smallest, weakest, and most inconvenient.
We’re not naive. There’s a long road ahead. And we’re not crowning Pope Leo XIV a pro-life champion just yet. Day One is for watching, not judging.
But if his past is anything to go by, there may be a lion under those white vestments, one willing to roar for the unborn, the elderly, the vulnerable, and the forgotten.
And Heaven knows, the world could use one!
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