On this episode of Faith and Reason, John-Henry Westen, Father Charles Murr, and Frank Wright discuss the first weeks of Leo XIV's pontificate and other news in the Church.
(LifeSiteNews) — On this episode of Faith and Reason, John-Henry Westen, Father Charles Murr, and Frank Wright discuss the first weeks of Leo XIV's pontificate, the pontiff's decision to replace Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia as head of the John Paul II Institute, a Kentucky archbishop's new guidelines discouraging the faithful from kneeling to receive Holy Communion, another bishop in Ohio encouraging silence and reverence for Mass, and more.
The panel opened the episode by discussing their first impressions of Pope Leo XIV. Murr said he isn't sure what to think of the pontiff yet, but he emphasized that he seems to have many qualifications for the job.
"(Pope Leo XIV's) certainly the man for the job. He has the intelligence, he has the diplomacy. ... He's a very intelligent man, he [knows] the languages, [he has] diplomatic skills. He was a bishop, a pastor, everything that you would want," the priest said.
But Murr stressed that despite this impressive resume, he's concerned that we really don't know whether the new pontiff will continue with or abandon the late Pope Francis' legacy, adding that the traditional vestments Pope Leo XIV has worn aren't enough to convince him the storm has passed.
"I don't know what line he's going to take, that's the problem. And it's hard to read," he said. "I'm not taken with the vestments and the colors and all that. ... That's good, (but) that (doesn't indicate) where we're going."
READ: How Bishop Strickland cured my dejection over Pope Leo XIV's election
The priest noted that his choosing the more traditional papal name "Leo XIV" instead of a post-conciliar name like Francis or Benedict was encouraging.
Wright underscored that we should all feel relieved that Cardinal Pietro Parolin, whom many speculated would become the next pope before the conclave, was not elected.
"It certainly looked like it was going to be (Parolin). Rumor had it that the first instances of black smoke were because he was attempting to get elected. So, a close shave," he said.
The journalist said he was also encouraged by the pontiff selecting "Leo XIV" as his papal name and highlighted the need for the Vatican to return to teaching in line with the Church's traditional magisterium.
READ: What are Pope Leo XIV's priorities and why did he choose that name?
"As for the remarkable name of the new pope, it is truly evocative of a period of excellence in the Church's teaching, especially its social teaching," Wright said. "And a strong reminder ... that the traditional magisterium of the Catholic Church does in fact have all the answers to life if only the Vatican would teach it."
"(I'm) hopeful that Vatican does in fact teach it, rather than the, shall we say, the mural-obsessed modernism that we've seen in recent years," he added.
The panel also discussed Pope Leo XIV's decision to remove the controversial Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia as head of the Pontifical Theological Institute (“John Paul II”) for the Sciences of Marriage and the Family. Westen noted Paglia's promotion of heterodoxy at the helm of the John Paul II Institute.
READ: Pope Leo XIV removes controversial Archbishop Paglia as head of John Paul II Institute
"When he came into the Institute, he fired the good (professors) and hired in bad ones. He brought in a new president of the John Paul II Institute, if you can imagine, who was advocating for embracing homosexuality ... blessings for homosexual couples, and Communion, by the way, for them as well," the host said.
Westen also recalled how, while serving as the archbishop of Terni, Italy, Paglia commissioned a homosexual artist to paint a sacrilegious, homoerotic mural featuring many naked figures, including Our Lord and Paglia himself, in the diocese's cathedral.
"Those naked people are engaged in all sorts of weird poses. They're meant to be homosexuals and transsexuals and so on," he said. Inside the painting, you'll notice right there, is Archbishop Paglia himself, who had himself painted into the photo, and he is being embraced by a nude man."
"That is the fellow that has just been removed," he added. "(His appointment) was a massive, massive scandal amongst a scandal-ridden papacy."
For more discussion on the opening weeks of Pope Leo's papacy, his first major appointment, and much more, tune in to this episode of Faith and Reason.
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Learn MorePope Leo removes controversial Archbishop Paglia as head of John Paul II Institute
How Bishop Strickland cured my dejection over Pope Leo XIV's election
Pope Leo XIV's name offers hope for the renewal of Catholic Social Doctrine
Kentucky archbishop issues new guidelines discouraging faithful from kneeling for Holy Communion
Ohio bishop: In an age of 'uninspiring' liturgies, silence and reverence are needed at Mass
