So, what do you think about the new Pope?
That might be a common question these days, especially since the new Pope is an American.
Last Thursday, May 8, 2025, thousands of people gathered to celebrate the appointment of Pope Leo XIV, the first American ever to hold that title. Since then, Pope Leo has filled the news cycle with an array of religious festivities with countless individuals watching on TV and online. No doubt, this is the biggest religious news going currently.
Now think about the publicity of his appointment. Consider the myriads of people that gathered to celebrate the newly elected Pope. Most of them are looking to him for spiritual wisdom, divine leadership, and ethical blessing for their lives. Consider the pomp and circumstance surrounding his election, appointment, and now public appearance.
As American Christians, it may be tempting to get lost in the celebrations. After all, we’ve never had an American Pope. There’s a sense of nationalistic pride in the air of having the hometown boy hold the highest religious office in the land. And there’s nothing that gets Americans united like a little nationalistic pride. I can hear the conversations now around many dinner tables,
“So did you hear the new Pope is American?”
“Yes! But what does the Pope do anyways?”
“You know, I’m not sure … but either way, he’s one of us!”
Take that Europe — we’ve got the Pope.
Should We Celebrate?
But what should a Protestant think about this appointment? Is there any cause for celebration?
Here’s a brief thought that may sound severe but has been the Protestant demeanor for hundreds of years and holds true even now: The papacy is a wicked office that Satan has used throughout the years to deceive people into heretical teachings, distract the church from her true mission, and rob God of his deserved glory.
If you didn’t know, in recent years, many people have flooded back to the Catholic church often wanting her high church spirituality or nostalgic ethos. Turns out, the trend has been set: For the religious these days, high church is sort of hip church.
But nothing about Thursday’s appointment is cause for celebration. Simply put, the installment of a new pope is anti-Christ and anti-gospel.
Angel of Light
If you wonder how that can be true considering all the good the Catholic church stands for, just remember Paul’s words when he wrote that “Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14). And throughout the years, the disguised angel of light has been the darling of the Roman Catholic church.
But also throughout the years, God has preserved a remnant, his true church. And it is the true church that knows that the head of wisdom is found, not in the pope of Rome but in the person of Christ. Direct access to God is granted, not through the elevated seat of any man but through the the Savior who died on the cross. And the true church is sustained, not through the succession of an earthly throne tracing its roots to Peter, but through the resurrection of a king!
Jesus, the resurrected King, put his authoritative words in a book — and his good news message has then proclaimed throughout the centuries by preachers — and when people hear the message of the Bible and respond in repentance and faith, they are reconciled to God. Preachers come and preachers go, but the Bible remains and because it does no man on earth takes the place of the King of heaven.
The True King of the Church
You look at what happened on Thursday and tell me who is King of the Catholic church …
And then you go into a lowly Baptist church, you go into a faithful Presbyterian church, you go into a historic Protestant church where the gospel is cherished and the Bible is preached and you tell me who is King.
It won’t be a preacher, and it will not be a Pope — it will be Christ!
He will be proclaimed as King,
He will be exalted as Savior,
and He will be accessible as the great high priest for the common man.
Thursday was no cause for celebration. Rather, let it be a reminder to the church that the world still needs the gospel. Let it be a specific reminder to the American church, that there isn’t time for nationalistic pride in a puppet of Satan. People need Jesus, not the Pope: For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5).
— Donald Thomas (M.Div., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) serves as lead pastor of Abner Creek Baptist Church in Greer and is a trustee for The Baptist Courier.