In a surprising twist in the Catholic media landscape, the National Catholic Reporter — long regarded as a flagship of progressive Catholic commentary — has published a pointed critique of how some on the left are “politicizing” Pope Leo XIV.
The piece, titled “Letters (not) from Leo: Progressive efforts to claim Pope Leo misunderstand his mission,” appears in the paper’s ongoing digital-culture series “Digital Dunces” by the outlet’s digital editor John Grosso.
In it, Grosso accuses progressive Catholics and online activists of reshaping Leo’s message to fit a partisan narrative, warning that the phenomenon mirrors the same online distortions often attributed to conservative figures.
The column zeroes in on Christopher Hale, a former Democratic congressional candidate and self-proclaimed Catholic consultant who runs a Substack newsletter titled “Letters from Leo — the American Pope and U.S. Politics.” Hale’s project describes itself as a chronicle of Pope Leo’s intersection with faith, politics, and culture in the Trump era.
According to Grosso, Hale “frames everything as binary: Leo vs. Trump and the Republican Party. Good vs. evil. It’s a highly effective way to gain social media engagement, but it is a disingenuous way to preach the Gospel.”
As an example, Grosso cited a Hale tweet during the June 14 “No Kings Day” rallies opposing former President Donald Trump’s “anti-democratic agenda.” Hale’s post featured an image of Pope Leo with the caption: “‘Jesus Christ is our only king.’ — Pope Leo.”
“There’s no evidence that Leo said this at all and certainly not in this context,” Grosso noted, adding that the tweet drew nearly half a million views and further cemented the false impression that the Pope had publicly condemned Trump.
Grosso extended the critique to progressive outlets such as Occupy Democrats, which has posted viral videos of Pope Leo with titles like “Pope Leo DROPS TUESDAY BOMB on Trump and Republicans.” These clips, he wrote, use “combative and partisan language” to attract clicks while distorting Leo’s deliberately nonpartisan tone.
Grosso, who extensively quotes Hale’s attempt at defending his confrontational approach, agreed that Leo’s teachings often challenge modern political ideologies but rejected Hale’s framing as “wish-casting.”
“Those who attempt to politicize the pope are engaging in partisan wish-casting,” he warned, “and attempting to mold Pope Leo in their image just as conservatives have done to previous popes.
Hale says he is “not trying to distort, but to deliver,” Grosso noted while ending with a reminder: “Under Leo’s leadership, the church has stood up for migrants, advocated for peace, and condemned political violence. But that’s not the church engaging in partisan politics. That’s just the Gospel.”
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