“I did not think this would happen in my lifetime,” Baptist scholar Elizabeth Newman said of the election of an American as pope.
Newman, a theologian and ethicist who serves as co-chair of the Baptist-Catholic dialogues convened by Baptist World Alliance and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said she was “very surprised that a pope from the United States was elected.”
Baptist theologian Elizabeth Newman greets Pope Francis at the Vatican.
She expected a new pope to be from Italy or the Global South. But Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, has spent much of his life and ministry in Peru and roots in both North and South America, she added.
“When Pope Leo became bishop, he took a wonderful phrase from Augustine as his motto: ‘In the one Christ we are one’ (In illo Uno unum). I think this shows his heart for unity in the church and beyond,” Newman said. “His work as a missionary signals his willingness to serve and share the gospel wherever Christ calls and to befriend those in different cultures.”
The scholar said it’s also significant Prevost chose to name himself after a late-19th and early-20th-century pope whose encyclical Rerum Novarum was critical of unchecked capitalism and advocated for fair wages and workers’ rights. “Pope Leo XIV, by taking the name ‘Leo,’ is communicating that the gospel pertains to a whole way of life: spiritual, communal and social.”
Although Baptists and Catholics hold many theological differences — including the Catholic Church’s belief in apostolic succession — several Baptist leaders congratulated the Catholic Church on Leo’s election.
Paul Baxley
“Today, I invite all Cooperative Baptists to join Christians all over the world in praying for Pope Leo XIV as he begins his leadership of the Roman Catholic Church,” said Paul Baxley, executive coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. “Let us pray that the Holy Spirit guides him, and the church he leads, to even greater faithfulness for the sake of Christ and the world.
“Let us join with him, our brothers and sisters in the Catholic Church, and with Christians from every denomination and every land in experiencing and extending the peace of the risen Christ, offering compassion to those who suffer, and advocating for a just and peaceful end to the conflicts that plague our world.”
Amanda Tyler
Amanda Tyler, executive director of Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, applauded Prevost’s election as pope and said it should serve as a reminder that faith transcends cultures, continents and politics.
“As political leaders in our country celebrate this moment as a national triumph, we must be clear: Christianity is a global religion, grounded in humility, compassion and universal dignity — beliefs that stand in direct contrast to nationalism, which seeks to elevate one nation or identity above others. Faith should never be used as a tool of nationalism,” she said.
Pope Leo also was commended by Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, president of Interfaith Alliance and a Baptist minister.
Paul Raushenbush
“Today is a deeply significant day for American Catholics, and also for all those who care about the critical role that faith leaders can play in providing moral leadership and guidance,” he said. “While there is still so much to learn about this pope, his positions, his record and his plans, we are encouraged by the early reports that he has a track record of dedicated ministry in the Global South, and that he has been committed to many of the reforms promoted by his predecessor, Pope Francis.
“At a time when the very concepts of justice, charity and mercy have been under attack by the most powerful figures in our own country and around the world, we deeply need major spiritual figures who are willing to stand up for the fundamental humanity of all people, and who are willing to speak truth to power against policies and ideologies that cause suffering, division and violence. We hope that Pope Leo XIV will seek to serve as such a figure, and that he will also prioritize collaboration, dialogue and mutual understanding with people of all faith traditions.”
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