The Pope, bless him, Lord he will need it more than me

May 14, 2025 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

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Hard truths…

By GHK Lall

Kaieteur News- An American Pope?  Somebody is kidding me, right?  The world already has D.J. Trump and J.D Vance (sounds like a rap band), and now the former Robert Prevost reincarnated as Pope Leo XIV.  That’s one American too many, without even counting me.  The first Leo from 1500 years ago turned out to be a good one: Leo the Great.

There is hope.  But I am still grappling with this development from the city where Al Capone made his rounds, Chicago. There was another fine American who made the Democratic Party his own fiefdom in the Windy City, Mayor Richard J. Daley.  What rackets he ran for John F. Kennedy and his dad!  The Holy See in Rome could stay the course, continue the luminous works of the departed Francis (the Great) through the auspices of the man from Chicago, the new Pontifex Maximus Leo XIV. These Roman numerals are going to take some remembering.

My hope was that one of the cardinals from Ghana or Manila would occupy the chair of St Peter in the Vatican.  One had age against him, the latter had to contend with some history and other backstories, including the modern day rainbow, its negatives.  The office of pontiff is a tall order, one that calls for the ruddy vigor of a fisherman.  Francis had that for a while, until the weight of that office made him seem smaller and, puzzlingly, bigger at the same time.  Chicago and Lima are hard places to survive.  But here is the biggest survivor of all Leo XIV nee Robert Prevost.  He should well.  Like the Filipino and Ghanaian, who are not out for good, barring divine intervention, the good shepherding works, that humble and inclusive embrace, should go on.  After all, these fellows are clones from his sack of appointments.

With 81% of the voting power at the conclave, whoever was chosen to be the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church was highly likely to be in the mold of Papa Francisco.  Unless he is a real stealth operator, I think that there is the highest probability that Pope Leo XIV will accelerate some of the much-needed reforms in the Church.  I say some, and rather guardedly, because there is that Conservative wing of cardinals and bishops is waiting to test his mettle.  They are nobody’s pushovers.  They know how to tie up legislation, keep certain things off the books, and out of the faithful gaze.  If anyone has any doubts, simply dial the hotline in heaven and ask for Pope Francis.  Tell whoever answers that the recommendation came from me.  See how I am blessed!  But as much as I may be (and I am), Pope Leo XIV is going to need many more blessings.  Because if there is one place that is more treacherous than beautiful Guyana, it is the sovereignty that is called the Vatican.  See! If Ali and Jagdeo think that I have it in for them, note carefully please how I don’t spare anybody.

The new pope has his work cut out for him.  He has to contend with men of God who do not like the changes that God likes.  I did say that the new job came with its own minefield.  It is a religious one, which is the most dangerous kind.  Men pray for grace, then seek to trip and make one fall on the face.  They guys don’t play, especially now that they are on the retreat.  Also, the Francis man has to deal with the man in Washington, and some other hard men who operate near the Yangtze River.  A complicated world it is that he inherits, with boat people everywhere and with nowhere for a docking station, and no one to look with Christian love on them.  Let this fact not elude, the economic migrants are not going to Hindu India or Muslim Pakistan, currently duking it out in the shadow of the Himalayas.  The homeless migrants are being rejected and returned by Christian and Catholic countries.  Where has the love of Jesus gone, that is the question that will challenge the new man in Rome.

As if those are not enough, there is the storm of perversity happening to the Palestinians, right in the middle of the Holy Land.  How is that for a sticky one, with the USA firmly entrenched on the side of those who some from America’s Bible Belt view as the Chosen Ones of God.  I have got news for them that also is part of my sales pitch, claim to some standing.  So, back off and get a new one, folks.  What is the world coming to, where even children of God are muscling in on other people’s territory!  I think I am going to stick with Guyana.  Like they say: better the devils that are known, than the ones that are in the bush.

I welcome Pope Leo XIV, as one American to another (ah, the brotherhood, the club) and wish him well.  I share with him one of my standing, immovable ideologies: When God is on my side, who from hell can stand against me.  Put that in your pipe and smoke it.  Better yet, develop a taste for it.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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