‘Let This Papacy Be a Light in Darkening Times’

More from our inbox:

• Presidential Profits

The new pope on his first day in Vatican City, on Thursday. Credit…Gianni Cipriano for The New York Times

To the Editor:

Re “An American Pope” (front page, May 9):

In an age of crises and confusion, it is no small thing to have a new pope. Humanity longs for a moral compass, and Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, may well be that rare guide. In him, we hope for the twin virtues of logic and justice. Let this papacy be a light in darkening times, and astonishingly, a rare moment to be proud to be an American.

But more than hope, we need courage. Authoritarianism is no longer creeping; it’s parading in capitals from Moscow to Budapest to Washington. The pope, above politics yet not beyond truth, can speak the inconvenient word when others remain silent.

And then there is capitalism, a brilliant machine now spinning wildly out of control. When so few hands hold most of the world’s wealth and billions grow poorer, divine justice demands a reckoning. A pope with clarity and courage can call for not just charity, but drastic change as well. So the wish “God bless America” might have a truer meaning.

Dimitris Eleas
Brooklyn

To the Editor:

I hope the importance of the election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as pope is not lost on any American, whether Catholic or not. This new pope, who has spent his life championing social justice, stands in stark contrast to our selfish and cruel American president.

Could it be that the conclave deliberately selected an American pope to help us remember America the beautiful? You remember that America, right? The America we all loved and believed in — America the helpful — which fed the poor and starving around the world.

That America. Not Donald Trump’s America.

John R. Scannell
Sammamish, Wash.

To the Editor:

As we move deeper into the season of spring and new life, it is refreshing that the Roman Catholic Church has chosen a pope who is a leader who believes in inclusiveness rather than demonization of other people. President Trump has gone out of his way to cast aspersions on the people who are not native born, and particularly on many people in Latin America.