Head of Priests for Life and defrocked Catholic priest Frank Pavone said Thursday that Pope Leo XIV will be more traditional on issues like gender and be more outspoken against abortion.
“I don’t think we’re going to see what we saw under Pope Francis,” Pavone said on the “Just the News, No Noise” TV show. “He’s been very clear about the church’s teachings on gender and, really, the common sense on gender.”
The first U.S. pope was named on Thursday; Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost from Chicago, who will go by Pope Leo XIV.
Pope Francis, who passed away last month, was known to be more inclusive to the LGBTQ community by extending blessings to couples in same-sex unions, according to CBS News. However, he did not change church doctrine.
Pavone said that Priests for Life is very familiar with Leo.
“Now Father Dennis tells us… he was a professor at Villanova for many years, and he knew Robert Prevost when he was a student at Villanova,” Pavone said. “One of the things that the student Prevost did was to start the pro life group: Villanovans for Life.”
Villanova University is a Catholic college in Pennsylvania.
