Pope Leo XIV is “going to be a real player in the geopolitical conversations that are occurring,” Fr. Patrick Flanagan, chair of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Saint John’s University, said.

“I think the excitement of having an American is the fact that he was one of us,” Flanagan told Newsmax TV’s “Saturday Agenda.”

“So, we see all these reports going on over and over again about his brother John and Luis constantly being interviewed by reporters and recognizing that he’s a very normal guy,” he added. “But at the same time, he also observed the fact that as much as he’s an American, he’s spent a good bit of his time in Peru and another part of that time in Rome.

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