Dear Pope Leo: Just Suggestions

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Dear Pope Leo:

Greatest congratulations on your ascent to the Throne of Peter.

And on your papacy.

If we can be excused, a few suggestions.

The Church needs to veer from worldliness. For too long now, statements, visits, pomp, and ceremony have been a bit too skewed to politics and celebrity.

We understand the important role the Church has in orienting the world.

But too often celebrities are given royal treatment at the Vatican, despite moral question marks. This has been going on for decades.

The other day, there was the meeting with actors and filmmakers, at which time, according to Reuters, you “told a group of leading Hollywood actors and filmmakers at an audience in the Vatican on Saturday that cinemas were struggling to survive and that more should be done to protect them and preserve the shared experience of watching movies.”

Screen stars Cate Blanchett, Monica Bellucci, Chris Pine, and Oscar-winning director Spike Lee were among those at the gathering. Beware worldliness.

Pope Leo XIV meets with filmmaker Spike Lee, during an audience with artists from the world of cinema in the Sala Clementina at the Vatican, November 15, 2025, in this handout image. Simone Risoluti/Vatican Media/­Handout via REUTERS

The Church has to engage with the world, and remain relevant in the secular view. But at the same time, one must be cautious and perhaps at least spend some time admonishing Hollywood on use of the “f-word” in just about every major movie, as well as sexual scenes and violence. Even previews are major occasions for temptation and sin.

Is there something inherently wrong with “celluloid,” with unreality? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Even religious movies can have unfortunate charisma. One notes Saint Padre Pio, who once, when he finally agreed to attend his first movie, stopped the car on the way. He refused to go to any movie, saying “The devil is in it!”

This needs to be discerned and considered.

One also notes recent comments from the Vatican and U.S. bishops on immigration. It’s true: migrants–legitimate ones–should be helped. Everyone should be helped. Every human is equally valued by God. None should be mistreated. And this has occurred of late. There have been abuses in the crackdown on illegal immigration. There has been a degree of dehumanization.

But one must note that every nation—including Vatican City—has borders (and in the case of the Vatican, fortress-like walls).

The other day, U.S. Border czar Tom Homan scored the Catholic Church, saying its opposition to mass deportations undermines U.S. law enforcement and costs lives. “The Catholic Church is wrong,” Homan said. “I’m sorry. I’m a lifelong Catholic. I’m saying it not only as a border czar—I’ll say it as a Catholic. They need to spend time fixing the Catholic Church, in my opinion.”

Homan made the remarks at the White House when asked about the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which this week condemned President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and warned of “a climate of fear and anxiety” around immigration enforcement, according to Reuters.

The bishops are right to defend human dignity—no question. But there are laws, which must be obeyed, and as far as Homan’s observation on the Church, there do need to be a number of searing issues addressed.

To wit:

Aside from the obvious issue of abuse, which is now being addressed, there is Mass: Too often homilies are both overly long (Francis repeatedly said to limit them to ten minutes), theological, or divorced from the day’s Gospel reading. Disengaged. The young often mention this as a reason why they stop attending. It’s common to hear a reading about Christ casting out a demon, but nothing whatsoever on that aspect of spirituality—deliverance—mentioned in the subsequent sermon, as if the notion of casting out spirits is an archaic superstition.

As do we all, the Church needs to more closely follow the words and actions of Jesus. Bring back Mystical Theology (once a mainstay of seminaries).

Music also often needs to be a bit more reverent and abbreviated. Mass is not a concert. And let’s bring back some of the “golden oldies.” Let’s also ring the bells: Bells scatter demons. How about this for drowning out Muslim attempts at interruption:

As for seminaries: the biggest crisis here is not just an overly “pragmatic” (worldly) and theological approach (as opposed to a robust supernatural one), but also how manly seminarians are so often turned away or find themselves discouraged with the atmosphere.

Masculinity in the priesthood is crucial. There are plenty of men—celibate but strongly heterosexual—who’d like to be priests but do not want to be seen as effete. Overhaul many seminaries. Africa and the Philippines have been very successful. Emulate their seminaries.

Sorry to be so blunt. And blessed we are to have had pontiffs who themselves have the right comportment in this regard and spirit.