There's a lot here. That same World Cup I watched S. Korea hammer gli Azzurri, and the crowd at the bar on Via Innocenzo X first fell silent then broke into sounds of rage and tears. Then Perugia cut the S. Korean star a week later. When I first heard about the election, my first thought was that JD had so irritated the Vatican crowd that that their hopes turned to an alternative American POV. But who knows. As with JD, Augustine's conversion mania led him down some questionable dark alleys. And may be like Augustine, JD will find that his followers will show selective fealty and ignore the stuffed shirt's claims to authority when he does not kowtow to their own manic whimsy.
Great piece. Interesting parallel between U.S. soccer and Leo. But, unlike Americans, most people in the world don’t take out their dislike of other governments on the people.
That’s mostly true, but general sentiment toward the U.S. is definitely malleable.
People looked at the U.S. differently because of Sept. 11, the Iraq war, or the election of out-of-the-ordinary figures like Obama or Trump, and now the Trump tariffs.
There’s no doubt that when/if the U.S. suddenly becomes relevant in an area where it’d always been an afterthought (like soccer or the papacy) that would change the way the country is seen as well.
Don't forget that in addition to J.D. Vance and Pope Leo XIV, that St. Augustine had a big influence on Martin Luther and John Calvin.
Yeah, that's not something they talk about as much.
Another one was Thomas of Villanova, the patron saint of the pope's undergrad alma mater.
There's a lot here. That same World Cup I watched S. Korea hammer gli Azzurri, and the crowd at the bar on Via Innocenzo X first fell silent then broke into sounds of rage and tears. Then Perugia cut the S. Korean star a week later. When I first heard about the election, my first thought was that JD had so irritated the Vatican crowd that that their hopes turned to an alternative American POV. But who knows. As with JD, Augustine's conversion mania led him down some questionable dark alleys. And may be like Augustine, JD will find that his followers will show selective fealty and ignore the stuffed shirt's claims to authority when he does not kowtow to their own manic whimsy.
I remember that South Korea-Italy game as well! And I'd forgotten Perugia cut the Korean player, but you're right about that as well.
I don't think your theory on JD Vance's impact on the conclave vote (as well as the Trump-as-pope AI image) is impossible.
Great piece. Interesting parallel between U.S. soccer and Leo. But, unlike Americans, most people in the world don’t take out their dislike of other governments on the people.
That’s mostly true, but general sentiment toward the U.S. is definitely malleable.
People looked at the U.S. differently because of Sept. 11, the Iraq war, or the election of out-of-the-ordinary figures like Obama or Trump, and now the Trump tariffs.
There’s no doubt that when/if the U.S. suddenly becomes relevant in an area where it’d always been an afterthought (like soccer or the papacy) that would change the way the country is seen as well.