May 9, 2025
It’s only been a day since white smoke puffed out of the Sistine Chapel and already the Wikipedia article of the new pope, Leo XIV, is a cauldron of woke backbiting, much of it centered on the most historically notable point related to the Bishop of Rome: he’s American.
Given that Pope Leo is the first American to hold the role, this fact — confirmed by numerous news outlets on Wikipedia’s list of reliable sources — would presumably be featured prominently on Leo’s entry. (Read my Pirate Wires investigation into how Wikipedia gamed the reliable sources lists here.)
In reality, Wikipedia has not just downplayed Pope Leo’s American nationality but ensnared it in a debate about what an American is, if Leo really is an American, and the racial status of his ancestry, including (of course) the extent to which his forebears were black.
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