Last Week In Brief
On May 8, Robert Francis Prevost, the Cardinal Bishop of Albano, was elected as the next Pope of the Catholic Church following the death of Pope Francis. Taking the papal name Pope Leo XIV, he is the first American and Peruvian pope.
Leo XIV was considered a centrist in papal politics, representing a middle ground between progressives such as Luis Antonio Tagle and conservatives such as Robert Sarah. He is expected to continue much like Pope Francis, with his brother John Prevost calling him a “second Pope Francis”.
He has opposed abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty and much of the immigration policies of Trump, having publicly criticized Vice President J.D. Vance on X. He has expressed support for action on climate change, admission of refugees and vaccinations. He neither supported nor rejected the Fiducia Supplicans, a declaration by Pope Francis to allow blessings of same-sex couples.
At his first Sunday blessing, Pope Leo XIV called for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages, and the end to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.
On May 6, the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana in a press release announced a lawsuit against Governor Mike Braun due to the passage of new rules that would change how members of the Indiana University Board of Trustees are selected.
Previously, three of the nine board members were elected by alumni of the University. Now, Braun has the power to appoint or remove any member of the board so long as five are alumni and five are residents of Indiana.
The ACLU is now questioning the constitutionality of the changes. Indiana law provides for elections at every other public university’s board of trustees.
“The new provisions violate the prohibition on special legislation contained in the Indiana Constitution,” ACLU of Indiana Legal Director Ken Falk said in the press release. “Every other four-year public university in the state has a process for allowing alumni to select at least some members of the board of trustees, and there is no justification for denying that ability to the alumni of IU.”
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