Legendary Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz is urging Catholics to give Pope Leo XIV a chance and offer him their support as he begins his papacy.
In a video posted to X, Holtz asked Catholics to “defend and encourage” the pope.
“I’m an old man, I’ve been Catholic all my life. I was taught about how the pope would be selected. The white smoke, the black smoke, et cetera,” Holtz began his message.
“But you never know about the pope, because he isn’t infallible. He’s infallible when everything comes to religious decisions, and we’re taught to respect him and pray for him and listen to him,” Holtz said.
“I hope this pope will be a very, very good one, but I do know this: He is our pope. We must defend him, we must encourage him, we must pray for him, and we must help him,” he added.
I've been Catholic all my life.
— Lou Holtz (@CoachLouHoltz88) May 14, 2025
I remember learning about how the Pope is chosen—white smoke, black smoke, the whole thing.
You don't have to agree with everything he says, but we're called to pray for him, respect him & support him.
Pope Leo, I'll be praying for you. God… pic.twitter.com/wxj0nGJRGA
Holtz insisted that “too many people don’t give enough to the church today.”
“The Church has financial obligations like anything else. So, whether you like the pope or not is irrelevant. He’s our pope. You must respect him, pray for him, and care about him at the same time, accept the decisions he makes,” he added.
“It’s important for us to support the pope regardless of who he is, whether we like him or not. Pray for him. Pray for the decisions that they make. I’ve been blessed to know two popes, have visits with them. Let’s make sure that we pray for the pope, follow his blessings and teachings because they’ve led us the correct way for so many years,” he said.
“Good luck to you, and I promise you, I will pray for the pope because I know the pope’s also going to pray for me and pray for the choices he makes in the best interest of this country.”
Holtz’s message to Catholics comes as many speculate on just what sort of Pope Leo XIV will be. Some have worried that his environmentalist and pro-open borders ideas will make him a “woke” pope. Others say that his opposition to abortion and his traditional ideas on gender make him a far different leader than the previous pope, whose reign was so disastrous for the Church.
On the other hand, many others, including Lou Holtz, say that we must let this new Catholic leader do his work and wait for the results.
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