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Culture War Roundup for the week of April 21, 2025

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Pizzaballa is young, not just for a pope but for a head of state in general.

Well, that is relative. He was born in 1965, so he is about 60. By comparison, Obama was elected president at about 48, Angela Merkel became Chancellor at ~51 and Jacinda Ardern became Prime Minister at about 37. Being the head of a state at 60 is only young if you take the last two US presidents as a baseline.

Also, the Pope is a head of state in the same way that he is the supreme commander of an armed force -- which is to say, that while he is both, he as a very non-central example of either. Presumably, even being just the bishop of a regular European city is coming closer to describing his day job. Being a head of state technically comes with the job, but it is a minor consideration -- no contender will run on a platform of "the Vatican should increase the minimum wage or reform health care".