By TED ANTHONY, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — By the middle of last week, it became clear that something odd was happening. It was about the time that the fake video started circulating about the woman purporting to recount the “situationship” she’d had with Robert Prevost, the new American pope, decades ago when he was just another guy from Chicago.

We’d already seen Topps, the baseball-card company, issue a new card of Pope Leo XIV that was all over eBay. We’d heard about his affinity for the White Sox and seen a glimpse of him in the crowd at the 2005 World Series. And in the wake of online speculation over whether he favored the Chicago beef sandwich or Chicago-style hot dogs, we’d seen Portillo’s, a local eatery, name a sandwich after him — “”a divinely seasoned Italian beef, baptized in gravy and finished with the holy trinity of peppers.”

Then there was the Instagram video featuring two guys outlining the ways the new pontiff was a product of his upbringing: “The pope’s a Midwesterner. Bread and wine is now cheese and beer,” says one. Retorts the other: “The pope’s a Midwesterner. Collection baskets now accept Kohl’s cash.”

Popes: They’re just like us?

The Chicago White Sox honors Pope Leo XIV on the scoreboard before a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Friday, May 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/David Banks)

Not exactly. The former Bob Prevost is hardly just another guy from Chicago. But you wouldn’t know that by the burst of American fanfare surrounding the newly minted Pope Leo XIV. He has been called out for his eating proclivities (Jimmy Fallon: “deep-dish communion wafers?”), for his sports affiliations, for his lively sibling relationships and more. Fake videos of him weighing in on basketball and Donald Trump in classic Midwestern ways are proliferating.

Why are we so focused on making sure the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church is also a regular guy from the Midwest? Some of it is pride, you betcha. But another answer lies in Americans’ peculiar and complex relationship with fame and power that goes way back to the founding of the nation itself.

American ‘regular guy-ism’ began with the nation itself

When the United States became the United States in 1776, it rejected King George III, the crown’s taxes and the ornate accoutrements and sensibilities that surrounded royalty.

In its place grew democracy, effectively the cult of the regular guy. As the decades passed, the sensibility of “effete” royalty from back east — whether “back east” was England or, ultimately, Washington — became scorned. By the time Andrew Jackson’s form of populism began to flourish in the 1830s, the “regular guy” in the rising democratic republic became a revered trope. Thus the tales of Abraham Lincoln growing up in a log cabin and splitting rails just like the rest of us — or, at least, the 19th-century rural American “rest of us.”

“Our culture is one that is based on the rejection of monarchy and class distinctions and yet is fascinated by monarchies and those who we see as set above and apart,” says David Gibson, director of the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham University. “We want these figure to look up to but also to sit down with.”

And it has stayed that way, politically and culturally, right up until today.

A man takes a picture of a brochure that reads “A prayer of thankfulness for the election of Pope Leo XIV” during a mass at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Think about how the ideal presidential candidate has evolved from the time of, say, Franklin D. Roosevelt, an effete Easterner who favored a long cigarette holder, to today. Ronald Reagan talked in the homespun language of hearth and home. Bill Clinton played a sax and answered the time-honored question of “boxers or briefs.” George Bush, now a nondrinker, became “a guy you’d want to have a beer with.” (Jon Stewart famously shot that down by saying: “I want my president to be the designated driver.”)

This down-to-Earth sensibility was evident in the press conference that American cardinals held after Leo was elevated. No intense church music accompanied their entrance; instead, it was “American Pie” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” — foundational pillars of popular culture, with an emphasis on “popular.” The message: This is not a “back east” pope.

“Popes have always been alien — strangers,” says John Baick, an American historian at Western New England University. “We like and trust that he is one of us. The Midwest is the place of hard work, the place of decency, the place of listening, the place of manners. This is the person you want to sit on the other side of that diner on a Sunday morning.”

He places Leo’s ascension as a bookend to John F. Kennedy’s election in 1960 — a resounding signal, this time globally, that Catholicism is compatible with Americanism.

But as for the “he’s one of us” approach, that says more about the people watching Leo than about the actual pope. “He has done none of this himself,” Baick says. “The connections are things that we have desperately created. We are so desperate for normalcy, for a regular guy.”

This guy is far more than the pope next door

And yet …

Americans famously adored Princess Diana, “the people’s princess.” People like the Kennedys and Grace Kelly — before she became an actual princess — were referred to as “American royalty.” And even though we’re a long way from the days of Bogie, Bacall and Greta Garbo — a generation into the “Stars: They’re Just Like Us” era — Americans still love to put people on pedestals and bring them back down, sometimes at the same time.

Grace Mellor prays as she holds a brochure that reads “A prayer of thankfulness for the election of Pope Leo XIV” during a mass at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

The latest iteration of this is tied to reality TV, which took regular people and turned them into personalities, figures, commodities.

“This country is positioned as a place where anybody can succeed. It plays directly into that — the regular person who succeeds on a large scale,” says Danielle Lindemann, author of “True Story: What Reality TV Says About Us.”

“We’re kind of obsessed with this everyday Joe who is plucked from obscurity and becomes famous. In the United States, that’s a salient and dominant narrative,” says Lindemann, a professor of sociology at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. “We almost feel like we have relationships with these people. We’re getting so much personal information about him, and it facilitates that sense of closeness.”

Related Articles

Dum Dums lollipops stands by bright dyes, despite RFK Jr.’s push

The US hasn’t seen a human bird flu case in 3 months. Experts are wondering why

AP PHOTOS: Mexican tall ship strikes Brooklyn Bridge, snapping masts and killing 2 crew members

Severe weather leaves at least 27 dead, including 18 in Kentucky

Moody’s strips U.S. government of top credit rating, citing Washington’s failure to rein in debt

Prevost, of course, is not your average Midwesterner. His Spanish, among other tongues, is fluent. He spent two decades in Peru, where he also holds citizenship (and where, it must be said, there is footage of him singing “Feliz Navidad” into a microphone at a Christmas party). And there’s that small matter that he is now the head of a global church of 1.4 billion souls.

So a new era begins for both the United States and the Catholic Church — an age-old hierarchy and a society that demands egalitarianism, or the appearance of it, from the people it looks up to. And at the intersection of those two principles sits Robert Prevost, Pope Leo XIV, an accomplished man in his own right but also an empty vessel into which broad swaths of humanity will pour their expectations — be they about eternity or simply the South Side of Chicago.

“Popes want to connect with people, and the church wants that as well. But the peril is that such familiarity breeds not so much contempt as disobedience,” Gibson says.

“The pope is not your friend. He is not going to sit down and have a beer with you,” he says. “If you think the pope is your pal, will you feel betrayed when he reminds you of your religious and moral duties, and chides you for failing to follow them?”

Ted Anthony, director of new storytelling and newsroom innovation for The Associated Press, has been writing about American culture since 1990.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

It’s hard to not compare MSC Cruises’ World Class ships and its largest-ever offering, the MSC World America, to similarly massive ships sailed by Royal Caribbean. But while World America may look like its competitor’s ships, it has touches that set it apart.

The 22-deck, 6,764-passenger, 216,638-gross-ton ship arrived in April in PortMiami and has settled into year-round, seven-night Caribbean itineraries.

Just like Royal’s Icon and Oasis-class ships, World America is so big, that the line carves its space up into neighborhoods, although MSC calls them districts. They’re filled with nearly 40 restaurants, bars and lounges, so it feels like a little city at sea.

In fact, from behind, people would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between an Oasis-class ship from World America with both featuring a multi-deck, twisting dry slide as a centerpiece of an open-air deck.

One thing the brand does successfully, though, is lean into its European identity, especially the Italian flair of its founders.

“We’re not trying to be an American cruise line only for Americans,” said new MSC Cruises USA president Lynn Torrent. “We do have this European DNA and that’s real, and we need to own it and lean into it. But we need to have our American guests feel comfortable. So it really is a balance.”

So in the hallways, for instance, are historical black-and-white photos of space shuttle launches, but they were labeled as “Kennedy Space Centre.” Pool depths are in both meters and feet. Elevators are called lifts. A family area on the top decks is called “The Harbour.” But at least restrooms are no longer labeled “WC” for “water closet,” something one would find on earlier MSC ships.

Perhaps the most European thing is the bumper cars with the steering wheel on the right.

And while the ship may have many similarities, the interior leans into a modern design that has been a hallmark of the MSC ships before it. Mirrors are everywhere. And a lot of the ships sparkle. At the same time, a digital ceiling that stretches down the entire World Galleria entertainment district occasionally quite often displays a massive American flag.

Taking a closer look, travelers will find World America isn’t a clone. It has its own identity.

Here are some of the best features on board:

The Cliffhanger is a swing ride that juts out over the side of the ship 160 feet above the water on board the MSC World America. (Richard Tribou/Orlando Sentinel)

The Cliffhanger: Who knew a simple little swing could be such a thrill? A pair of two-seater swings juts out over the edge of the ship 160 feet above the water with just a simple T-bar keeping riders safe from sliding out.

“That’s it?” exclaimed Lindsay Bonfanti before holding on for the less-than-minute-long ride that drew a few more exclamations questioning her decision-making.

For those who love heights and a hit of adrenaline without putting in any work, this ride fits the bill.

More thrills to be found: The Family Aventura district has other fast-paced options including a ropes course with two small zip lines built in. One swings riders out over the chasm of the open-air aft section of the ship more than 11 decks below.

The small water park has five slides including a speedy drop slide that shoots riders down as if being dropped out bomb-bay doors. There’s also a pair of timed, side-by-side slides that allow for healthy competition and a tube ride with an option virtual reality headset that makes for a trippy, wet trip through the jungle. Just remember to not be laughing out loud with your mouth open when you hit the bottom.

Over in the sports court, the line breaks out bumper cars for some healthy head-on collisions.

But for those who don’t mind climbing into an open shark mouth, the Jaw Drop twisting slide is a welcome, free offering, the tube of which is transparent for much of the ride offering great views on the way down.

“Dirty Dancing in Concert” is the main theatrical production on board MSC World America. Performers put on a sneak peek at the ship’s naming ceremony at PortMiami on April 9. (Courtesy Ivan Sarfatti for MSC Cruises)

Dirty Dancing: It’s music and dancing that most people know. Baby gets put in a corner momentarily. The choreography is spot on. The dancers nail the lift. They had the time of their lives, and fans of the film will likely walk away from the short production in the main theater with a hit of nostalgia. The line also doubles down on the partnership by airing the film and putting on its own dance party themed to the 1980s hit film that itself used music from the summer of 1963.

Dialing into other nostalgic, but popular music, the line has a show playing the hits of Queen, marrying a live rock band with orchestral and aerialist accompaniment in the Panorama Lounge. Another main stage show “Hall of Fame” pulls from a variety of pop legends such as Beyonce and Justin Timberlake.

Jean-Philippe Chocolat & Café has a large selection of gelato flavors on board the MSC World America. (Richard Tribou/Orlando Sentinel)

So many flavors: MSC goes beyond simple vanilla, chocolate and swirl. Think gelato. Think multiple venues around the ship. Think massive selection. One of the best tempts travelers walking down the main World Galleria section of the ship within the Jean-Philippe Chocolat & Café venue, which also features hand-crafted chocolates, 14 flavors of macarons and a tidy little coffee bar tucked in the back. But 16 gelato and sorbet flavors from pistachio to hazelnut to mango to stracciatella. There’s some pretty rich vanilla and chocolate too.

When in doubt: Pizza. The ship has plenty of dining options including the first Eataly-branded Italian specialty restaurant and a Greek venue with fresh seafood called Paxos.

But perhaps the most satisfying dish on board is free. Freshly made pizza made in authentic stone ovens is a must-have from Luna Park Pizza & Burger, plus it’s open beyond normal dining hours, so a great place to wander into after a few drinks.

Or before dinner. Or between lunch and dinner.

The Gin Project makes custom gin drinks on board the MSC World America. (Richard Tribou/Orlando Sentinel)

Pour another one: Champagne bar: Check. Mixed drinks: Check: Hand-crafted beer. Check.

The line has 18 bars and lounges, but one of the most interesting is The Gin Project venue, taking up the upper level of a space shared with the Masters of the Sea pub, both of which share a view of a live music stage. The level of detail on the history of gin with old photos and antiques filling the walls amid the nooks and alcoves of the bar is similar to the feeling you get the first time you walk into a TGI Fridays and marvel at all the crazy stuff on the wall.

Plus coming up with your own libation from among 70 types of gins is a fun game of choose your own adventure. Start with an “earthy” or “fruity” or “grassy” gin for instance. Then choose a tonic style from among several options, and then finally the décor and flavor enhancements.

And it’s worth mentioning that coffee fans won’t find a Starbucks, but can get that caffeine high in a new, one would dare say, more adventurous way at the Coffee Emporium, pulling from Mediterranean beans and styles including French, Italian, Turkish and Moroccan.

Cheers to that.

By JAMEY KEATEN

GENEVA (AP) — Stripped of U.S. funding, the World Health Organization chief on Monday appealed to member countries to support its “extremely modest” request for a $2.1 billion annual budget by putting that sum into perspective next to outlays for ad campaigns for tobacco or the cost of war.

Related Articles

Crew members of tall ship that collided with Brooklyn Bridge return home to Mexico

3 killed in lightning strike at Cambodia’s Angkor Wat UNESCO site

These surreal trees survived for centuries. Scientists worry for their future

UK, France and Canada threaten ‘concrete actions’ against Israel, including sanctions

JD Vance gives Pope Leo XIV a Trump invitation to visit the US

After nearly 80 years of striving to improve human lives and health –- which critics say it has done poorly or not enough — the U.N. health agency is fighting for its own after U.S. President Donald Trump in January halted funding from the United States, which has traditionally been WHO’s largest donor.

“Two-point-one billion dollars is the equivalent of global military expenditure every eight hours,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “Two-point-one billion dollars is the price of one stealth bomber, to kill people.”

“And $2.1 billion is one-quarter of what the tobacco industry spends on advertising and promotion every single year. Again, a product that kills people.” he told the WHO’s annual assembly. “It seems somebody switched the price tags on what is truly valuable in our world.”

Tedros made no specific reference to the U.S. cuts but has said previously the U.S. pullout was a “mistake” and urged Washington to reconsider.

WHO has presented a budget for the next two years that is 22% less than originally planned, largely in response to U.S. and other Western funding cuts, and says it has landed commitments for about 60% of that. But it still faces a budget gap of $1.7 billion.

“We know that in the current landscape, mobilizing that sum will be a challenge. We are not naive to that challenge,” Tedros said.

“But for an organization working on the ground in 150 countries with a vast mission and mandate that member states have given us, $4.2 billion for two years — or $2.1 billion a year — is not ambitious. It’s extremely modest,” he said.

Cuts that could cost lives

As a result of the cuts, the U.N. health agency this year has seen a plunge in its ability to carry out its sweeping mandate to do everything from recommend reductions in sugar levels in soft drinks to head the global response to pandemics like COVID-19 or outbreaks like polio or Ebola.

Tedros and his team have been grappling with a response to the U.S. cuts as well as reduced outlays from wealthy European countries that are worried about an expansionist Russia and are putting more money toward defense, and less toward humanitarian and development aid.

Matthew Kavanagh, the director of Georgetown University’s Center for Global Health Policy and Politics, said other countries have used the U.S. cut in aid “as cover to do their maneuvering, with many countries in Europe reducing aid.”

“The WHO faces an existential crisis that goes well beyond a budget gap to the question of whether this sort of multilateralism can succeed in addressing global health in this new era of nationalism and misinformation,” he said, alluding to discord between many countries that could cost lives.

Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus delivers his statement, during the opening of the 78th World Health Assembly at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, May 19, 2025. (Magali Girardin/Keystone via AP)

“Literally millions will likely die needlessly on the current trajectory and the world’s health ministers do not seem capable of a coherent response,” Kavanagh added.

Pandemic preparedness on the agenda

On tap for the nine-day World Health Assembly are two major advances that are aimed to buttress WHO’s financial strength and bolster the world’s ability to cope with future pandemics.

Member countries are expected to agree to raise annual dues, known as “assessed contributions,” by 20% to support WHO finances and reduce dependency on governments’ voluntary contributions — which change each year and make up over half of the budget.

They are also expected to agree to a hard-wrought “ pandemic treaty ” that was born of a desire to avoid any replay of the patchy, unequal response to COVID-19 when the next — and inevitable, most experts say — pandemic hits.

Among other things, the treaty would guarantee that countries that share critical samples of viruses will receive any resulting tests, medicines and vaccines and give WHO up to 20% of such products to make sure poorer countries can have access to them.

“Every World Health Assembly is significant, but this year’s is especially so,” Tedros said. “This is truly a historic moment.”

The treaty’s effectiveness will face doubts when the U.S. — which poured billions into speedy work by pharmaceutical companies to develop COVID-19 vaccines — is sitting out, and because countries face no penalties if they ignore it, a common issue in international law.

Kavanagh said passage of the treaty “could be a significant victory — evidence that the U.S. government may no longer be indispensable in global health” and could offer an opportunity for developing nations in the “global South” over the longer term.

Management shake-up as critics blast WHO

Trump has long derided WHO, including back in his first term when he pulled the United States out over its alleged kowtowing to China and other alleged missteps in the Covid pandemic. President Joe Biden put the U.S. back in.

On his first day back in office in January, Trump signed an executive order to pause future transfers of U.S. government funds to the WHO, recall U.S. government staff working with it, and announce a formal pullout by next January — under a one-year timetable required under U.S. law.

Other opponents continue to lash out at WHO. CitizenGo, an activist group that supports right-to-life and religious liberty issues, protested Monday against the pandemic treaty outside the U.N. compound in Geneva where WHO’s meeting was taking place.

The rally included a balloon sculpture in the shape of the world and a banner inveighing against “globalist elites” and showing an image of Tedros and billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, a major WHO supporter, shaking hands while surrounded by dollars.

“In the aftermath of Covid, the WHO got together and thought was a good idea to centralize even more power,” said CitizenGo campaigner Sebastian Lukomski, accusing WHO of an effort to “remove more fundamental freedoms and not learn from the mistakes that were taking place during COVID.”

In the run-up to the assembly, WHO has been cleaning house and cutting costs.

At a meeting on its budget last week, Tedros — a former Ethiopian health and foreign minister – announced a shake-up of top management that included the exit of key adviser Dr. Michael Ryan from the job as emergencies chief.

Tedros said last week that the loss of U.S. funds and other assistance have left the WHO with a salary gap of more than $500 million.

As the Jenkins Creek, Camp House and Munger Shaw fires blazed through the weekend, firefighters reported success on all three fronts.

In particular, the Minnesota Interagency Command Team A noted Saturday evening that the Munger Shaw fire is 75% contained. According to a news release from Eastern Area Incident Management Team issued on Sunday, the Camp House Fire was listed as 31% contained.

Nathan Thom, assistant wildlife manager with the Brainerd office of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources rides in the passenger seat while Evan Duchow, wildlife technician with the Aitkin office of the Minnesota DNR droves a Marsh Master amphibious track vehicle onto Munger Shaw Road in Cotton while helping with the Munger Shaw fire on Friday, May 16, 2025. (Dan Williamson / Duluth Media Group)

The Jenkins Creek Fire was still zero percent contained at last report. Firefighting efforts and rainy weather have combined to prevent all the fires from spreading over the weekend. However, crews are preparing for the return of drier and gustier conditions in the coming week.

A community meeting has been scheduled for Monday at 6 p.m. at the auditorium at Mesabi East High School in Aurora. Representatives for the Eastern Area Incident Management Team, the U.S. Forest Service, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and St. Louis County Sheriff’s Department will give status updates on the fires and related closures and evacuations. A link will also be provided for online viewing.

A vehicle and building destroyed by the Camp House Fire along County Hwy 44, as seen Thursday, May 15, 2025. (Wyatt Buckner / Duluth Media Group)

St. Louis County has rescinded the evacuation order for the Munger Shaw Fire only.

On Friday, during a Facebook video update, St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay said he spent some time at the checkpoint where homeowners returned to check on their homes and properties.

“It was very sad to meet and talk with those who had lost their houses,” Ramsay said.

Several elected officials visited the area Friday to survey the damage caused by the fires so far, including Gov. Tim Walz, U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, state Sen. Grant Hauschild and state Rep. Natalie Zeleznikar.

“The fires across northern Minnesota have forced families to evacuate and caused severe damage,” Walz said. “My thoughts are with those who have had to leave everything behind, and I extend my deepest gratitude to the wildland firefighters, first responders, volunteers, and emergency management officials who are working around the clock to contain these fires. The state is ready and committed to do everything in our power to respond to and suppress these fires and others across the state, and help impacted communities rebuild.”

Laura Kimmes, of Cotton, stops to offer thanks to Dave Snetsinger, of Naytahwaush, Minnesota, and all of the crew members battling the Munger Shaw Fire on Friday, May 16, 2025. Kimes was returning to her home nearby for the first time since being evacuated. (Dan Williamson / Duluth Media Group)

Weather forecast

A low-pressure system will pass by to the south with high pressure in Canada, leading to a prolonged period of east to northeast winds, the National Weather Service in Duluth reported Sunday. “Near-critical fire weather conditions will be possible,” the weather service said, with minimum relative humidity values from between 15% and 25%. Winds on Monday are expected to be 5-15 mph, gusting to up to 32 mph in places.

How you can help

Related Articles

Suicide rate in Minnesota for 2024 similar to ’23

St. Paul Police Department cites most distracted drivers — by a long shot — in state campaign

Free steelhead identification decals help Lake Superior anglers avoid keeping protected fish

Lake of the Woods, Rainy River deliver walleyes on Minnesota fishing opener

Ely team helps fight northern Minnesota wildfires from the sky

For residents impacted in St. Louis County, United Way of Northeastern Minnesota is working to establish a wildfire recovery fund. Immediate assistance is offered through its Comforts of Home program, which replaces lost items with referrals from agencies like the Red Cross and St. Louis County. All proceeds go to impacted community members.

Donate online at unitedwaynemn.org/firehelp.

For residents impacted in Lake County, Head of the Lakes United Way is sending donations to impacted community members.

Donate online at hlunitedway.harnessgiving.org/campaigns/18236.