Signs of the times: what can we already discern about the pontificate of Leo XIV?
The Catholic Herald• May 11, 2025
Yet again, the timing of historical events has proved impeccable. In succession to Pope Francis, who died not long after imparting Urbi et Orbi from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, the conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV did so in time for his first Angelus address – or, to be proper, Regina Caeli, it being Eastertide – to fall on Good Shepherd Sunday. The point was not lost: speaking to the crowds gathered in St Peter’s Square, he called it “a gift”.
In many ways the address represented business as usual. Substantially, it contained nothing that Pope Francis would not have included: a plea for peace in Gaza, Ukraine, India and Pakistan; encouragement of young people; a welcome to pilgrims in Rome for the Jubilee of Bands and Popular Entertainment, who “enliven the feast of Christ the Good Shepherd: the One who guides the Church with his Holy Spirit.”
Pope Leo made a particular reference to his predecessor Gregory the Great, whom he said taught that people “respond to the love of those who love them”. Then, at the end, in a strong, reedy tenor voice, he slowly intoned Regina Caeli to the traditional Gregorian plainsong. The clergy who joined in near the microphones adjusted their pace to keep to his, while those in the square took up the chant. He did what popes do; he led the world in prayer.
But who is this man, about whom the world knew so little before he became the Vicar of Christ, Successor of Peter and Servant of the Servants of God? Here Pope Leo has his immediate predecessor’s advantage; the secular media will judge him on how he comes across in these early days. Pope Benedict’s problem in this respect was that as a former Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith they knew exactly who he was, and hated him for it.
One of Pope Francis’s great achievements was to allow the same journalists to think that he was a progressive disruptor being foiled by Vatican forces beyond his control. That was his appeal, which meant that other problematic aspects of his papacy were quietly ignored – and his soundbites made for good, easily-digestible stories. In many quarters the general surprise that he was not succeeded by one of his obvious protégés has been tangible.
Why not Parolin? First, possibly, his closeness to the disastrous Sino-Vatican Pact, which effectively sold faithful Chinese Catholics down the Yangtze and of which the physical presence in Rome of the ancient, tiny, brave and noble Cardinal Zen was a stark admonition. Secondly, his handling of the Becciu business, which – while producing the inevitable outcome – made it look as though he relished rather too much the blunt exercise of power.
Why not Tagle? Too many concerns about his administrative abilities and eye for fine detail, maybe, and certainly not helped by the bizarre karaoke videos that started doing the rounds – designed, no doubt, to make him seem “normal” but which had entirely the opposite effect. Why not Pizzaballa? Too young. Sarah? Too old. Erdo? Too conservative. McElroy? Too progressive. Dolan? Too jolly. Fernández? That book. And on it goes.
Which brings us to Prevost: a low-key but international profile, taking in the US, South America and Rome; an academically-gifted priest with a doctorate in canon law; advanced administrative abilities harnessed not once but twice as global leader of his religious order; a welly-wearing, horse-riding missionary bishop; a south-side Chicago boy who supports the White Sox but enjoys tennis as well. And, in his own way, also a Francis protégé.
Plucked from the Diocese of Chiclayo to be Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops only in 2023, Pope Francis made him a cardinal-deacon and swiftly promoted him to cardinal-bishop. The brief is of considerable practical significance, because whoever holds it also knows what is written in the file of every bishop in communion with the Holy See – credits and debits alike. It calls for discretion, firmness, emotional intelligence, and a certain amount of steeliness.
All that, combined with a canonist’s training, may have tipped the balance. As Cardinal Nichols observed, “he knows how things should be done”. He may well, too, have a sense from his previous office of bishops who have been treated justly by the Holy See, and others who have not been. He will certainly have a feeling for what his immediate priorities will need to be, which will come to the fore in due course.
For now, Pope Leo has an air of reserve with a lightness of touch; no grand effusive gestures, but no froideur either. He appears happy to wear most of the traditional papal garments; pastorally, he has allowed people to seek the indulgence attached to the veneration of the Fisherman’s Ring and (at presumably considerable economy in terms of accommodation and security) seems to be set to move into the old papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace.
In his presence prelates have continued to retain their scarlet and purple skullcaps, however, and he has kept his black shoes. Now and then there is a fleeting hint of some of his predecessors – Bergoglio, Ratzinger, Wojtyła, Luciani, Montini, Roncalli, Pacelli – but none of them appears to be a singular palimpsest. He does not seem inclined to stir things up, or to encourage others to make a mess; instead, he exudes calmness and reassurance.
He has already said that he chose his regnal name in honour of Leo XIII, out of admiration for his teachings on modern social doctrine expressed in Rerum Novarum of 1891. But that Leo – who was also elected on the third ballot – stilled the spiritual storms after the turbulent pontificate of Pius IX, returned the Church to the centre of European politics, declared Anglican orders null and void, and refounded the Vatican Observatory.
Truth is the daughter of time; what will be, will be. It is too soon to make anything of his comments on Evangelii Gaudium, for example, in which he mentioned collegiality in the same breath as synodality – which might, or might not, suggest that he sees a distinction between the traditional teaching authority of the college of bishops and the instances of synodal consultation which loomed large in the last years of the previous pontificate.
In that respect, one local question lingers. Should he bend the arc away from synodality, what would that mean for the Church in Germany, which hared off so enthusiastically down the Synodal Path that it stands on the brink of schism? Pope Leo XIV has now become the best-known member of the Order of St Augustine who ever lived, and there’s the rub. Until Thursday evening that honour, such as it was, belonged to Martin Luther.
Photo: Pope Leone XIV leads the Regina Caeli prayer in St. Peter’s Square on May 11, 2025 in Vatican City, Vatican. Pope Leo XIV (formerly Robert Francis Prevost) was elected to the papacy on May 8 following the death of Pope Francis on April 21. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images)