Last May 8 is destined to become one of those “Where were you when … ?” moments. As white smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel and joy erupted at the words Habemus papam! I was sitting outside having lunch when Maryknoll’s bells joined the chorus ringing out from churches around the world.
We had an hour to wait to learn who would be the 267th vicar of Christ. Romans and international pilgrims filled St. Peter’s Square with excitement and speculation. Luckily, I am not a betting man, or I’d have lost my shirt! I never imagined that in my lifetime we would have a pope from the United States. Ah, but the Holy Spirit had other ideas.
Robert Prevost’s path to the papacy is unusual for even more reasons. He did not attend seminary in Rome; he joined a religious order; and he served as a missioner in Peru. Yet he clearly caught the attention of Pope Francis, who appointed him bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, in 2015, made him a cardinal in 2023, and named him head of the Dicastery for Bishops in Rome. The Italian press wryly declared him “the least American of the American cardinals.”
Apart from these biographical details, what do we know about our new Holy Father?
I called an Augustinian friend, Father Philip Yang, who studied theology under Father Prevost. Father Yang recalls the panic he and his fellow seminarians felt when Father Prevost became their teacher and formator. “He’s a canon lawyer. We thought, ‘he’s gonna enforce rules,’” Father Yang explained. Which he did, Father Yang says, but with fairness and gentleness, always safeguarding the dignity of his charges.
Pope Leo has signaled that he is Pope Francis’ successor — but not his clone. He made his official appearance in traditional regal attire: red mozzetta (shoulder cape), gold brocaded stole and ornate crucifix. In his initial address to the throng at St. Peter’s, he emphasized the peace of the Risen Lord, using the words “mission” and “synodality” numerous times. His humility, transparency and piety won over people from all sides.
Resisting easy labels of “conservative” or “progressive” that nowhere divide the Church more than in the United States, the new pope shows himself to prefer “both/and” rather than “either/or.” He retained his episcopal motto, In Illo uno unum (In the One, we are one).
In July he handwrote a letter in Latin to the traditionalist Cardinal Raymond Burke, who had publicly clashed with Pope Francis, congratulating the cardinal for his 50 years of priesthood and for his undaunted defense of the Latin Mass. Not long after, Pope Leo appointed Father Thomas Hennen, an Iowa priest with experience in campus ministry and LGBTQ+ pastoral care, as bishop of the Diocese of Baker, Oregon.
Our Holy Father already expresses his role as that of a pontiff, from pontifex maximus, meaning “greatest bridge builder.” Seeking to heal a deeply polarized Church, he deftly walks the fine line of appealing to both sides without alienating or aggravating either.
At the same time, his commitment to peace is unwavering, as evidenced by his persistent calls for peace in Gaza, Ukraine and other conflicted parts of the world.
In choosing his papal name, Pope Leo XIV clearly identified himself with the noted author of Catholic social teaching, Leo XIII. Yet the legacy of his name goes back much further. The first Leo, known as Pope Leo the Great (consecrated 440 A.D.), held off divisions that threatened to split the Church into East and West. The same Pope Leo I turned back the hordes of Attila the Hun by negotiating unarmed, in private, with the barbaric military leader. No one knows what was said, but Attila called off the invasion of Rome, never to return.
Whether Pope Leo XIV can heal the deep wounds and suspicions threatening Church unity, and whether he can push back against the individualism, materialism and secularism in today’s world remains to be seen, but already he shows himself as willing to try.
Featured image: Pope Leo XIV blesses a child at St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican before his weekly general audience on June 25, 2025. (CNS/Vatican Media/Vatican City)
