America Gives the World a Pope

Robert Francis Prevost, who will reign as Pope Leo XIV, may be the first American Pope but in spirit he might be the second Latin American Pope after his im­mediate predecessor Francis, the first Pope from the West­ern Hemisphere. And Francis is resting in peace because Leo XIV may be just the suc­cessor he would have chosen for himself. A reformer by reputation and an Augustin­ian by training, Pope Leo XIV would have lived by the principle of balancing “love and learning” as well as championing the idea of the priest as first a pastor tending to his folk.

There was a time when a Pope from the US would have sounded like an anom­aly although more than 50 million adult Americans self-identify as Catholics. But Leo XIV is a deviation from at least the American norm in that he has spent just about a third of his 69 years in the country, having studied in Rome and served in Peru, the latter since the age of 30. The Chicago-born Prevost joined the Augustinian order in 1985 and returned home only in 1999, except a brief stint in Chicago in 1987, and was sent out again into the wide world for good by Pope Francis who made him bishop of Chiclayo, again in Peru. Francis made him a cardinal as recently as 2023 but he must have seen in him a mind very much like his own. That meeting of minds concurred on synodality, as Francis had thrown the Church open to more and more, beyond the observant Catholic laity. The bridge from there to Francis’ outreach to all Christian denominations and across faiths as well as over the legacy of the Great Schism of 1054 was wide and difficult to miss.

Pope Leo XIV is also well-versed in canon law, off­setting conservative doubts about his grasp on doctrine. His words, spoken in many languages and with delibera­tion, will be taken seriously. With his international ex­perience, the new pontiff on the Throne of Peter is more than a formidable intellect.

But the line from Francis cannot be straight. Prevost is believed to have something his predecessor lacked—an ability to bring on board the very people Francis fought to change the Church. That is, while Leo XIV is expected to continue building on Francis’ work outside, he may equally unite those divided within the Church and especially at the Vatican right now. No Pope has had a reign as long as St Peter’s, the first, at 38 years. But the coming days and months will make clearer if the cardinals’ faith in his uniting role is justified. The temporal powers of the papacy may have receded but in a world of multiple wars, threatened by Climate Arma­geddon, the diplomacy of the Holy See still matters because it is a powerful office, and not just because the Pope is supreme pontiff to the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics.

For the crowds at St Peter’s Square, black smoke out of the Sistine Chapel’s chimney isn’t disappointment. Black smoke through a few rounds of voting to elect a new Pope means the cardinals are not tired yet; they are applying their minds and reason in a matter of faith. The suspense is universal. The hopes may be tribal—which continent and which country would the new Pope be from. Should the new Pope follow in the footsteps of his im­mediate predecessor or mark a radical break or even turn the clock back? When the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica opens, the most fun­damental question is always answered, and sometimes a few more. Like now. If the sun shines in Rome, people don’t mind waiting. After all, they can’t see the Last Judgment from out there. And then there’s always the white smoke. In keeping with the post-war pattern, it took just about two days.

ChristianPope Leo XIVRomeSt Peter's BasilicaVatican City