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Pope Leo XIV Steps Onto the World Stage

"Peace be with all of you!" Those were the first words of Pope Leo XIV, the newly anointed leader of the Catholic Church.

As Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost addressed the ecstatic crowd gathered in St. Peter’s square, he used the world’s most famous pulpit to promote a vision that, of late, has been more of a wish than reality.

“To all people, wherever they are, to all the people of the earth,” he continued, in fluent Italian, “may peace be with you.” He is now tasked with delivering it.

Prevost’s appearance on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica was the culmination of a centuries-old election ritual in which specially selected cardinals, sworn to secrecy, gathered behind the closed doors of the Sistine Chapel to decide who could best lead the church through a period of immense change. He succeeds Pope Francis, who died on April 21, onto the world stage, and will be expected to continue in the globally beloved leader’s path toward a more open, inclusive church that advocates for the poor and the marginalized.

The voting began on Wednesday night with an inconclusive result. Another three rounds were held on Thursday, before Cardinal Prevost obtained the required two-thirds majority. The fact that the voting took less than two days, on par with the selection of Francis in 2013, shows that the cardinal-electors were largely united in their choice of a man known for his solid judgment, his sharp insight, and a steady hand to lead the church through a tumultuous time.

The papal tradition of a cardinal taking a new name as he is announced pope symbolizes his rebirth as custodian of the church. The chosen name often signals the direction the new Pope intends to take. By choosing the name Leo, Prevost was making a powerful statement. Pope Leo XIII, whose turn-of-the-20th century pontificate straddled a period of global upheaval defined by the industrial revolution, was known for his defence of the rights of workers, his advocacy for immigrants and his care for the poor.

“In many ways, Pope Leo XIII was very conservative, but on social issues, he was very strong. I'm guessing that Cardinal Prevost wanted to signal his commitment to social justice in the tradition of Pope Francis,” says Brett C. Hoover, a theology professor at Loyola Marymount University in California.

Read More: As the Conclave Concludes, Catholicism Is at a Crossroads

Still, the fact that Prevost donned the traditional ermine fringed red cape that Francis—in a sign of his commitment to humility—refused to wear at his own anointment in 2013, signals that Leo XIV plans to take a more conciliatory approach to church conventions, even as he expands on other aspects of Francis’ legacy.

In his short address to the faithful, Prevost praised Francis’ commitment to outreach and inclusivity and laid out his own plans for continued dialogue and a church “a Church that always seeks peace, that always seeks charity, that always seeks to be close, especially to those who suffer.”

Prevost’s public embrace of pontifical tradition alongside Francis’ provocative agenda balances the concerns of a church leadership split over issues of doctrinal purity. A calm and thoughtful leader, according to those who know him, he is a Francis with sanded down edges.

Born in Chicago to a family with Italian, French, and Spanish roots, Prevost, 69, will be the first Pope from the United States the Catholic Church has ever seen, and only the second Pope from the Americas, after Francis, who was from Argentina.

He attended a high school run by an Augustinian seminary, then went on to get a degree in mathematics at Philadelphia’s Villanova University. He has spent most of his life outside of the United States. Ordained in 1982 at the age of 27, he went on to serve as an Augustinian missionary, parish priest and eventually a bishop in Peru, where he spent more than two decades. Francis made him a Cardinal in 2023.

As an American with Peruvian citizenship who spent most of his career serving the world, he is uniquely poised to balance the demands of a global church against the worst impulses of an isolationist America.

After addressing the crowds gathered in front of St. Peter’s Basilica in flawless Italian, he thanked members of his Peruvian diocese in perfect Spanish. Notably, he did not say a word in English, thank the people of Chicago, or refer to his American origins in any way. That was deliberate, says Hoover. “He was saying, ‘I'm an American, but I'm a different kind of American. I'm not a nationalist; I'm a person that cares about the entire world.”

That didn’t stop U.S. President Donald Trump from congratulating the newly minted Pope in a social media post soon after the announcement. “It is such an honor to realize that he is the First American Pope,” Trump wrote. “What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment.”

Read More: World Leaders React as Robert Francis Prevost Becomes Pope Leo XIV

Close confidants describe Prevost as reserved, almost shy. But they uniformly laud his ability to listen. “In meetings he was like a sponge,” says Father Andrew Small, who has worked with Prevost on several high-level church commissions. “He’s a listener and his questions tell you he’s processing what you’re saying. It doesn’t mean you know what he’s thinking, but you know that you’ve been heard.”

Pope Leo XIV comes to prominence at a pivotal time, when principled leadership is more vital than ever. He faces ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, along with the politically divisive, but morally urgent, issues of migration, religious freedom, human rights and the climate crisis. He will have to navigate a surge in right-wing nationalism, as well as a potential economic slump that threatens the world’s most vulnerable.

The power of the papacy extends far beyond Catholicism’s 1.4 billion followers. The pope may not have the military or economic power of other leaders, but he has the moral authority that most global leaders lack. “Whatever its weaknesses, the church has always—at least over the past 150 years—given priority to people on the margins. And we need that more than ever in an era of America first and Fortress Europe,” says Richard Lennan, a professor of Theology at Boston College. “We need someone who can speak up for the poor, the marginalized, the displaced on the world stage. Even if people just nod politely and move on, we still need that voice.” With his stated commitment to build a “united church, always seeking peace and justice," Prevost made it clear that he would be that voice.

Read More: The Biggest Challenges Pope Leo XIV Faces

The Church’s need for a counter to Trump’s brand of America-first global realignment likely played a role in Prevost’s selection, says Lennan. “He’s the least American American. It wouldn't surprise me at all if that was part of the thinking of the Cardinals, that they wanted someone who could keep challenging attitudes and actions that disregard the value of human lives.”

As Leo XIV takes up the pope’s miter, many will expect him to build on Francis’ legacy. It will be a difficult undertaking.

Francis’ criticism of capitalism’s excesses, his calls for world leaders to respond to the warming climate, and his impassioned advocacy for migrants made him globally popular. Yet within the church, his reformist interpretation of church doctrine—"Who am I to judge?” he famously responded when asked to weigh in on gay priests—set off a polarizing struggle between modernists and traditionalists. So too has his radical approach to inclusivity that welcomed the non-ordained faithful, including members of the LGBTQ+ community and lay women, to sit with bishops and contribute their thoughts on issues of church doctrine in meetings called synods. It is this vision of synodality—the church as a listening one instead of a top-down teaching one—that was at the core of Francis’ progressivism, and the biggest threat to traditionalists who seek stability by maintaining the power and influence of church leadership.

Francis leaves behind a lot of unfinished business that the new pope will have to address. During his 12-year pontificate Francis galvanized liberals—both Christian and secular—by breaking longstanding church shibboleths. He said that divorced and remarried Catholics could take communion, and he allowed priests to bless same-sex unions. He brought up other controversial issues, such as the ordination of women as Catholic deacons, whether or not married men can become priests in regions where vocations are rare, and the use of birth control, but failed to offer a definitive take, frustrating many of his followers.

Church members will pressure Prevost to offer clarity on these and other pressing issues facing the modern church. How he leans is a bit of a mystery, says Lennan. As a missionary who spent most of his life outside of the United States, he was able to stay out of the culture wars that define American Catholicism. “On these issues, he’s the great unknown. There's a difference between the person you are the day you get elected and who you are as pope.” How he responds to these questions will either cement Francis’ progressive legacy or demonstrate that it was a temporary aberration.

Read More: Where Pope Leo Stands on Specific Issues

Pope Leo also faces challenges of a more practical nature, such as the Vatican’s parlous financial state and its diplomatic ties. One of the hallmarks of the Francis pontificate was a groundbreaking agreement with Beijing that allowed the Chinese Communist Party leadership to weigh in on church appointments within the country. A few days after Francis’ death—an interregnum known as sede vacante, the empty seat, when all leadership decisions are put on hold—Beijing unilaterally named two bishops, including one to replace a Vatican favorite. Leo's response will set the tone for his approach to Beijing’s increasingly overt challenges to Vatican authority, as well as its persecution of underground Catholic clergy in a country that is home to approximately 20 million Catholics.

Read More: What to Know About the Vatican’s Relationship With China—and What the Next Pope Means for It

The Catholic community’s contentious history with sexual abuse—and its coordinated efforts to cover these instances up—remains an ongoing issue that Pope Leo will not be able to avoid. The advocacy group Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests has criticized Prevost for not doing enough to address sexual abuse, and for failing to follow up on accusations against priests under his juristiction.

“He clearly has a great sense of empathy, especially for the vast numbers of Catholics and people in general in the global south and elsewhere who live in unspeakable poverty and injustice,” says Small, who was the former Secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Protection of Minors under Francis. “But by being in touch with such massive amounts of suffering, one might unwittingly relativize the pain of a much smaller group of people in the church who are victims or survivors of sex abuse committed by its members or mismanaged by its leadership. We all have something we need to work on, and I think that is an area that needs urgent attention.”

Pope Leo is inheriting a church in financial distress, says John Allen, a longtime Vatican analyst and the editor of Crux, a catholic magazine. Donations are down, the budget is beset by $94 million deficit and its pension system is grievously underfunded. “The Vatican is, to be frank, a bit of a mess right now, particularly with regard to its finances. It's facing a ticking financial time bomb.” One that Pope Leo will have to diffuse quickly. 

For the secular world, one of Francis’ most important contributions was his stance on climate change. His seminal Laudato Si’ encyclical, a 176-page pastoral letter on the religious importance of caring for the planet, sparked a climate movement in the catholic church that echoed through the temples and mosques of the world’s other great religions. As the inheritor of that green mantle, Pope Leo will be expected to maintain the Vatican’s commitments on climate change while urging world leaders to do the same. “The planet, our own survival, is at stake,” says Father Joshtrom Isaac Kureethadam, a professor at Rome’s Salesian Pontifical University.

As cardinal, Prevost was known as a passionate environmentalist. In a 2024 seminar on climate change in Rome, Prevost reiterated the Holy See’s commitment to protecting the environment and urged countries to move “from words to action… Dominion over nature”—the task which God gave humanity—should not become “tyrannical,” he said. It must be a “relationship of reciprocity” with the environment. Given his background in Peru, one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, he will likely keep carrying that banner. 

Francis’ shadow looms large, but ultimately, Pope Leo XIV is the successor of Peter, the first pope, not Francis, the most recent one. He will make his own mark, and the faithful will follow. The rest of the world will take note. 

Correction, May 9

The original version of this story misstated when Francis first made Prevost a Cardinal. It was September 2023, not February 2025.

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