Quietly, without flashiness, a disarming Pope Leo XIV strives toward unity

On May 8, the curiosity was sated as white smoke billowed from the small chimney atop the Sistine Chapel, and a short time later, the world was introduced to Pope Leo XIV. The man, only hours before, had been Chicago-born Robert Cardinal Prevost. With one word — “Accepto” (“I accept”) — his life was forever changed.

One thing seemed clear from the moment Pope Leo stepped out onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica: He was not another Pope Francis — or another Pope Benedict XVI or St. John Paul II. He intended to do things his own way.

The traditional red mozzetta (shoulder cape) and stole draped over his shoulders — where, for Pope Francis, it had not been — was a sign that perhaps there would be a return to a kind of “normalcy” the papacy had been missing for the past 12 years. No matter what a person’s feelings were toward Pope Francis, it could be agreed upon that the past dozen years were a change from the previous.

Certainly, each of Pope Francis’ immediate predecessors brought unique tastes and innovations to the office they held. But Pope Francis’ unconventional departures from his predecessors (particularly manifested in dropping of many of the traditional trappings, such as the mozzetta, associated with the papacy) left many questions for the new pope to answer — questions which, before Pope Francis, would not have existed.

In addition to wearing the mozzetta, Leo has also brought back the “P.P.” after his signature — a symbol used by popes prior to Francis for centuries as an abbreviation of “Pastor Pastorum.” This stands for “Shepherd of Shepherds” in Latin, a title long ascribed to the papacy as a key indicator of his primary ecclesial status. 

Pope Leo’s signature is, according to custom, on the official formal portrait released by the Holy See just days after his election.

Pope Leo was born Sept. 14, 1955, in Chicago, Illinois. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the Augustinian-run Villanova University in Pennsylvania and joined the order in 1977, making his solemn vows in 1981. He holds a degree in theology from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and a doctorate from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

He joined the Augustinian mission in Peru in 1985 and largely worked in the country until 1999, when he was elected head of the Augustinians’ Chicago-based province. From 2001 to 2013, he served as prior general of the worldwide order. In 2014, Pope Francis named him bishop of Chiclayo in northern Peru, and the pope asked him also to be apostolic administrator of Callao, Peru, from April 2020 to May 2021.

The new pope speaks English, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese and can read Latin and German.

On the balcony, after his greeting to the faithful assembled in St. Peter’s Square following his election, Pope Leo offered the blessing in Latin, and the same with a Hail Mary (“Ave Maria”) he spontaneously led the crowd in praying.

At his first Mass with the cardinals on the day after his election, and again on the following Sunday at his first “Regina Coeli,” Pope Leo offered prayers beautifully in song.

So far, Pope Leo’s style is relatively low-key. He is joyful but calm. He seems intent upon intentionally disarming a Church that has become terribly polarized. And he seems determined to create a neutral ground from which he can begin to implement needed reforms and strengthen unity.

A Christocentric emphasis has come to define Pope Leo’s first weeks. His very first words to the Church as pope were not his own but the words of the risen Christ: “Peace be with you all!” 

Pope Leo shows how Jesus Christ is needed in the world and in the Church, the only one to truly bring unity. He encouraged hope to proceed in faith amid darkness and division.

“Let us move forward, without fear, together, hand in hand with God and with one another!” he said just after his election. “We are followers of Christ. Christ goes before us. The world needs His light. Humanity needs Him as the bridge that can lead us to God and His love. Help us, one and all, to build bridges through dialogue and encounter, joining together as one people, always at peace.”

But he also, in his first homily as pope with the cardinals, acknowledged Christ necessarily brings division.

Beginning by echoing St. Peter’s words — “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16) — he outlined simply, yet comprehensively, the threats today opposed to that proclamation, which exist in “many settings in which Jesus, although appreciated as a man, is reduced to a kind of charismatic leader or superman. This is true not only among non-believers but also among many baptized Christians, who thus end up living, at this level, in a state of practical atheism.”

We embrace a faith often countered today with “many settings in which the Christian faith is considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent. Settings where other securities are preferred, like technology, money, success, power, or pleasure,” he said. Pope Leo lamented society’s temptation to cast Jesus aside. “Once (Jesus’) presence becomes irksome because of His demands for honesty and His stern moral requirements, this ‘world’ will not hesitate to reject and eliminate Him,” he said.

As a means to unite all in Christ, Pope Leo has exhibited no interest in continuing or perpetuating the various ideological divisions so prevalent in the life of the Church. 

He has recalled Pope Francis and key points of his legacy since his first words on St. Peter’s balcony and offered thanks for his pontificate on several occasions since his election, including during a visit to pray at Pope Francis’ tomb in Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major. Pope Leo has mentioned synodality, recognizing it as a worthwhile opportunity for the Church, while also indicating he will move it ahead in his own way.

Pope Francis and other immediate predecessors have often been quoted in the talks Pope Leo has given since his election. He has eased the tensions by seamlessly weaving together the thoughts of his predecessors since the Second Vatican Council — neither on one side or the other, but seemingly just modeling what the late Francis Cardinal George of Chicago referred to as “simply Catholicism.” 

In small ways, these signals and gestures all indicate a somewhat normal state of affairs in the Vatican and Church life at large — a result in itself that is both disarming and unifying.

In his “Regina Coeli” address on his first Sunday in office, Good Shepherd Sunday, and again at his address to media the next morning May 12, Pope Leo spoke of the need for peace in the world. He came across as intent on making peace at all levels a true priority of his pontificate, a peace he described as “unarmed and disarming, humble and persevering … that comes from God, the God who loves us all, unconditionally.”

In his first weeks, Pope Leo appeared to be modeling this for the Church, modeling how to be disarming in the hopes that the world will follow suit. †