The life of Leo XIV year by yearBy Maria Wiering, OSV News
As the calendar marks 100 days of Pope Leo XIV's papacy on August 16, experts are analyzing his words and actions in hopes of identifying his leadership style, priorities and vision for the future of the church.
But unlike Pope Francis, whose novel domicile and clothing decisions, along with surprise phone calls, outings and comments to journalists, marked his first months of 2013, Pope Leo's papacy has been quieter, marked by his reflective and observant stance, scholars told OSV News.
Historian Joëlle Rollo-Koster, editor of "The Cambridge History of the Papacy," a three-volume set published this summer by Cambridge University Press, sees the 69-year-old Pope Leo using his first months as a period of reception, observation and testing.
"He has been quiet and is less 'loud' than Francis," said Rollo-Koster, who teaches at the University of Rhode Island and is the author of several books on the papacy.
"He is less Argentinean and more Peruvian...in his demeanor: calm, reflective," he added, referring to the decades that U.S.-born Pope Leo dedicated to priestly and episcopal ministry in the South American coastal country. "He is intelligent. He observes everything. He talks to everyone. And then we will see him manifest his true personality."
Seeking unity
However, since his election on May 8, Pope Leo has positioned himself as a figure of unity and peace, and an advocate for humanity in the midst of rapid technological change.
He mentioned artificial intelligence for the first time in an audience with cardinals on May 10, two days after his election as pope. Explaining the inspiration for his name, he told them that Pope Leo XIII, in the 1891 encyclical "Rerum Novarum," addressed the challenges of the Industrial Revolution. "In our day, the Church offers to all the treasure of her social doctrine in response to another industrial revolution and advances in the field of artificial intelligence, which pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and work," he said.
On May 12, he reiterated that concern in his first audience with journalists, saying that AI has "immense potential" but "nevertheless requires responsibility and discernment to ensure that it can be used for the good of all, so that it can benefit all of humanity."
Appeals for peace
Meanwhile, he has drawn attention to international crises and has expressed particular concern about Russia's war in Ukraine and Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. In statements to the press on August 13, he described the Holy See's efforts as "soft diplomacy," always inviting, encouraging the search for nonviolence through dialogue and the search for solutions, because these problems cannot be solved by war."
John Cavadini, director of the McGrath Institute for Church Life and professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame, said Pope Leo has presented himself as a "leader who can be trusted."
His use of traditional symbols of the papacy, such as wearing the papal cape known as a "mozzetta" when he first appeared as pope, taking up residence in the papal apartments and seeking a summer respite at Castel Gandolfo, indicates Pope Leo's aim to be "a leader because of his office and not so much because of his personal charisma," Cavadini said.
"I think that inspires confidence in people, and I think his purpose is to instill confidence; confidence not only in himself, but also in the office he holds, which he obviously has great respect for," he added. "He wants to be an interpretation of the papal office that is credible to everyone."
Although some papal observers have suggested that the first months of this pontificate have provided little material for evaluation, Cavadini said Pope Leo appears instead to be "a very circumspect man" who exercises prudence and respects his role as a representative of something greater than himself.
"You don't want a personal preference to quickly define tenure," he said.
American and Peruvian
Americans, in particular, are looking for signs of national pride or affinity in the first American-born pope. An ardent Chicago White Sox fan, Pope Leo has signed at least one baseball, received a deep-dish pizza and received sports memorabilia from his native Chicago, including from U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance.
Cavadini says he sees Pope Leo conveying a traditionally American sense of responsibility to care for the downtrodden, "to help people who need help."
"I think that's deeply ingrained in the American mindset, and I think he wants to make sure he's perceived that way, as opposed to any political ambition that might be associated with either party," he said. "I know we haven't always lived up to that as Americans, and in some ways it's part of a mythology; but on the other hand, I think it's just a deep aspiration of Americans to be useful."
Rollo-Koster stated that he perceives an international character in the papacy of Pope Leo XIII, marked by his years of residence in Peru and Rome, and his travels around the world while serving as prior general of the Augustinians. He noted that some of the "Americanness" attributed to him, such as his affinity for sports teams, seems forced.
Unity with Francis
So have efforts to distance him from Pope Francis, as Pope Leo has made different decisions about how to "perform" his role, he said. While the two differ in personalities, Pope Leo has demonstrated continuity with Pope Francis' key objectives, including the promotion of integral ecology, which Pope Leo highlighted with the new form of the Mass "for the care of creation," which he celebrated for the first time on July 9.
"It follows in the footsteps of Francis: care for spirituality, care for the poor, care for the marginalized, care for the working class, care for medicine," he said. Some of his decisions could be intentional counterweights to the Trump administration's opposing actions, he noted.
Pope Leo, however, has made clear his Augustinian worldview, steeped in the writings and vision of St. Augustine, the renowned theologian and philosopher who was a bishop in North Africa during the fifth century, and whose thought shaped the founding of the Augustinian Order in 1244. Pope Leo, who joined the order after college in 1977 and served 12 years as its international leader, frequently quotes St. Augustine in his homilies and public addresses.
On May 8, from the balcony of St. Peter's, Pope Leo described himself as a "son of St. Augustine," and his first months as pope have underscored that identity, said Augustinian Father Kevin DePrinzio, vice president for mission and ministry at Villanova University.
Leadership style
"His leadership style is Augustinian. It's 'for' and 'with.' It's like saying, 'I'm with you on this,'" Father DePrinzio said. "I think it's a very accessible spirituality that will captivate people. It's characterized by hospitality, friendship ... the restless heart, you know, the burning heart, and it's a deeply human thing."
On a personal level, Father DePrinzio said he sees Pope Leo as an introvert who has been given the grace to act as an extrovert to meet the needs of his new role. The priest met the future Pope Leo during his formation with the Augustinians in the late 1990s, and their paths have continued to cross. Last year, Father DePrinzio led a pilgrimage of Villanova students to Rome and Vatican City, where then-Cardinal Robert Prevost celebrated Mass for them in the crypt of St. Peter's Basilica. A photo, widely circulated, shows the group posing with the "V" gesture for Villanova, Pope Leo's alma mater.
Augustine's first biographer described him as a mediator, and Father DePrinzio sees Pope Leo assuming a similar role.
"This world needs to know how to dialogue, so I think he will be an example," he said. "It will be hard to define him ideologically. If people are looking for that, I think they will be very confused and won't be able to do that."
Instead, Pope Leo is likely to continually return to a theme he emphasized in his inaugural Mass: unity.
"For an Augustinian, unity is not uniformity, where everyone looks alike," Father DePrinzio said. "It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. But I think it's definitely up to par."
He added, "I think that's really what we need."
