The American cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected Pope today by the assembly of 133 cardinals gathered in Rome, assuming the name Leo XIV. His name is reminiscent of Leo XIII, a pontiff renowned for authoring the 1891 social encyclical Rerum Novarum, which addressed workers’ rights and capitalism.
In an interview, the professor from the Faculty of Theology at the Catholic University recalled Leo XIII, an Italian leader of the church from 1878 to 1903. “He was a man who managed to create significant consensus,” he remarked.
“He was a major driving force behind what is considered the social doctrine of the Church, particularly emphasizing the working class. This indicates a politically motivated concern, though political in the sense of striving for peace. Indeed, his discourse started with themes of peace and reconciliation,” he continued.
João Manuel Duque noted that Prevost’s American origin is geopolitically significant, suggesting the new Pope’s political focus may be on reconciliation.
“Given the United States’ crucial and continuous role in the international arena, his American background is also significant,” Duque pointed out.
He further commented that Pope Leo XIV is expected to continue Pope Francis’s work but lacks Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s charisma, maintaining “a style that rejects ultraconservative models.”
“It will be a more serene progressivism. Additionally, internally within the Church, education in Canon Law tends not to foster radical progressivism. Thus, it will be a balanced progressivism, which in continuity with Pope Francis’s work, seems significant and potentially interesting for the Church’s next phase,” he emphasized.
The scholar remarked that, akin to the transition from John Paul II to Benedict XVI, the Church may now enter a calmer phase to possibly avoid excessive tensions in the Vatican.
The expectations of electing an anti-Francis Pope did not materialize, indicating that the Conclave and the broader Church agree on certain continuities in internal or external transformations.
The professor added that being trained in Canon Law, Pope Leo XIV is more attentive to the Church’s structures, focusing on ecclesiastical governance rather than pastoral transformations, presenting “a certain balance concerning Francis, but in continuity.”
“Perhaps that’s what we need next in the Church,” he added.
Robert Francis Prevost, aged 69, became the first American cardinal elected as Pope after a two-day conclave to select Francis’s successor. Francis passed away at 88 after a 12-year pontificate.
Leo XIV was born in Chicago, with Spanish ancestry and Peruvian nationality, and belongs to the Order of St. Augustine.
