[Sundaycommunity] Article in Le Monde today

[John MacMillan]

Leo XIV, a pope of balance and appeasement By Benoît Vitkine
</en/signataires/benoit-vitkine/>, Sarah Belouezzane
</en/signataires/sarah-belouezzane-1/> and Amanda Chaparro
</en/signataires/amanda-chaparro/> (Cuzco (Peru) correspondent) Published
today at 10:29 am (Paris), updated at 11:45 amThe American Robert Francis
Prevost's affiliation with the mendicant order of the Augustinians, known
for their commitment to tradition and charity, and his understanding of the
Curia contribute to a reassuring image. Grounded in modernity and mindful
of the marginalized, his pontificate promises 'unity' and collegiality.

When his name was announced, there was a murmur of confusion among the
crowd gathered in Saint Peter's Square, Rome. "Prevost? Who is he?" In the
election for the Throne of St. Peter, observers saw him as a serious
candidate due to his ability to unite and bring peace to the Church.
However, to the general public, Robert Francis Prevost, the 267th pope of
the Catholic Church and the first to come from the United States, is
unknown.

When white smoke appeared from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel on
Thursday, May 8, shortly after 6 pm, onlookers were still betting on the
victory of Pietro Parolin, former second in command to Francis and the
anticipated favorite for the papacy. "It will be him, Parolin, with the
papal name Paul VII," predicted two French priests. The speed with which
the election was concluded – four rounds of voting, totaling 24 hours of
conclave – seemed to support this hypothesis.

But it was Robert Prevost, from the Order of Saint Augustine, who was
elected. He took the papal name Leo XIV. This choice places the new pontiff
in the continuity of Leo XIII, the pope who forged the Church's social
doctrine, notably through the encyclical *Rerum Novarum* ("Of New Things"),
published in 1891. In short, the promise of a pontificate rooted in
modernity and concerned for the poor, the marginalized, the excluded – the
"peripheries," as Francis would have said, to whom Leo XIV paid a heartfelt
tribute in his first speech.
[image: Newly elected Pope Leo XIV appears on the balcony of St. Peter's
Basilica, Vatican City, on May 8, 2025.] <img src="
https://img.lemde.fr/2025/05/09/0/0/4000/2666/1920/0/75/0/a630e40_sirius-fs-upload-1-z6rou59vpd1y-1746772264729-327389.jpg"
alt="Newly elected Pope Leo XIV appears on the balcony of St. Peter's
Basilica, Vatican City, on May 8, 2025." />

"We have to look together how to be a missionary church (...) always open
to receiving with open arms for everyone, like this square, open to all, to
all who need our charity, our presence, dialogue, love," he said in a
statement that sounded like an action plan, longer than tradition dictates.

With his face framed by glasses, visibly moved, Prevost also called for
"peace" in the world, pronouncing the word ten times. Described as "shy and
less outgoing than Francis" by one of his American colleagues stationed in
Rome, Jesuit priest David McCallum, Leo XIV spoke in a strong, assured
voice in Italian, tinged with a slight accent.
The pope of the Americas

The 69-year-old did not appear intimidated by the crowd, nor by the Roman
pomp: Prevost is a Curia cardinal, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops
since January 2023, a position he was appointed to by Francis. In this
role, he has been able to forge ties with Churches worldwide and
demonstrate his leadership abilities.

"American pope," the symbolism is immense in a world marked by the erratic
governance of Donald Trump. Prevost has repeatedly criticized the American
president, particularly regarding the mass and indiscriminate expulsions of
migrants. On Thursday evening, the US president hailed "a great honor" for
his country, but the coexistence between the two men promises to be
delicate. The American episcopate, which clashed with the Trump
administration on this issue of migrants, should see its authority
strengthened.
Read more Subscribers only Pope Leo XIV, a global citizen who engaged in US
public debate
<https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2025/05/09/leo-xiv-a-global-citizen-engages-in-us-public-debate_6741072_4.html>

In the hustle and bustle of Saint Peter's Square, Leila Brown, 23, from
Washington State with her younger sister, said she could "never imagined we
could have an American pope. I thought the Church would be afraid to give
too much power to Americans in the international context. But I hope he
will bring love to our country, that we stop hating our neighbor for their
skin color."
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However, Prevost, a native of Chicago, Illinois, is more likely the pope of
the Americas than of the United States. When he switched from Italian, it
was to speak in Spanish and greet his "dear diocese of Chiclayo," in Peru,
where he was bishop for eight years. The holder of a Peruvian passport, he
spent three decades in the country.
[image: During a Corpus Christi celebration in a stadium in Chiclayo, Peru,
on June 19, 2015.]

A man of cultural syncretism, Leo XIV is also a pope of synthesis. It is
likely this thirst for unity and peace that secured his election, following
a pontificate by Francis that some in the Church experienced as harsh. Even
though the conclave's secrets are not – yet – known, it seems that the
figure of Pietro Parolin, long described as consensual, ultimately proved
divisive.
Subtle game of symbols

For the members of the College of Cardinals most attached to Jorge
Bergoglio's legacy, the American fits into an obvious continuity. He was
one of the most determined supporters of the Argentine pope, who made him a
cardinal in September 2023. In his first address from the balcony of Saint
Peter's Basilica, he twice saluted his predecessor and followed in his
footsteps by emphasizing the need for "dialogue," "encounter," and
"bridges" that the Church must build.

More specifically, in an allusion to a program of action, he mentioned the
"synodal church" dear to Francis. In 2023 and 2024, Prevost participated in
the synod on the future of the Church, a large assembly aimed at making the
institution more inclusive. "We want to be a synodal church, walking and
always seeking peace," Leo XIV emphasized.

This promise is not just a pledge to the faithful of Francis; it aligns
with the American's convictions. A missionary, a man of the field,
recognized like his predecessor for his pastoral qualities, he explained in
a rare interview with *Vatican News* in May 2023
<https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2023-05/archbishop-prevost-the-bishop-is-a-pastor-not-a-manager.html>
that churchmen often care about "teaching doctrine" at the risk of
"forgetting that our first task is [...] to communicate the beauty and joy
of knowing Jesus." In the same interview, he also explained that the
process of choosing bishops should be "more open to listening to the
different members of the community." Enough to satisfy the "Bergoglians,"
attached to the advent of a more open and less clerical Church governance.

But through a subtle play of symbols, Leo XIV also managed to address those
left discontent with the Francis era, conservatives first and foremost. On
the balcony of the basilica, he appeared wearing the traditional ceremonial
attire, the red mozzetta and a stole embroidered with the figures of Saint
Peter and Saint Paul. In 2013, the appearance of Francis dressed in a white
cassock set the tone for his pontificate: Simple, humble, but also, for his
detractors, nonchalant, disorganized and autocratic. During the general
congregations preceding the conclave, many cardinals expressed their desire
for more peaceful and less personal governance, even at the cost of losing
flamboyance.
Navigating the 'universal church'

"Clothing is a symbol and a message, as strong as words," said Roberto
Regoli, a professor of Church history at the Pontifical Gregorian
University in Rome. Prevost thus reassures both the outside and the inside
of the Church. For the specialist, the new pope sends a "message of unity"
and presents himself as "a pope of balance."

Leo XIV explicitly recalled the need for unity within the Church: "Thank
you to my Cardinal brothers who chose me to be the successor of Peter and
to walk together with you as a united church searching all together for
peace and justice," he declared.

His affiliation with the mendicant order of the *Augustinians*, known for
their commitment to tradition and brotherly charity, his solid knowledge of
canon law and the Curia further contribute to building this reassuring
image. As the head of his dicastery and, previously, of his order, he has
dealt with churchmen from around the world. A position that undoubtedly
taught him to navigate the different cultures that make up the universal
Church. "He is someone who knows how to listen," McCallum, who met him in
the context of the synod on synodality, agreed. "He is not focused on
himself and is dedicated to his task. He also knows how to make difficult
decisions."
[image: Pope Leo XIV's childhood home in Dolton, Illinois, on May 8,
2025.] <img
src="
https://img.lemde.fr/2025/05/09/0/0/4000/2667/600/0/75/0/870508e_ftp-import-images-1-40b7ijjj50zb-5842187-01-06.jpg"
alt="Pope Leo XIV's childhood home in Dolton, Illinois, on May 8, 2025." />

Born in 1955, Prevost grew up in Dolton, a working-class suburb south of
Chicago. His father, of French and Italian descent, a lieutenant commander
during World War II, later became a school principal and catechist. His
mother, a librarian, was also involved in local parish life.

Scientifically trained, like Pope Francis – Jorge Bergoglio was a chemist –
Prevost first attended Villanova University in Pennsylvania, where he
earned a mathematics degree. He then studied theology at the Catholic
Theological Union in Chicago before entering the Order of Saint Augustine,
where he was ordained a priest in 1982 at 27. He then turned to canon law
at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas in Rome before beginning his
South American career.
[image: John Prevost, brother of the new Pope Leo XIV, with a 1958 portrait
of the three brothers, in New Lenox, Illinois, on May 8, 2025.] <img src="
https://img.lemde.fr/2025/05/09/0/0/4500/2930/1200/0/75/0/52c7a3b_ftp-import-images-1-fvcvi53obhu0-ea482339b5b34ce3b69ae7618ad820ba-0-3bdbc8808be34378b92cdf50f4352596.jpg"
alt="John Prevost, brother of the new Pope Leo XIV, with a 1958 portrait of
the three brothers, in New Lenox, Illinois, on May 8, 2025." />

Prevost's vocation lies in mission, as he said himself during his speech on
Thursday. He left in 1985 with the Order of Saint Augustine to Peru, where
he lived as a missionary, with a few interruptions, until 1999. He then
returned to the United States, where he headed the Augustine Province of
Our Lady of Good Counsel in the Midwest, before moving to Rome to become
the order's prior general for 12 years. In this position, he oversaw 2,500
brothers spread across several continents and learned to manage a global
institution.

In 2014, his path led him back to Peru, where Pope Francis appointed him
the apostolic administrator of a diocese, Chiclayo. He later became its
titular bishop. His mission was to restore order in a territory and
especially a Church plagued by numerous tensions. At the time, the
episcopate was torn apart over the case of two bishops: One accused of
pedophilia, the other of personal misconduct.
Social fiber

The man who would later become pope acquired Peruvian nationality in 2015.
"The pope is Peruvian!" echoed many of the country's newspapers on
Thursday, in unison with joy and pride widely shared by the population. The
interim president, Dina Boluarte, hailed a "historic" day for Peru.

In the Andean country, his episcopate was not without challenges. The year
of his naturalization saw the outbreak of the Sodalicio case
<https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/09/02/in-peru-the-vatican-investigates-sexual-predators_6120557_4.html>,
considered the most significant sexual scandal in the country's Church
history. A book, *Mitad monjes, mitad soldados* ("Half Monks, Half
Soldiers,"), by journalists Paola Ugaz and Pedro Salinas, compiled over 30
testimonies from former sodalites reporting "sexual, physical, and
psychological abuse, and sequestrations," committed between 1971 and the
2000s in the Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana community, an organization close
to the far right and very influential in Peru.

Prevost had recommended the dissolution of Sodalicio, achieved in
mid-April, a few weeks before Pope Francis's death. At the head of his
dicastery, Prevost also obtained the dismissal of the former bishop of
Piura, linked to the community.

The cardinal did not hesitate to intervene in the political life of his
adopted country. In 2017, after the presidential pardon granted to Alberto
Fujimori, he urged the former autocrat, who led Peru from 1990 to 2000, to
ask forgiveness from his victims. His social fiber was also evident in
February 2023 when he emphasized, during the repression of protests against
interim president Boluarte, that "the right to protest must be respected."

"There are sectors of the population who feel forgotten, ignored, and who
have legitimate grievances," he noted further.

On Thursday evening, the newly elected pope made an impromptu appearance at
the Apostolic Palace to greet the cardinals present and members of the
Curia. Starting Friday, he will celebrate his first mass as pope – in the
Sistine Chapel, the very place where his election took place. His
inauguration mass is to follow, on a yet-to-be-determined date. The United
States customarily sends their vice president. It would, in this case, be
JD Vance, a Catholic convert and a leading figure of a traditionalist and
nationalist current within the Church, opposed to the vision embodied by
Leo XIV.
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