Pope Leo XIV: America’s first pontiff, between Francis’ legacy and global gaze
“Peace be with you all,” his first sentence.
The Conclave surprised everyone: on a late May afternoon, at 7:08 p.m., after just twenty-four hours of voting, white smoke announced to the world the election of the first U.S. pope in history. È Robert Francis Prevost, born in Chicago, an Augustinian, a missionary in Peru for more than a decade, a man of dialogue and bridges between cultures.
With him, the papacy opens to a new page of history.
At 7:30 p.m., in the golden light of St. Peter’s Square, he appeared on the central loggia with a clear message: he will be Pope Leo XIV, but in the wake of Francis. The reference to his predecessor was constant: spiritual, symbolic and political. “Peace be with you,” – he said, echoing the opening words of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, and already outlining a mandate inspired by continuity.
The inaugural speech, long and institutional, set aside theatrical gestures or catchphrases. No memorable jokes, no plot twists: instead of showmanship, a solemn composure. But the message came through strongly: the Church’s mission to the weakest, the peripheral, the excluded will continue.
Pope Leo XIV presents himself to the world as a young, communicative, strategically inclusive figure. He speaks more to contemporary sensibilities than to the heart of doctrine. With a simple vocabulary, sharp slogans, and an impeccable mastery of media storytelling, he seems to embody the ultimate turning point: the Church ceasing to be a spiritual guide and becoming a global cultural product.
“Peace disarmed and disarming,” an important phrase, which can come close to Gandhi’s active nonviolence, or tenderness as a revolutionary force (Pope Francis has used it this way).
It is also a very powerful concept in relational or narrative psychology: those who do not defend themselves can surprise and melt others’ resistance because they expose themselves without masks.
There is a form of peace that is not imposed.
This is the message of Leo XIV. He does not raise his voice, he does not claim to be right, he does not seek allies to feel strong. It is peace that comes after surrender, but not to an enemy: to oneself.
It is fragile, silent at times. And that is precisely why it makes noise.
They call it disarmed and disarming peace.
Unarmed, because it needs no defense: it does not fear confrontation, it does not escape pain.
Disarming, because it disorients those who expect a confrontation, who look for a weak point to strike and instead find an outstretched hand, a welcoming silence, a listening gaze.
It is a peace that is not won by force, but by the courage to remain human.
And those who encounter it can often never again forget it.
It is not a mystery: the Catholic Church has quietly lost millions of faithful. In Europe and Latin America, churches are emptying out while social media fill up with simplified homilies, shareable sermons and “inclusive” messages. Pope XIV rides this transformation with apparent ease.
Robert Prevost, 69, has mixed family roots and a broad vision, matured not only among the peoples of Latin America but also in the Vatican palaces. A man of government and spirituality, he is considered a mediator between the conservative and progressive souls of the Church. Elected on the very day dedicated to Our Lady, May 8, he was also enthusiastically received by the political world: Donald Trump called him “a great honor for America.”
But Leo XIV will not be “only” an American pope. He will be the Pope of bridges, of the peripheries, of the global South. A pontiff who speaks to the whole world at a time when humanity thirsts for guidance, for meaning, for vision.
With this election, the Church wanted to give a quick and clear response. In a time marked by geopolitical crises, social tensions and moral disorientation, has chosen a figure capable of uniting, guiding and renewing, in the sign of peace and justice.
Have a good life Leo XIV ! Laus Deo.
