A new pontiff with old roots

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Tuesday, the 13th of May.

Thanks for listening to WORLD Radio! Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

First up on The World and Everything in It, a new pope with an old name.

On Sunday, newly elected Pope Leo the Fourteenth greeted the crowds in St. Peter’s Square, offering his first blessing and a call for peace around the world.

REICHARD: The American-born Cardinal Robert Prevost—chosen by the conclave last Thursday—now steps into one of the most influential roles in the world.

But will he follow in the footsteps of Pope Francis? Or lead the church toward a more traditional course?

Here’s WORLD Radio’s Executive Producer Paul Butler.

SOUND: [HOLY NAME CATHEDRAL SERVICE]

PAUL BUTLER: This weekend Catholic churches around the world celebrated the selection of their newest pope.

TON NGUYEN: Habemus Papam! We have a new Pope and he's from Chicago!

At Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral Associate Pastor Ton Nguyen declared the selection of the first American Pope as an opportunity for the global church to renew its hope in Christ.

In Peru, celebrations were more lively, with folk dancing in the streets:

SOUND: [FOLK DANCING]

And during a Saturday evening mass:

EDINSON FARFÁN: [SPANISH] Today we want to thank the risen Lord for having given us this Thursday, May 8, a new successor of Peter, a vicar of Christ, Pope Leo XIV, our beloved Bishop.

Bishop Edison Farfan led the congregation at the Chiclayo Cathedral in a prayer of thanksgiving for the man they lovingly call their “beloved bishop…”

Meanwhile in Rome, the new pope gave his first Sunday Papal Blessing at St. Peter’s Square. During his comments, Pope Leo XIV revealed more about what he sees as his most pressing priorities. including peace in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Then during comments at the Vatican Monday he expressed solidarity with imprisoned journalists and affirmed the importance of free speech and the press. He also returned to Pope Francis’s warning about the dangers of Artificial Intelligence.

Before Friday’s election by the College of Cardinals, Robert Prevost was not a top contender for leading the church. The first question for many observers after his election was “what kind of pope will he be?” Four days later, it’s still unclear, though his brother John told the Associated Press:

JOHN PREVOST: I think he will be a 2nd Pope Francis. I think he's got great concern for the plight of the poor...

That said, experts watching the vatican say while Leo may have similar substance to Francis, his style could well be different.

JORDON BALLOR: It's clear that he has a Christ-like concern for the poor, but he doesn't conflate love with acceptance of whatever you find in the world.

Jordan Ballor is Director of Research at the First Liberty Institute’s center for religion, culture, and democracy. He says Prevost’s choice for his papal name harkens back to a figure who brought catholic teaching to bear on modern challenges.

BALLOR: Leo XIII, as a kind of nominal predecessor, brings to mind a revival of Catholic Social Teaching, a commitment to bringing the wisdom of the church to the world.

Pope Leo XIII served at the turn of the 20th century. He set a new precedent by writing a letter titled Rerum Novarum, using scripture to critique ideas that grew into socialism and economic liberalism.

BALLOR: So with the choice of the name Leo the 14th I immediately, you know, began thinking of someone who's focusing on rebuilding, restoring the church in many ways, and renewing the tradition and applying it to the present day.

Pope Leo XIV steps into office with culture wars and military conflicts raging around the world, and questions about the future of the church dividing it from within.

STEPHEN WHITE: What does it mean to be a church that's walking together?

Stephen White is Executive Director of the Catholic Project at the Catholic University of America, and a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. He says for decades, the Catholic church has been trying to figure out how to walk together through synods…meetings of bishops to discuss how the church should address important issues. Pope Francis took that a step further by setting up a Synod on Synodality, bringing Catholics and non-Catholics together to discuss issues like women in the church and authority structures.

White says hearing questions and concerns of the watching world has value, but not for deciding what to say about the gospel.

WHITE: If the church comes to the world and says, we don't know what the truth of the gospel is, can you help us find out? You're not going to have a lot of credibility.

The Synod on Synodality published its findings last year. It’s now working on what to do next, particularly on the question of ordaining women. White says he’s watching to see what Pope Leo does with the Synod going forward.

WHITE: But to this point, it's, it's created more smoke than light, more heat than light.

As a cardinal, Robert Prevost did not take public stands on many hot-button issues, but his track record encourages First Liberties researcher Jordan Ballor.

BALLOR: He seems to be much more open to speaking in more traditional and straightforward terms about realities like sex and gender and the norms that the Bible teaches and that the Church teaches.

Leo has already presented himself as more traditional than Francis in how he approaches the papacy, but he’s also demonstrated a clear continuity with his predecessor’s priorities, prompting many to wait and see how he comes down on issues of the day. But Ballor hopes he will take the approach of his namesake, Leo XIII.

BALLOR: when you're faced with corruption, when you're faced with the challenges of adapting to changing circumstances, there's nothing more wise or prudent than to go back to your unchanging foundations, so for the Pope of course that’s going to be the magisterium of the church, and the tradition, and an emphasis on the centrality of Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Paul Butler.

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