Pope Leo XIV (the former Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost), by his training and character, will—while keeping the content unchanged (the script is always the same, the Gospel)—certainly be more rigorous and attentive than the combative but somewhat instinctive Bergoglio (the late Pope Francis). I believe this trait, along with his background as a missionary amongst the poor in Peru, led the vast majority of the conclave to support the North American proposal. A too-striking shift—or confirmation—compared to Francis would have highlighted divisions and conflicts. Instead, it seems Prevost received the approval of over 100 cardinals, positioning himself as the guarantor of a new unity.

He won’t, therefore, be the anti-Trump—and Cardinal Dolan of NYC believes he even wants to build bridges with the Tycoon—but he certainly won’t allow himself to be used in Trump’s attempt to create a political-religious community that cuts across churches and evades their jurisdiction, even in matters of faith. On the contrary, I presume Leo XIV will work to show the clean and popular face of the Catholic Church in the U.S., after the divisions and scandals (especially around pedophilia), in an effort to regain the credibility lost to other churches and religious sects.

The composition of the conclave, as well as the dynamics of Leo XIV’s election, also marks the decline of the Italian Church, which started as the favorite with Parolin and Zuppi, in light of the growing awareness that the future of the Catholic Church is shifting toward Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

The man is relatively young and has many years of pontificate ahead of him to define his policy—there will be time to evaluate him. Regarding workers, Prevost took the name Leo XIII, the pope who in 1891, with Rerum Novarum, laid the foundations of the Church’s social doctrine to confront the spread of socialism. Perhaps it is no coincidence that—this time amid the deafening silence of the left even on this issue—he expressed concern about unemployment, and especially about the conditioning of consciences that artificial intelligence could lead to.

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