Just hours after Pope Leo XIV, the first pontiff from the United States, was elected, the Chicago Cubs were quick to celebrate. They posted a congratulatory message on social media, featuring a digital billboard outside Wrigley Field proudly declaring, “Hey, Chicago, he’s a Cubs fan!”
However, the Cubs’ rivals, the White Sox, swiftly countered. The Pope’s own brother clarified to a local television news station that the new head of the Roman Catholic Church had always been a loyal White Sox supporter.
This playful rivalry over baseball allegiances was an early indicator of a broader pattern in Leo’s nascent papacy. While he readily confirmed his loyalty to the White Sox in a June video message for a gathering at Rate Field in Chicago, he has largely maintained a public neutrality on more divisive church issues. This ambiguity has led followers from all corners to project their own hopes and expectations onto a Pope who appears keen to avoid being neatly categorized.
“He’s got that new pope smell and everybody wants to recruit him to their side,” observed William Cavanaugh, a political theologian at DePaul University in Chicago.
A recently published Spanish biography offered some insights into Leo’s perspectives on certain church debates. He told Elise Ann Allen, a senior correspondent for a Catholic news service, that “at the moment,” he had “no intention of changing the teaching of the church” regarding the ordination of women and that he found it “highly unlikely, certainly in the near future, that the church’s doctrine in terms of what the church teaches about sexuality” or marriage would change.
Despite these statements, Pope Leo has largely kept the door open for continued discussion. This suggests a pontiff more interested in hearing from his diverse global flock than in rigidly adhering to a specific ideological stance. As he put it in an interview for the biography, “I don’t plan to get involved in partisan politics.”
The shadow of Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, looms large. Francis, beloved by progressives but a source of frustration for conservatives, left a legacy that prompts followers to scrutinize every move of the new Pope for clues about continuity or divergence. So far, Leo’s encounters and minor decisions have served as a kind of Rorschach test, interpreted by both conservative and liberal Catholics to support their own narratives.
Leo has enjoyed a longer period of goodwill than his immediate predecessors, whose stances were quickly established. John Paul II and Benedict XVI were known conservatives upon their election. Francis, conversely, was swiftly embraced as a progressive. This reputation was cemented early in his papacy when he visited Lampedusa, a Mediterranean island and a major entry point for migrants into Europe, and later, less than five months into his tenure, famously asked, “Who am I to judge?” when questioned about gay priests.
With the mild-mannered demeanor of a Midwestern uncle, Leo ascended to the pontificate without an extensive public record of speeches or documents that might clearly define his theological or political leanings. Four months into his papacy, he has yet to make any truly significant, defining decisions.
Traditionalist Catholics have pointed to Leo’s initial sartorial choices as a sign of his conservative leanings. His first public appearance on the balcony saw him wearing a red mozzetta (a short cape) and a gold-embroidered stole over his white cassock, a more elaborate style that contrasted with Francis’s preference for simpler attire. Furthermore, Leo chose to vacation at Castel Gandolfo, the traditional papal summer residence that Francis opted not to use, a move hailed by conservatives as an embrace of papal heritage.
Pope Leo also affirmed that government leaders should support families “founded upon the stable union between a man and a woman.” He further permitted Cardinal Raymond Burke, a prominent American critic of Francis, to celebrate the traditional Latin Mass in St. Peter’s during an upcoming pilgrimage. This contrasts with Francis’s previous restrictions on the old rite, which had angered many traditionalists. In the biography interview, Leo expressed his regret that the Latin Mass had “become a political tool, and that’s very unfortunate.”
Conversely, liberal Catholics interpret Leo’s actions as evidence of a progressive spirit akin to Francis. They highlight his emphasis on aiding the poor and his calls for global action to protect Earth from the “ravages” of climate change. L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics, in particular, noted a significant meeting between the Pope and Father James Martin, a highly visible American advocate for inclusivity, as a clear sign of Leo’s open-mindedness.
What is undeniably clear is Leo’s readiness to engage with a broad spectrum of individuals. Notably, he has met with figures whom Francis typically avoided, including Cardinal Burke and Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister and leader of the anti-immigrant League party.
For the most part, Catholics of all stripes have focused on the signals that align with their hopes for Leo’s papacy, largely setting aside those that do not. “There is something remarkable about the fact that he doesn’t seem to have upset anybody really yet,” commented Miles Pattenden, an Oxford University historian specializing in the church. Pattenden drew a parallel to Queen Elizabeth II, suggesting Leo “could offer a general framework for thinking about an issue without alienating people.”
A Gallup poll conducted in July revealed that among 14 global leaders, including President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and former President Trump, Pope Leo received the most favorable rating.
For some Catholics, Leo’s appeal lies less in specific policies and more in his overall demeanor. “It’s hard to say why or what he did to be more conservative,” admitted Alessandro Fornaciari, 26, a software marketing associate in Rome, who enthusiastically welcomed Leo’s election. During the conclave in May, Fornaciari was seen in St. Peter’s Square wearing a T-shirt featuring Cardinal Robert Sarah of Guinea, a prominent opponent of Pope Francis, emblazoned with the slogan “Make Vatican Great Again!”
Leo’s general “vibe” is open to various interpretations. This month, during a general audience in St. Peter’s Square, Robert and Mary Kay Jones, a married couple from Jonesboro, Arkansas, both staunch supporters of Francis, were among thousands braving the rain to see the new Pope. “So far, so good,” remarked Mr. Jones, 57, regarding Leo’s papacy. He perceived Leo’s decision to permit the Latin Mass in the basilica not as ideologically driven, but rather as a gesture of inclusivity toward all worshipers.
Experienced Vatican observers suggest that as the first American pope, Leo is particularly sensitive to the pitfalls of partisanship. “I think he understands that it’s not healthy for the church to have a pope who is clearly appropriated by one side,” explained Massimo Faggioli, a professor of theology at Trinity College Dublin.
Pope Leo has deliberately downplayed his American background, preferring to speak Italian, even though many international followers might better understand English. During a recent general audience, when welcoming English speakers, he listed the United States last in a long, non-alphabetical roster of countries.
However, his American roots could also be an advantage. “People can’t say, like they did about Francis, ‘He doesn’t understand the United States, he just doesn’t see what’s going on,’” Leo reportedly told Ms. Allen.
Some credit the Pope’s balancing act to his personal temperament. “He listens more than he speaks,” noted Anna Rowlands, a political theologian at Durham University in England.
Yet, in the absence of major pronouncements — Leo hasn’t even named a successor to his influential Vatican office responsible for selecting bishops — some followers are growing impatient.
“Everyone expects some response, some comment from the pope, in order then to judge,” said the Rev. Alejandro Moral Antón, a friend of Leo who previously succeeded him as head of the Order of St. Augustine before his own retirement this month.
In the world regions with the fastest-growing Catholic populations, the ideological alignment of the Pope might be a less pressing concern. “They don’t mind whether you are coming from the left or right,” stated Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier of South Africa. “They are poor. They are looking for relief.”
Nevertheless, there are some deeply divisive issues within the church that Pope Leo will likely need to address more definitively than he has so far.
Already, certain factions are pushing boundaries. In Germany, a group of bishops released a document in April proposing that same-sex couples “should be allowed to have blessing ceremonies.” This recommendation appears to go further than what Francis permitted, which was the blessing of the individuals in same-sex couples, but not their unions. In his biography interview, Leo remarked, “I think that the church’s teaching will continue as it is, and that’s what I have to say about that for right now.”
Philip Jenkins, who specializes in global Christianity at Baylor University, suggests the Pope may eventually need to take a clearer stance. “Not to decide is to decide,” he concluded.
Reporting contributed by Josephine de La Bruyère and Elisabetta Povoledo.