Prudent yet conciliatory, Pope Leo XIV has gradually imprinted his style on the leadership of the Catholic Church, finding his voice as he takes on some of the world’s most pressing issues, from bloody conflicts to artificial intelligence.
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he → imprint → intelligence
When elected to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics on May 8, 2025, the former Robert Francis Prevost from Chicago had on-the-ground experience from more than two decades as a missionary in Peru, as well as insider knowledge of the Vatican and Roman Curia.
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Prevost → elect → Vatican
In the nearly year and a half since, Leo’s character and priorities have more clearly emerged, revealing a pope unafraid to intercede in some of society’s thorniest problems — whether trying to steer emerging technology in a more responsible direction, or exhorting leaders not to write off society’s most disadvantaged.
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character → emerge → society
After a recent spate of papal trips throughout Italy and abroad, including a visit to Africa in April and Spain in June, he will head to France next week, from September 25 through 28.
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he → include → 28
Leo has ancestors of Spanish, Italian, Quebecois, Monegasque and Creole extraction — as well as French, which the polyglot pontiff can read.
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pontiff → have → which
His paternal grandmother was born in France’s western port city of Le Havre before emigrating to the United States at the start of the 20th century.
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grandmother → bear → century
Soft-spoken, calm, and methodical, the pope who turned 71 this month has gradually revealed a more vocal side.
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who → turn → side
Martin Dumont, secretary-general of the Research Institute for the Study of Religions at the Sorbonne University in Paris, said that Leo XIV “wins people over.”
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XIV → say → people
“At first he seemed almost withdrawn, and eventually we saw the character reveal himself,” Dumont told AFP.
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Dumont → seem → AFP
Being American, “he very quickly managed to grasp the codes of modern communication, which wasn’t necessarily the case with Francis,” his Argentine predecessor, he added.
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he → manage → Francis
This year, he denounced corruption in speeches delivered in front of African leaders in power for decades, challenged Europe to receive, protect and integrate migrants, and defended himself against biting, personal attacks from U.S. President Donald Trump.
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he → denounce → Trump
Leo’s interests — tennis, swimming, and his Chicago White Sox — go hand in hand with a relaxed relationship to the modern world: he wears a smartwatch under his cassock and has engaged with teenagers, mimicking the gestures of viral 6-7 trend.
But beyond style, the 267th pope is above all seeking to anchor his pontificate in the major transformations of contemporary society.
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pope → go → society
Leo’s first encyclical, published in May, called for putting AI at the service of human dignity, a warning that has reverberated well beyond Catholic circles.
“He’s a scientist, a mathematician, someone who used to repair cars and computers.
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who → publish → cars
With the encyclical ‘Magnifica Humanitas’, he truly engages with the problems of our era, especially those linked to technology,” Veronique Lecaros, author of “Leo XIV, Portrait of a Peruvian Pope,” told AFP.
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Lecaros → engage → AFP
On the international stage, he has continued Francis’s push for peace in ongoing conflicts, offering the Holy See as mediator between Moscow and Kyiv, while adopting a more forceful tone regarding the Russian invasion of its neighbour.
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he → continue → neighbour
Moreover, Leo’s opposition to Trump “helps make him popular,” said Charles Mercier, director of studies at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE) in Paris.
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Mercier → help → Paris
“It turns him into a figure of resistance to the danger of authoritarian populism,” he said.
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he → turn → populism
‘Happens to be American’
Born on Sept. 14, 1955, the youngest of three brothers used to play priest, distributing candy discs as communion wafers to kids in his neighbourhood.
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youngest → happen → neighbourhood
Ordained into the priesthood in 1982, he joined the mendicant Order of Saint Augustine, which he eventually headed in two consecutive terms from 2001 to 2013, a role that took him around the world visiting Augustine communities.
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that → ordain → communities
Sent as a missionary to Peru in 1985 — whose nationality he later adopted — he forged close ties with the local population over two decades-long missions.
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he → send → missions
He was later made the apostolic administrator of the Chiclayo diocese.
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He → make → diocese
When he was made a cardinal by Francis in 2023, then-Archbishop Prevost was at the helm of the powerful Dicastery for Bishops, a key Vatican department that advises the pope on appointments.
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that → make → appointments
In the Roman Curia, he built a reputation as a skillful mediator, acting as a bridge-builder between progressive and conservative voices.
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he → build → voices
Leo has been described as “the least American of Americans.”
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Leo → describe → Americans
“I have great love for America,” he said in a July interview with U.S. broadcaster NBC.
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he → have → NBC
But, he added, “I think of myself more as the pope who happens to be American.”
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who → add → pope
The Aporia
