What will Leo XIV be like?
The white smoke appeared next to St. Peter's Square, at roughly 17:20, indicating the Conclave had elected a new Pope. I don't think anyone could have guessed they'd elect an American.
Cardinal Robert Prevost appeared on the balcony roughly an hour later, addressed the cheering crowd and took the name 'Leo XIV'.
Prevost has a kind face, though he looks like a politician, my partner said. I thought he has a vague resemblance to John Paul II.
What do we know about the new Pope? Not much. He has a BSc in mathematics, or somesuch. He joined an Augustine religious order early in his vocaion, spent at least a decade as a missionary in Peru, moved back to Chicago and was recently appointed to the position of Cardinal by Pope Francis. Having been a member of half a dozen dicasteries, he has some familiarity of Vatican administration.
It has been observed that, because the Conclave had elected Prevost within two days of voting, they already had a solid idea of the kind of Pope they felt the Church needs. What kind of Pope would that be, though?
One thing that gripped my shit was the BBC commentators lazily used the word 'centrist' multiple times to describe papal candidates. The 'term' centrist implies an absence of principles or ideas. The Church has definite, unchanging positions on countless things. Those positions are, and always will be conservative. If a Pope appears outwardly progressive, it's only because the secular world's understanding of what it means to be 'progressive' had changed. Even the Conservative Party, prior to Thatcher's government, was very left-wing by today's standards.
It's too early to tell where Leo XIV would lead the Church. He spoke a lot about 'building bridges' during his commencement speech, so perhaps he recognises the Church exists in a divided and polarised world, perhaps he sees the Church as being a common ground, or perhaps he'd do more to placate the TradCons who bitched incessantly about Pope Francis' outward gestures of kindness toward the other.
I think Leo XIV will continue some of Pope Francis' legacy, in reaching out to the marginalised, especially to the economically disadvantaged, and advocating for social justice. That he spent much of his vocation in missionary work, and took the name Leo XIV, suggests this. And he already seems at odds with the Trump administration. I think he'll also be more of a traditionalist than Francis was.