A missionary zeal with a global world view

POPE LEO XIV

- CHICO HARLAN and EMILY WAX-THIBODEAUX

ROBERT Prevost broke a historical taboo against American popes with a path that was anything but typically American.

Though the man now called Leo XIV is a Chicago native, he is known in Rome as the “Latin Yankee” for the decades he spent in Peru, ministering to the dispossessed and marginalised and even becoming a naturalised citizen. Until several weeks ago, he held one of the most important Vatican posts, overseeing the powerful office that vets bishops from around the world.

His rise - as a multilingual American with global experience and contacts - marks an attempt by the Catholic Church to find a middle ground at a time of wide internal divisions.

In some ways, Leo clearly follows the mould of Pope Francis, who died last month at 88. He has long espoused a commitment to social justice issues, and two years ago, he described his vision for the Church - with goals of “reaching out to the poor, to the neediest, to those on the margins” — in language mirroring that of Francis.

Prevost was twice elected to head the centuries-old Order of St Augustine. But his new position is so stratospheric — leading 1.2 billion people around the globe — that it can be risky to extrapolate too much about how he'll approach the job, said the Rev William Lego, a parish priest in Chicago who went to high school and college with Prevost.

“Once you're in the chair, everything changes,” Lego said. “You have to be open to the changes. But one thing I know about Bob ~ he is very discerning. He listens to a lot of people. He’s not quick to judge.”

The new pope choked back tears as he walked out onto the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome for the first time Thursday evening. He read his first address in Italian, starting with, “Peace be with you all”.

His lush vestments, in deep red and gold, represented the kind of stylings of the position that Francis had generally shunned - even as Leo spoke warmly about his predecessor.