As I pondered what I could write about in my very first column for Radio Veritas, it struck me that it has a new Editor. And he has brought with him a lot of new ideas.
That word ‘new’ took me to what was new about the Catholic Church: the new Pope. He has crossed a hundred days already, but he is still the new Pope, isn’t he?
We had not heard about him at all before the papal conclave. Eager to know what kind of person he is and where exactly he is on the ideological spectrum, Catholics have devoured whatever they could find on him and his past.
He is the first American Pope, born and raised in Chicago. But he is also a naturalized citizen of Peru. He spent 20 years in Peru, serving as Apostolic Administrator and then Bishop of the diocese of Chiclayo and as Apostolic Administrator of Callao for a few years. This means that he is a dual citizen of both the United States and Peru.
He is also the first Augustinian to be elected the Pope, and he would not let anyone forget it. In his very first speech from the balcony of St Peter’s, he said, “I am a son of Augustine.” In a video message he sent to his fellow Augustinians in Philadelphia on 28 August 2025, Pope Leo said, “So much of who I am I owe to the spirit and the teachings of St. Augustine.”
This repeated assertion has raised questions in some. Writing in the Tablet, Werner G. Jeanrond asks, “Will Leo reflect the suspicion of women and sexuality harboured by Augustine – and, indeed, by a long list of Popes – or will he embrace the gospel accounts, which show that both women and men were among the followers of Jesus and leaders in the early Church?.. Will Augustine’s theology or Augustine’s pastoral ingenuity come to the fore in this pontificate?” (26 July 2025)
The answer to this question may be found in the observations and comments from women who have had a chance to interact with him. A book, published after Pope Leo’s election, Pope Leo XIV: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy, quotes two women who happen to know him well. Sr Nathalie Becquart, XMCJ, the French nun, whom Pope Francis, in 2021, made the Undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, wrote in L’Osservatore Romano, a few days after Pope Leo was elected, “I have observed a man with a great sense of listening – simple and discreet, calm and thoughtful, embodying the core attitudes of synodal spirituality.”
Susan Pascoe from Australia, one of the moderators at the two Synods of 2023 and 2024, was at the same round table as Cardinal Robert Prevost (Pope Leo) at the 2024 Synod which lasted an entire month. Asked about the new Pope, she said, “He was respectful of other views, listened attentively, and responded accordingly. His disposition led toward compassionate and non-judgmental responses.”
Therefore, women who knew him well have answered the question if the new Pope will be impacted by Augustine’s suspicion of women. He will not be.
Will he follow the agenda of Pope Francis or Pope Benedict XVI? If you watched the film, The Two Popes, you’d know how different they were. Therefore, the question in the minds of those who loved Pope Francis was, ‘Will his successor be like him? Will he follow his path?’
Pope Leo was a friend and a close confidant of Pope Francis. No wonder he recalled him in his first speech. He referred to Pope Francis's final blessing delivered from the same balcony on Easter Sunday, just hours before his death. He then said, "Thank you, Pope Francis!" Therefore, he made it clear that he would not take the Church in a different direction and so his election signaled continuity.
But at the same time the new Pope has shown that he will be his own individual, unique self and will not blindly imitate Pope Francis. You could have seen it right from the moment he came onto the balcony after the election. When Pope Francis chose white, Leo opted for red. He does not hug people or pose for selfies, as Francis did. Leo went to the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo for a holiday, which Francis avoided. Therefore, it is clear that Pope Leo XIV is not Francis II.
What will our new Pope stand up for and speak up for throughout his pontificate? These will be, in my opinion, the two pillars of his pontificate:
Pope Leo will speak up for the poor. Unlike any other Pope, Leo was a missionary for twenty long years, living and working with the poor in a poor country, Peru.
He will work for peace and try to build unity within the Church and the world. In his very first speech, he prayed for the grace for “all of us to be one people always in peace." His episcopal motto, naturally taken from St. Augustine, is “In Illo Uno Unum” (“In the One we are one”). It affirms that he is keen on overcoming the polarization and division in the Church and the world.
His advocacy for peace and the poor will be more effective because of his striking fluency in the two languages most spoken in the Catholic world – English and Spanish. He is fluent in Italian and can speak French too.
I don’t know about you. As for me, I think the new Pope will be a great Pope.
(M.A. Joe Antony, SJ, is the Editor of Jivan, the magazine of the South Asian Jesuits. He also edits INI, an online quarterly for Jesuits and their associates (www.inimagazine.org). Formerly, he was the Editor of the New Leader, a premier Indian Catholic fortnightly.)
