100 Days of Pope Leo XIV.

Initial Situation

The predecessor of Leo XIV, Pope Francis, was not without controversy within the Church. To some, he was seen as a restrained reformer who, although striving to implement innovations in the Catholic Church, ultimately failed due to internal power structures, as he himself—an outsider "from the end of the world," as he said after his election on March 13, 2013—had no power base within the Vatican. Others saw him as a rebel on the verge of betraying tradition because he allowed discussions about the possibility of married priests in the remote Amazon region or refrained from unequivocally condemning homosexual individuals.

The election of the new pope was understood as a choice of direction: Should the Church resume the course of Pope Benedict XVI, a path strongly inward-looking and inclined to lose members rather than face contemporary issues, or should it continue the course of Pope Francis, who emphasized opening the Church and also cared for people on the margins of society, such as prostitutes, prisoners, and the homeless?

Benedict XVI clarified his approach with the dictum of a "de-secularization of the Church," meaning that the Church must neither adapt to nor submit to the spirit of the times. This mindset has permeated Joseph Ratzinger’s work since the late 1960s. His leadership style in the Vatican was therefore perceived as rigorous. To emphasize the claim of a knowledgeable papacy, Benedict XVI revived old rites and wore liturgical and papal garments reminiscent of a time of unrestricted church power.

Francis ostentatiously abandoned signs of papal power and privileges. For example, after his election, he did not wear the mozzetta, the red shoulder cape, for the Urbi et Orbi blessing and only put on the stole at the blessing itself. His greetings and gestures were minimalist to curb what he saw as an excessive veneration of the papal office. Furthermore, Francis did not take up residence in the apartments of the Apostolic Palace but lived in the Vatican guesthouse of St. Martha, where he was also seen standing in line for lunch. Francis also drove a simple white Fiat 500 through the streets of Rome, much to the surprise and delight of the Romans.

His greatest opponent, American Cardinal Raymond Burke, together with some like-minded colleagues, wrote a letter to Francis, known as the dubia, expressing doubts about the pope's orthodoxy. This incredible event, which cost Burke his position and generous apartment in the center of the Eternal City, made it abundantly clear how far the factional struggle within the Catholic Church had advanced.

The election of his successor was regarded as a question of fate for the Church due to the polarizing personality of Francis. Would a successor continue the reform course of the Argentinian, or would the faction around Cardinal Burke appoint a conservative successor to the Chair of Peter, one who in style and substance would reconnect with Francis’ predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI?

Where does the new pope stand in church politics?

With the election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, the College of Cardinals achieved a move that could dissolve the tension between the two factions within the Catholic Church.

His decades-long commitment as a missionary, priest, and bishop for the poorest in Peru, as well as the choice of his papal name, suggest that Leo XIV will be a pope who advocates for the concerns of the poor and disenfranchised. His namesake Leo XIII responded to the precarious situation of workers in the industrial age with the encyclical Rerum Novarum, which still serves as the foundation of modern Catholic social teaching. This commitment to the weak, like his predecessor Francis, Leo complements with a papal dedication to the preservation of creation. Here, Leo indeed continues the path of his predecessor Francis.

However, Leo does not automatically see himself as a liberal reformer. At his first appearance on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, he once again wore the (red) mozzetta and stole, as did the predecessors of Pope Francis before him. Furthermore, Pope Leo has announced that he will move back into the apartments of the Apostolic Palace.

The new pope is "liberal" in the sense that he thinks synodally rather than hierarchically. This is rooted in his spirituality as an Augustinian monk. Central to the teaching of Augustine of Hippo is community. To preserve it requires listening, exchange, approaching one another, and consensus-building. Leo will transfer this spirituality, which he practiced for many years as a simple monk and head of the Augustinian Order, to the universal Catholic Church as pope. Even in his first speech after his election, Leo XIV spoke in this sense of a "synodal Church."

Under him, the 1.4 billion Catholics should not be governed top-down from Rome, but rather by the college of bishops who do not repeat eternal truths but understand the present world through listening. He, the pope, is not an absolute ruler in this construct but the primus inter pares—the first among equals. This view of the papacy shifts the Catholic Church away from the understanding of Joseph Ratzinger, who as Benedict XVI embodied a Church that proclaims and knows.

Leo’s election as successor to Pope Francis illustrates that the universal Church (Cardinal Prevost received far more than the 89 votes needed for his election) overall embraces this ecclesiological vision. With this approach, he also gained acceptance among conservative cardinals, who did not cast their vote for Leo as a vote for a liberal society but for a Church in which their voice will also be heard. The pope will not sideline the traditional wing of the College of Cardinals dismissively.

This intra-church liberal synodality does not mean that Leo XIV will ordain women as priests or give his blessing to same-sex marriages. The pope has never indicated at any point in his career that he sees a need for action here. However, he will listen, moderate, and simply by enabling this synodal dialogue, he will further promote a climate of openness in the universal Church. Where Benedict XVI saw a "dictatorship of relativism" at work, Leo sees a multiplicity within the Church where not everything needs to be regulated down to the last detail.

The Pope and Contemporary World Politics

Leo XIV was, somewhat reductively, referred to in the media as the “first US-American on the Chair of Peter.” This is reductive because, as a member of a religious order and bishop, he lived and worked in Peru for two decades. Robert Francis Prevost holds both US and Peruvian citizenship. The cardinals who elected him therefore did not primarily see him as an American citizen. At the same time, with his election, they made not only an ecclesiastical but also a geopolitical decision. This becomes particularly clear when looking at the other cardinals who were considered favorites before the conclave: a pontificate of Cardinal Luis Tagle, the longtime Archbishop of Manila in the Philippines, would have had a strong connection to Asia and the People’s Republic of China due to his Chinese ancestry. A pontificate of Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, would have focused on the Holy Land and the situation of Palestinians and Christians in the Middle East. By choosing Cardinal Prevost, the cardinals are thus signaling that they see the condition of the United States of America as a critical geopolitical circumstance that the new pope will have to and should address, not least because he is American.

Meanwhile, Christian clergy (not only Catholic) accompany immigrants in the US to their court hearings, hoping to prevent arrests or provide support. Even as a cardinal, Pope Leo XIV criticized the immigration policies of the Trump administration. Further confrontations in this area are to be expected. Both US Vice President J.D. Vance and “Border Czar” Tom Homan are Catholics. They have spoken harshly against Pope Francis, who also criticized the Trump government.

However, many Americans support the new pope’s emphatic stance: a majority find securing the southern border correct. At the same time, a majority opposes Trump’s measures against illegal immigrants inside the country, arbitrary arrests, deportations without trial, and the revocation of visa status for people who have peacefully expressed their opinions. The president here works against a majority of the American people. They might find in Leo XIV a person who represents their convictions.

Key Focus Areas of the Pontificate

After one hundred days in office, a major theme has already emerged that Pope Leo XIV wants to dedicate himself to: Artificial Intelligence, its dangers and possibilities.

Here, Leo builds on his predecessor. Pope Francis warned the world about the dangers that Artificial Intelligence can pose. In the Vatican document Antiqua et Nova (January 2025), the Pontiff spoke of the potential “shadow of evil” of this technology. While it offers “great opportunities,” it also carries “considerable risks.” Pope Francis demanded that the new technology should complement human intelligence, “instead of replacing its richness.”

Pope Leo XIV publicly expressed his concerns about the rapidly advancing AI technology already in the first week after taking office. In his inaugural speech before the College of Cardinals, he declared that the Church would address the risks artificial intelligence poses to “human dignity, justice, and work.” In his first speech to journalists, he referred to the “immense potential” of artificial intelligence while simultaneously warning about the responsibility “to ensure that it can be used for the good of all.”

AI has begun to replace jobs on a massive scale, which could threaten social peace in societies. This aspect is likely to particularly interest Pope Leo XIV. By choosing his name, he connects to his predecessor Leo XIII, who during the Industrial Revolution—a period of great and rapid technological change—advocated for the concerns of the working class. His encyclical Rerum Novarum became the foundation of Catholic social teaching, which to this day is recognized, even outside the Church, as a crucial part of the response to the social question of the 19th century. The “option for the poor” was also highlighted by the Second Vatican Council as an essential characteristic of the Church. Leo XIV, judging by his first weeks on the Chair of Peter, will face the challenge of a “Social Question 2.0.”

Outlook

In the Vatican, an absolute elective monarchy, even small gestures are interpreted in the light of church-political sensitivities. Pope Leo XIV has succeeded in his first hundred days of pontificate to engage both major factions within the Curia and the College of Cardinals. He has subtly connected to the policies and positions of his predecessor and, not least, through his visit to the tomb of Francis in the Roman Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, has emphasized the continuity of the Petrine office. By returning to certain papal insignia and rituals, he has signaled to conservatives that he will not deviate from what they see as the core of Catholicism, personified in the figure of the pope.

One aspect deserves special attention. At official occasions, Pope Leo XIV speaks English alongside Italian and Spanish. This is new. John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis mainly used Italian in daily life and public appearances. With English influenced by American usage and native-level Spanish, a new style enters the Vatican, with which Pope Leo XIV will directly reach hundreds of millions of believers at once. Some in the Curia may find it difficult to follow English, but the pope’s words are now immediately accessible to far more people than under his predecessors.

The positive response in the media and among believers is likely due to this immediacy and openness. Under Leo XIV, the Church will not become arbitrary and pandering to the spirit of the times, as Benedict XVI feared. Instead, it will become more accessible and communicative. The leadership and management responsibility Robert Francis Prevost held before becoming pope enables him, unlike his predecessors Francis and Benedict, to address and answer questions from believers from a position of listening. He will continue on the synodal path. Benedict XVI feared the world too much; Francis lacked the sensitivity or talent to “bring along” the conservative groups in the Church.

Fruits of this approach are already visible: It was completely uncontroversial within the Vatican that on September 1, 2025, the pope met with Jesuit Father James Martin from New York, who advocates for the concerns of LGBTQI+ communities in the Catholic Church. Leo consciously continues the course of Pope Francis: he wants to lead a Church that is open and welcomes all people. Especially in times of populism, exclusion, and disparaging rhetoric against engaged individuals, this path is not only right but also a strong and encouraging signal.An der roten Absatzmarke bei Bedarf einen Seitenumbruch einfügen