VATICAN CITY — In Italy he’s known as the Latin Yankee.
Robert Francis Prevost, anointed Pope Leo XIV on Thursday, is the first American pontiff in the Catholic Church’s history.
But Vatican observers will quickly tell you that he’s much more than that: a worldly clergyman as Latin American as he is North American, and a potential bridge builder between two increasingly distant Catholic worlds.
“He’s like a dual passport holder, he’s the perfect pontiff for the present moment,” said Miles Pattenden, papal historian and lecturer at Oxford University.
Prevost’s predecessor Pope Francis, née Jorge Mario Bergoglio, wrestled with widening divisions in a Church split along geographical and ideological lines. Traditionalists who continued to see the institution as a fundamentally Western one were pitted against the millions of new Catholics being minted outside the Old Continent — as well as progressives who ached for the Church to adapt to the modern, liberal world.
While he made some headway, Francis’ efforts to please everyone wrought theological chaos and cultivated a fierce conservative opposition, as well as resistance from Vatican veterans who disliked his reformist agenda.
Prevost — at least in theory — could be the compromise candidate the Church needs.
While born in Chicago, the 69-year-old has spent much of his clerical life abroad as a missionary and teacher in Peru and speaks French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian as well as English. But he’s also familiar with the cutthroat world of Vatican politics and protocol, serving as president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America in Vatican City, where he was also in charge of appointing new bishops.
During the pre-conclave lobbying sessions, the Latin American cardinals saw him as one of their own, and it is likely the Europeans and Americans agreed to go for him as a compromise candidate after much-hyped frontrunner Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s top diplomat, failed to secure the necessary ballots, one Vatican insider told POLITICO.
The speed with which this relative unknown was elected pope hints at his success in building that broad caucus. He was named on Thursday at around 7:15 p.m. and chosen after four votes — one of the quickest conclave elections in modern history. Church leaders were likely keen to show unity after years of division under Francis. “It was 10 years of civil war,” said Vatican watcher Marco Politi.
At the same time, his appointment has done little to appease the ultra-conservatives who long bristled under Francis’ reformist reign, and indicates that progressives got the upper hand in the conclave despite feverish attempts by MAGA-aligned conservatives to exert influence.
“It’s pretty much what I expected — the same sort of thing as Bergoglio regarding the substance, but slightly pared down in terms of style,” said Benjamin Harnwell, a close ally of former Trump strategist Steve Bannon and the Europe correspondent for the War Room podcast.
Indeed, Prevost has already signaled that he will follow the tradition of Francis, said Stephen Schneck, former director of the Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies at the Catholic University of America.
Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said the name Leo XIV pays tribute to Pope Leo XIII, a 19th century pontiff who introduced modern social doctrine to the church and defended the rights of workers. “It’s not a casual reference.”
Leo XIII’s teaching “created the part of the church that supports environmentalism, racial justice and a more democratic approach. I think he is a very good choice for a world where authoritarianism is on the rise,” Schneck said.
“What he said in his address shows he will be a continuation of Francis, as he put an emphasis on solidarity and the marginalized. Obviously, he won’t be the same, but he will be in the tradition of Francis.”
But at the same time, Prevost has already distanced himself from the warm personalism and radicalism of his late predecessor. In particular, his choice on Thursday to wear the traditional red stole that was worn by Benedict XVI — but eschewed by Francis — signals “some degree of conservatism,” Pattenden said.
“He’s not a Francis guy,” agreed the person quoted above, who knew Francis. “He’s not a Franciscan — he’s close to Francis, but he’s not a true Francis continuity candidate, which would’ve been Tagle,” a reference to Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, considered a progressive frontrunner.
To some, it’s vindication — at least partially — of the popular conception that new popes always counterbalance their predecessors, embodied in the famous Italian saying “fat pope, thin pope.”
“They’ve decided that after the fat pope they need the thin one who can run the show, manage things effectively and restore a bit of order to the sometimes chaotic operations that Francis left behind,” Pattenden said.
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