NYT:
Robert Francis Prevost was elected the 267th pope of the Roman Catholic Church on Thursday and took the name Pope Leo XIV, becoming the first pope from the United States and defying the conventional wisdom before the conclave that any American would be a long shot to become pontiff.
A puff of white smoke from a chimney above the Sistine Chapel signaled that the cardinals sequestered inside for two days had elected a new leader the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics. As pope, Leo XIV will confront difficult decisions about the church’s direction, chiefly whether to continue the agenda of his predecessor, Pope Francis, who championed greater inclusion and openness to change until his death last month, or forge a different path.
The cardinals reached their decision after being in conclave for a little more than 24 hours, and after several rounds of voting. The group of 133 cardinals, the most ever to gather in a conclave, included many who were appointed by Francis and some who did not know one another. That had made reaching a quick consensus a serious challenge, given the broad group of contenders and the splits among them about the future of the church.
Despite his American roots, Cardinal Prevost, a 69-year-old, Chicago-born polyglot, is viewed as a churchman who transcends borders. He served for two decades in Peru, where he became a bishop and a naturalized citizen, then rose to lead his international religious order. Until the death of Francis, he held one of the most influential Vatican posts, running the office that selects and manages bishops globally.
A member of the Order of St. Augustine, he resembles Francis in his commitment to the poor and migrants and to meeting people where they are. He told the Vatican’s official news website last year that “the bishop is not supposed to be a little prince sitting in his kingdom.”
He has spent much of his life outside the United States. Ordained in 1982 at age 27, he received a doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. In Peru, he was a missionary, parish priest, teacher and bishop. As the Augustinians’ leader, he visited orders around the world, and speaks Spanish and Italian.
Often described as reserved and discreet, he would depart stylistically from Francis as pope. Supporters believe he will most likely continue the consultative process started by Francis to invite lay people to meet with bishops.
It is unclear whether he will be as open to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Catholics as Francis was. Although he has not said much recently, in a 2012 address to bishops, he lamented that Western news media and popular culture fostered “sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the Gospel.” He cited the “homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children.”
His predecessor was, of course, the first pope from the Americas. But having an American elected head of the church is extraordinary and, certainly, unexpected.
Writing on May 2, NYT Japan reporter Motoko Rich (“There’s Never Been a Pope From the U.S. Could This Cardinal Change That?“) speculated that it might happen.
For betting types, the conventional wisdom says not to put your money on a pope from the United States.
Yet one American some Vatican watchers say could scrape together enough votes is Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, 69, a Chicago-born polyglot who is viewed as a churchman who transcends borders.
[…]
As ideological camps tussle over whether to continue Pope Francis’ inclusive agenda or return to a conservative doctrinal path, supporters of Cardinal Prevost pitch him as a balanced alternative among the papabili, as likely candidates for the papacy are known.
The Rev. Michele Falcone, 46, a priest in the Order of St. Augustine previously led by Cardinal Prevost, described his mentor and friend as the “dignified middle of the road.”
The cardinal resembles Francis in his commitment to the poor and migrants and to meeting people where they are. He told the Vatican’s official news website last year that “the bishop is not supposed to be a little prince sitting in his kingdom.” Rather, he said, a church leader is “called authentically to be humble, to be close to the people he serves, to walk with them, to suffer with them.”
[…]
The cardinal understands that the center of the Roman Catholic Church “is not in the United States or the North Atlantic,” said Raúl E. Zegarra, assistant professor of Catholic theological studies at Harvard Divinity School.
Given Cardinal Prevost’s international experience, knowledge of the United States and work inside the Vatican hierarchy, said Marco Politi, a veteran Vatican analyst in Rome, “if he were not American, this would make him automatically a papabile, certainly.”
[…]
Supporters of the cardinal said they expected him to continue the consultative process started by Francis to invite lay people to meet with bishops.
“I know that Bob believes that everybody has a right and a duty to express themselves in the church,” said the Rev. Mark R. Francis, a former classmate of Cardinal Prevost who runs the American arm of the Clerics of St. Viator, a religious order.
He certainly seems to be from a conservative mold:
Whereas Francis said, “Who am I to judge?” when asked about gay clerics, Cardinal Prevost has expressed less welcoming views to L.G.B.T.Q. people.
In a 2012 address to bishops, he lamented that Western news media and popular culture fostered “sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the gospel.” He cited the “homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children.”
As bishop in Chiclayo, a city in northwestern Peru, he opposed a government plan to add teachings on gender in schools. “The promotion of gender ideology is confusing, because it seeks to create genders that don’t exist,” he told local news media.
And, on the issue that has most dogged the church in recent decades, he does not have clean hands:
While praised in Peru for supporting Venezuelan immigrants and visiting far-flung communities, the cardinal has drawn criticism over his dealings with priests accused of sexual abuse.
One woman in Chiclayo who said she and two other women were sexually abused by two priests as girls long before Cardinal Prevost was bishop accused him of mishandling an investigation and of not stopping one of the priests from celebrating Mass.
The diocese of Chiclayo said Cardinal Prevost opened an investigation that the Vatican closed. After a new bishop arrived, the investigation was reopened. Supporters of Cardinal Prevost say he is the target of a smear campaign by members of a Peruvian-based Catholic movement that Francis disbanded.
In Chicago, activists say his office did not warn a nearby Catholic school that a priest who church leaders determined had abused young boys for years was sheltered in a monastery nearby starting in 2000. As head of the Midwestern order of Augustinians at the time, Cardinal Prevost would have approved the priest’s move to the monastery.
Temperamentally, he seems a classic politician:
Friends of the cardinal say he speaks carefully.
Compared with Francis, his language is “more serene,” said the Rev. Alejandro Moral Antón, Cardinal Prevost’s successor as Augustinian leader.
Where Francis might immediately speak his mind, Cardinal Prevost “holds himself back a bit,” Father Moral Antón added.
As always, it’s hard to predict how someone will perform once they reach the highest ranks of their profession. Many a Supreme Court Justice performed differently once elevated than they had on the lower courts. Ditto popes and cardinals.
It’s noteworthy that, at 69, he’s relatively young for a newly-elected pope. Francis was 76 and Benedict XVI 78 when they assumed the post. One would presume a long tenure but, of course, one never knows. John Paul I was a mere 65 when he assumed the papacy and died a short 33 days later.
