As soon as a new pope comes out dressed in white from the loggia of blessings, everyone begins to wonder that the Church will be that of the cardinal who has just been chosen. Arduo exercise, because often the popes then “betrayed” the expectations that had characterized their climb to the papal throne, but in any case useful.

To practice it, in this case, it is necessary to examine the past of Robert Francis Prevost, an American Augustinian missionary (first North American pope in history) with roots in Peru, man with solid experiences in the Roman curia (he was until a few weeks ago at the head of the dicastery who appoints bishops all over the world), prelate who shared the spirit of the reforms of Pope Bergoglio without ever being considered. Turbo-Bergogliano, that is, without the harshness that had distinguished some sections of the Argentine pontificate. Exponent of the stars and stripes episcopate and at the same time never very welcome to the Trump Administration, and it is to be bet that in addition to the congratulations of pragmar to Mar-a-lagoes they have not been very happy with what happened in the Sistine.

Leone XIV is all in all a “moderate” (category not suitable in reality to describe a pope and if ever more useful to us to understand its personality). If it were a politician, we would catalog “center of center”, a profile that contains characteristics that convinced the most progressive cardinals, those who wanted a continuation with Bergoglio, and characteristics closer to the conservative universe.

“Augustinian” and the choice of the name Leone: what does it mean

On the social agenda Prevost is certainly close to the idea of ​​a “outgoing” church, attentive to the poor, and its missionary activity actually peripherally testifies to it. The greeting in Spanish who wanted to turn to the “Querida” Peruvian diocese where he served is a sign. However, he is also a man who on gays and non -traditional families has always had less “open -air” positions than those of Francesco, the result of his solid Augustinian formation, a theology (we would say a “narrative”) considered doctrically much less “border” than the Jesuit one.

A Pope halfway between Francesco and Benedetto, it would be said, and it is perhaps precisely what the cardinals were to be looking for (that’s why they elected it only after four votes) and probably the one that the Church needed. A continuer because twelve years like those of Francesco do not cancel themselves with a stretch of pen, but a shepherd who at the same time was able to bring together that he was frayed. A mediator, one who sees the unity of the Church as a value, and that this value will try to pursue. The pontificate that awaits us will probably unfold in this direction.

Then there is the other great theme of peace, which Leone XIV has mentioned several times in his short speech from the loggia of San Pietro. And since we find ourselves in the middle of two and a half wars (Ukraine and Gaza, only to mention the most important), here is the term peace in an American mouth takes on a particular meaning. Especially in the historical phase in which the White House sits a president who has transformed the United States into an objective element of world destabilization.

The American Pope who wants to bring together the Church (and calm Trump)

Perhaps, with a compatriot in San Pietro, even Trump could feel in some way urged to moderate his most extreme impulses (“I take Canada, invade Greenland and Mexico”, just to name a few) considering the religious sensitivity of many of its Catholic voters. Nobody has a magic wand, and we remember how the frequent appeals of Francesco for peace are mostly unheeded, but certainly now the world looks with a renewed hope for the new Church of Leone XIV.

As Prevost, Pope Leone XIV became Pope: the “yield” of the favorite Parolin and peace in conclave