Pope Leo XIV: Lifelong servant of the poor and a great uniter

He is being celebrated as the first American Pope, but it turns out that the new leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV, is so much more than that.

Pope Leo XIV is seen for the first time from the Vatican balcony on Friday. Picture: Getty Images

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He is being celebrated as the first American Pope, but it turns out that the new leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV, is so much more than that.

He is also Latino, a missionary, a lifelong servant of the poor and a popular and trusted moderate who promises at a critical time to unite the church and its 1.4 billion followers around the world.

It was no wonder that the 69-year-old, formerly known as ­Robert Prevost, fought back tears as he walked onto the Vatican balcony to the deafening roars of the crowds in Rome’s St Peter’s Square after his papal colleagues chose him as their new leader.

It has been the most unlikely of journeys for a boy who grew up in the gritty south of Chicago ­attending a tiny church, eating at pizza joints and watching his ­beloved White Sox baseball team. Now he was standing in his ­glorious new red and gold papal robes overlooking Rome, with the eyes and expectations of the world upon him.

“Peace be with all of you,” he told the crowd shortly after white smoke had emerged from the Vatican, revealing that a new Pope had been chosen after only four conclave ballots. “We can be a missionary church, a church that builds bridges, that is always open to receive everyone – just like in this square, to welcome everyone, in charity, dialogue and love.”

In the US, there were celebrations across the country at news that, for the first time in the church’s almost 2000-year history, an American had been chosen for the honour. Donald Trump, who upset some in the Vatican last week by promoting on social media a depiction of himself as the Pope, congratulated the new Pontiff. “It is such an honour to realise that he is the first American Pope,” Mr Trump posted. “What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!”

Mr Trump clashed at times with the late Pope Francis and the newly elected Leo XIV has previously used social media to ­amplify criticism of the President’s policies, especially his hard-line immigration stance.

In April, the account under Cardinal Prevost’s name shared commentary from a Catholic writer who asked whether Mr Trump and President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador saw “the suffering” caused by their immigration policies.

“Is your conscious not disturbed?” the post by Catholic church analyst Rocco Palmo, asked. “How can you stay quiet?”

Leo also took JD Vance to task on X recently, criticising the US Vice-President for his views on Jesus and sharing a post which condemned his statements on immigrant deportation policies.

“Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not ­disturbed? How can you stay quiet?” he posted.

In Australia, Anthony Albanese congratulated the Vatican’s new pontiff, saying Leo’s leadership came at an important time for the Catholic Church and for the world. “I will invite his Holiness Pope Leo to Australia for the International Eucharistic Congress being proudly hosted in 2028,” the Prime Minister said.

Leo is the first Augustinian to be elected as the head of the ­Catholic Church, a moment that ­Sydney’s St Augustine’s College principal Jonathan Byrne said “fills our community with deep pride and joy”. “Pope Leo has walked the same path of Augustinian values that shape our school … His election reminds us that we are part of something much greater, yet profoundly connected,” Mr Byrne said.

Recalling a visit from Pope Leo to the northern beaches college in 2008, St Augustine’s religious education teacher Margaret McElhone said: “His humility and willingness to spend authentic time in community was appreciated by all who met him. From participating in all the youth ­encounter activities to saying mass on Collaroy Beach … he (also) spoke at a college assembly and presented the students with sporting awards.”

The new Pope grew up in Chicago, not far from where former US president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle grew up. He served as an altar boy and went to the local parish school and then a seminary high school. His ­American family, a teacher father and a librarian mother, were of mixed French, Italian and Spanish ­ancestry.

Although the Pope initially graduated in mathematics at a Pennsylvania University, he later did a doctorate in canon law in Rome.

But for most of his life, Leo lived outside his native America. He spent 20 years in Peru as a missionary during which he would often ride horseback to small mountain villages.

Like Francis, Leo has focused on social justice issues and the poor and underprivileged.

Two years ago he described his vision for the church as “reaching out to the poor, to the neediest, to those on the margins”.

Peruvian President Dina Boluarte said Leo became a Peruvian citizen in 2015 and that “he sowed hope in our land, walked alongside those most in need and shared the joys of our people”.

“He chose to be one of us, to live among us, and to carry in his heart the faith, culture and dreams of this nation,” Ms Boluarte said.

It is fitting then that the new pope adopted a papal name in honour of Leo XIII, known as the father of social justice at the turn of the 20th century. Leo XIV is considered a centrist who can continue Francis’s work, but with a more even-handed and considered, calm manner.

After his time in Peru, Leo moved to Rome and rose through the ranks of the Vatican, eventually heading the Vatican Dicastery for Bishops, which required him to be bishop to Francis for ­dioceses all over the world.

It was a powerful position that made him well-known to many of the 133 cardinals who came to Rome to elect the new Pope in the secretive conclave.

He came to be closely trusted by Francis in the Vatican where his colleagues called him the “Latin Yankee”.

Brother Mark O’Connor from the Parramatta diocese has met Pope Leo several times, including a fortnight ago, and said Leo “wouldn’t be Trump’s choice”, ­despite the President’s praise for his appointment.

Leo wasn’t “anti-anybody’’, Brother Mark told The Australian, adding: “But he’s certainly a contrast, he certainly wouldn’t be Trump’s choice.

“He doesn’t have a big ego, he is more interested in listening to you rather than talking about himself.”

Brother Mark said Pope Leo, who has visited Australia, had ­become a fan of Tim Tams – but not Vegemite. He said when he went to visit the then Cardinal Prevost recently: “I offered to bring him a present and he said, oh no, not Vegemite, and luckily I had brought Tim Tams, which he loved.’’