A Pope With Many Facets

Andrea Gagliarducci may have the best take that I have read:

Pope Leo XIV’s visit to the US ambassador’s residence to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States spoke volumes. It was also a clear sign of how much this pontificate has to say – and it’s much more than one might think. Speaking to Italian media, US Ambassador Brian Burch said the pope is frustrated by the fact that his actions are often interpreted purely politically, or worse, as in conflict with the US administration. It’s not that there aren’t any disagreements – even the ambassador hasn’t denied them – but in reality, not everything concerns Trump and the United States.

But this should also prompt broader reflection. Leo XIV doesn’t reason on “small” issues, but on broad lines. Pope Francis had a love for detail, and for symbolic positions that clearly showed which side the Pope was on. He demonstrated this, for example, with his “remediation cardinals,” the cardinals appointed to redress past situations in each of his nine consistories; or again, with his visit to the Russian embassy at the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. Seen in the proper light, his letter appointing then-Archbishop Fernández as prefect of the former Holy Office was another example, an act completely outside of protocol but aimed at constructing a precise narrative.

Leo XIV, on the other hand, doesn’t reason about reactions, much less specific reactions. Rather, he seeks to hold firm to principles and apply them in many ways, sometimes even pragmatically, but without ever deviating from the general idea or allowing it to degenerate into specific issues. Ambassador Burch’s story, therefore, does not just tell a detail, but allows us to understand how we can read the pontificate of Leo XIV. There are probably three criteria to consider.

The first criterion is that the pope does not speak in response to specific questions, and, in fact, he is very careful not to do so. The most striking example of this attitude is the Urbi et Orbi address last Easter. Such occasions, it bears mention, have always been used by popes to address the most pressing global issues. For many decades, it has been a geopolitical speech – often called the pope’s “State of the World Address” – and frequently has included many references to specific war situations.

Leo XIV, however, imposed a different style. His speech before the blessing Urbi et Orbi contained no direct references to conflict scenarios. He had specific requests for the world’s powerful, but didn’t going into the specifics of any region of the world. In short, the Pope has decided not to focus on details, but on principles. Therefore, his every message cannot be interpreted as a specific response to some political issue, especially with regard to the United States, since he is an American Pope.

In fact, that wasn’t his approach as the General of the Augustinians, and it certainly cannot be as Pope. Ambassador Burch also noted that the Pope feels deeply American but is keen to demonstrate that he is a pope for everyone, not just the United States. This is also the reason behind the pope’s decision not to return immediately to his homeland, but to first schedule a number of trips that demonstrate his concern for the entire world.

The second criterion is that of normality. This week marked the beginning of Leo XIV’s vacation, which he is spending in Castel Gandolfo, in the Apostolic Palace, which has remained partly a museum and partly a residence for the pope. The return to the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo, which probably also marks the end of the impromptu press gaggles, at least for a while, represents a return to papal normality of no small importance, together with Leo’s decision to live in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican instead of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, which, Pope Francis had preferred.

Leo XIV is a Pope who is not afraid to look to tradition when that tradition is solid. He is not a Pope tied to the past, but a pope who does not disdain the symbols that come from the past, as demonstrated by his choice to wear the mozzetta from the beginning of his pontificate. The feeling is that the Pope wants to return to normality: liturgical normality, the normality of papal audiences, historical normality. Even the decision to convene a consistory for discussion at least once a year is a very clear signal of a search for normality and a return to the past.

Eventually, it will no longer be the Curia of the old days; it will be a Curia of the new, with new prefects. Leo XIV has recently appointed two prefects, and they are two women: Sister Alessandra Smerilli to head the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Development, and Montse Alvarado to head the Dicastery for Communication. These two appointments provide us with a third criterion for interpreting the pope: He cannot be labeled as either conservative or progressive.

That said, if this Pope seeks a return to normality, it doesn’t mean he won’t make progress or continue on the path laid out before him. The appointment of two women to head dicasteries demonstrates the pope’s innovative spirit, which ties in with the previous pontificate but also with tradition. Leo XIV is therefore not a pope who can easily be categorized. On many issues, he is making a healthy retreat. On others, he is continuing a work that had already begun with Pope Francis, despite all the controversies involved, starting with the inaccurate use of the title “pro-prefect.”

But reading Leo means, in a certain sense, looking at everything in the proper light, and that means changing perspective. He is a Pope with many facets, and that means he gives us much to ponder and leaves us with many things to understand.