What will the new Pope be like? He’s chosen to be called Leo: that’s no accident | Catherine Pepinster

What’s successful a name? When it comes to a pope – everything. The achromatic fume from the Sistine Chapel earlier this evening told the satellite that a new pope to win Francis had been elected – and for the archetypal clip the pontiff is from the US.

But if Donald Trump and his Catholic person Veep, JD Vance, are acceptable to cheer, past they should deliberation again. Cardinal Robert Prevost has chosen the sanction Leo XIV – and if you’re a papal Leo, you thin to beryllium a reformer astatine the progressive extremity of Catholicism. That Prevost has decided to go Leo XIV volition marque Catholics deliberation instantly of the past Leo – Leo XIII – and his 1891 encyclical oregon teaching document, Rerum Novarum, which outlined workers’ rights to a just wage, harmless moving conditions and the rights of workers to beryllium to commercialized unions. If Pope Francis was the People’s Pope, past Leo XIV is each acceptable to beryllium the Workers’ Pope.

The Catholic religion successful the US is profoundly divided. On the 1 hand, determination are those who supported Trump successful the past predetermination and adhere to Vance’s presumption that determination is an bid of emotion which puts household first, past your neighbourhood, and acold aft that, the remainder of humanity. Then determination are those who hold with Pope Francis that this is simply a misreading of Christianity – Leo XIV is apt to hold with his predecessor.

For Prevost is an American with a difference: a cleric who has spent overmuch of his beingness overseas. While calved successful Chicago, helium joined the spiritual bid the Augustinians, past became 1 of their missionaries successful Peru and was aboriginal made a bishop determination by Pope Francis. That acquisition volition person fixed him an wholly antithetic position connected the Americas, and the US’s relation successful the satellite – an knowing of however Latin America tin presumption its elephantine neighbour with suspicion, and how, for galore Latin Americans, the religion is astir liberation, alternatively than toeing a rigid enactment of tradition.

People gathered successful St Peter’s Square successful Vatican City observe aft achromatic fume roseate from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. Photograph: Stefano Rellandini/AFP/Getty Images

For cardinals successful the conclave pondering who the adjacent person of the Catholic religion should be, they volition person considered enactment skills, pastoral experience, cognition of the Vatican and toughness. Robert Prevost has each this successful spades. He led his spiritual bid arsenic anterior general, helium has worked successful a diocese, and since 2023 has been successful complaint of the Vatican section that chooses bishops. The presumption is that helium has made having a compassionate oregon pastoral attack a precedence for choosing who joins the episcopacy.

There volition beryllium immoderate who volition interest that Prevost blotted his copybook erstwhile it came to dealing with maltreatment crises successful Peru. The intersexual maltreatment of children and susceptible radical remains a stain connected the Catholic church, and however helium handles it volition beryllium 1 of his large tests.

While immoderate LGBTQ+ organisations noted that, earlier Pope Francis was elected, Prevost expressed concerns astir what helium called “the homosexual lifestyle”, it is noticeable that 1 of the Catholic church’s starring advocates for cheery people, the American Jesuit priest, James Martin, has described Prevost’s predetermination arsenic “a superb choice”, and said that Prevost is “kind, unfastened and honest”.

There volition beryllium different challenges too: tackling the issues that the cardinals raised successful their pre-conclave meetings, known arsenic the wide congregations. The 12 meetings threw up the request for a continuation of Pope Francis’s ambitions for a religion that gives laic radical much accidental – known arsenic synodality; that needs to proceed to talk up for God’s instauration astatine a clip of biology crisis; and that needs to proceed to find a relation for women successful the church. Pope Francis appointed a fewer women to elder Vatican roles, but the dominance of men successful the religion was each excessively evident successful the past mates of days, arsenic the 133 antheral cardinal electors filed into the Sistine Chapel to ballot for the person of the world’s 1.4 cardinal Catholics.

But if the cardinals were definite of 1 happening successful their pre-conclave meetings, it was that the caller pope indispensable epitomise a pontifex – the aged rubric for the pope meaning a bridge. In his words from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, Leo XIV told the 40,000-strong assemblage and the millions of Catholics watching astir the satellite that: “We indispensable beryllium a religion that builds bridges.” The caller Pope lone has to look to his autochthonal state of the US to spot however damaging part tin beryllium – yet helium volition cognize however damaging part successful the religion is too. The Workers’ Pope indispensable beryllium a Unity Pope, too.