The world waits, hypnotised, for a puff of white smoke from a distant chimney, it stands chattering and speculating with its eyes locked on a high balcony. It holds its breath, hoping for magic, trying to catch a glimpse of the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain. 2000 years on from the days when St Peter caused a levitating Simon Magus to topple to earth with his prayers, the Church he founded has lost none of its capacity for drama.
A man in red burst onto stage as the crowds roared — “Habemus papem!” The name? Another theatrical flourish: it was Cardinal Robert Provost — an American. His new name: Leo XIV. The great red and gold of the papal banner was rolled out onto the balcony, servers processed, cardinals clustered, a sea of red to either side, and the new Pope stepped forward.
And who is Robert Provost? He is not Parolin, the quintessential Vatican diplomat, nor Pizzaballa the charismatic dark horse who seized the imaginations of many during the Gaza conflict. Born in Chicago, Provost joined the Augustinian Order, and ended up spending much of his life in Latin America, holding dual citizenship in Peru. A cautious man and a trusted administrator, he was favoured by Pope Francis, and strongly backed his synodal vision of an open church, and harshly criticised the treatment of migrants by President Trump. He speaks five languages, and is of Italian and French heritage.
The facts are coming thick and fast, but we will only come to truly know him in the coming days and weeks as he sets a new direction for the largest Christian church in the world. Our first hint of who Robert Provost is came this morning, as he leads his first pontifical mass, and gave his first homily. To the typical shock of the secular media the Pope is a Catholic, and his mass was not about the perpetual obsessions of the chattering classes, but about faith, holiness and the divinity of Christ.
Those looking to neatly slot the new Pope into the categories of “liberal”, “conservative”, or “moderate” are likely, as with Pope Francis, to find themselves perpetually wrongfooted. Panic has already set in amongst some that Provost (back in 2012) made disparaging remarks about same sex marriage, and the proliferation of invented genders. We can expect, as a close ally of the previous Pope, a more conciliatory and pastoral approach to gay people, women and sexuality, but also as with Pope Francis, I would be very surprised if he in any way qualifies Catholic teaching on sex and bioethics.
Others will be looking to his potential role as a reformer of the deeply corrupt Vatican bureaucracy. There are accusations that he failed to act decisively enough on issues of abuse during his time in America and Peru (and he is far from alone in facing these criticisms), and he is closely identified with Pope Francis’ own failures. However he is regarded as a cannier politician and administrator than Francis, and may succeed where the previous Pope failed.
For many Catholics, the liturgy wars are another unknown. Though identified with Pope Francis, he chose to resume the elaborate Papal dress for his appearance before the faithful, a subtle break with his predecessor, and there are conflicting reports about his attitude to the old, Latin rite.
His name — Leo XIV — inevitably conjures the revolutionary papacy of Leo XIII, a gifted diplomat who reconciled with Orthodox Christians and the French Republic, and published Rerum Novarum, which harshly criticised the plight of industrial workers. The longstanding Catholic critique of capitalist modernity is only likely to be sharpened by the new Pope, and we had our first indication of this direction in his homily, in which he attacked the idolatrous temptations of “technology, money, success, power, pleasure”, which fill the gulf left by the passing away of faith in God.
There were clear signs too of a return to the emphasis under Pope Benedict of re-evangelisation, as he called for “missionary outreach” to heal the “wounds” left by apostasy and secularisation: “A lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family, and so many other wounds that our society suffers”.
Another aspect of his Papacy that is already emerging is his strong sense of the universalism of the Church as a counterweight to the cruelty and fragmentation of the modern world. In his remarks on the balcony, made in Italian and Spanish, he called himself a “son of Saint Augustine”, and reminded the faithful of “that nationhood which God has prepared us for”.
His vision of the Church is not uninflected with American hopefulness, but it seems to go with a keen sense of its mystical significance, as he prayed that under his leadership “the Church may be more fully a city set on a hill, an ark of salvation sailing through the waters of history, and a beacon that illumines the dark nights of the world”.
Christians hoping for a spiritual leader … could have reason to celebrate
A consistent theme in those who know Robert Provost is his good cheer and diffidence. Joy was a consistent theme for Pope Francis, but it was accompanied by a disagreeable personality and a short fuse. Pope Leo, by all accounts, is sunlight after the storm, and was certainly all smiles as, beginning his homily in English, he quoted the psalm “I will sing a new song to the Lord because he has done marvels” and invited his “brother cardinals” to “recognise the marvels that the Lord has done”.
Those looking for spiritual ratification of their worldly politics are likely to be disappointed by Pope Leo XIV, who, I suspect, will have harsh words for secular nationalists and progressives alike. But Christians hoping for a spiritual leader who challenges the modern world, and proclaims a message of religious renewal, could have reason to celebrate.
