Understanding Pope Leo, bit by bit

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Jun 06, 2025

In this first month of his pontificate, Leo XIV has already provided us with many indications of what we can expect from his leadership. Those Catholics (and non-Catholics) who hoped for dramatic change will probably be disappointed. On balance, that’s a good thing.

When the conclave began, some Catholics were hoping for one sort of dramatic change: a quick reversal of the radical policies wrought by Pope Francis. Others wanted the opposite: an acceleration down that same path of radical change. To this day, a few diehards on each side are still latching onto fragments of the Pope’s talks, or details of his gestures, to claim that their wishes will now come true. But by now any objective observer knows they are wrong.

The wish-fulfillment stories that still circulate on social media are evidence of an unhealthy sort of preoccupation with the papacy: viewing it as a political office. In a democracy, if “our” man wins the election, we expect him to institute the policies that will please us. But the Church is not a democracy, and the primary responsibility of the Pope is not to please us.

No; the main task of the Roman Pontiff is to be a focus of unity within the Church. Sure enough, Pope Leo has sounded that theme, early and often. In his homily at his Mass of Installation, he said:

Love and unity: these are the two dimensions of the mission entrusted to Peter by Jesus.

And again:

Brothers and sisters, I would like that our first great desire be for a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world.

When he took possession of his cathedral church, the basilica of St. John Lateran, the Pope explained how Church unity is best pursued, saying that “communion is built primarily ‘on our knees,’ through prayer and constant commitment to conversion.

If he had chosen to be known as Francis II, or as John Paul III or Benedict XVII or Paul VII, Pope Leo would have sent one sort of message, delighting people who loved those recent Pontiffs. Instead he reached back into Church history, choosing a name with a rich legacy. There had been thirteen previous Leos, obviously, but no one now living can remember the last one. We associate Pope Leo XIII with Catholic social teaching—and rightly so, although he was responsible for much more, but the teachings of Rerum Novarum do not cause heated partisan disputes today.

Pope Leo has certainly not repudiated the leadership of Pope Francis. On the contrary he has gone out of his way to praise the late Pope (and Benedict XVI and John Paul II as well). But in subtle ways he has moved away from some controversial teachings of his predecessor. In a homily for the Jubilee for Families, for example, he said:

For this reason, with a heart filled with gratitude and hope, I would remind all married couples that marriage is not an ideal but the measure of true love between a man and a woman: a love that is total, faithful and fruitful.

That clear statement of Catholic teaching clashes with the message of Amoris Laetitia, in which Pope Francis suggested that the Christian view of marriage is an ideal that no one can meet. Yes, it is true that we all fall short of the ideal. (What good is a goal if it’s easily met?) But the Lord’s unmistakable message that a marriage must be faithful and permanent sets a standard that certainly can be met, and must be maintained.

At the end of the sentence quoted above, Pope Leo cited the teaching of Pope Paul VI in Humanae Vitae 7:

Though this fidelity of husband and wife sometimes presents difficulties, no one has the right to assert that it is impossible; it is, on the contrary, always honorable and meritorious. The example of countless married couples proves not only that fidelity is in accord with the nature of marriage, but also that it is the source of profound and enduring happiness.

Pope Paul VI is not a particular favorite among ‘conservative’ Catholics. On the other hand, there may be no papal teaching more despised among ‘progressives’ than Humanae Vitae. By citing that passage, Pope Leo reminds us that it is not a matter of ‘right’ or ‘left’ but a statement of orthodox Catholic teaching through the centuries. Pope Leo does not need to draw the obvious inference: Insofar as Amoris Laetitia allowed for admitting divorced and remarried Catholics to Communion, it is an aberration.

His style is non-confrontational, but Pope Leo does not shrink from unpopular teachings. In his message for the Jubilee for Families he said:

Perhaps many young people today who choose cohabitation instead of Christian marriage in reality need someone to show them in a concrete and clear way, especially by the example of their lives, what the gift of sacramental grace is and what strength derives from it. Someone to help them understand “the beauty and grandeur of the vocation to love and the service of life” that God gives to married couples.

Here once again Pope Leo ended the sentence with a citation from one of his predecessors: this time Pope John Paul II, in Familiaris Consortio (1). Again there is a subtle but distinct message: he will not hesitate to cite the authority of a Pontiff whose teachings on marriage have been cast aside for the past dozen years.

Finally, in his first address to the Vatican diplomatic corps, the new Pope let world leaders know what they might expect from him:

It is the responsibility of government leaders to work to build harmonious and peaceful civil societies. This can be achieved above all by investing in the family, founded upon the stable union between a man and a woman, “a small but genuine society, and prior to all civil society.” In addition, no one is exempted from striving to ensure respect for the dignity of every person, especially the most frail and vulnerable, from the unborn to the elderly, from the sick to the unemployed, citizens and immigrants alike.

In that one paragraph he managed to include reminders that the family is the basis for any society, that an irregular union is not a marriage, and that the state does not have the authority to alter the nature of marriage. Then he adds the demand to respect human life from conception until natural death, as well as the rights of the poor and immigrants. Secular government leaders are now on notice; they should not be surprised if he denounces policies that violate those principles. Especially since he adds, later in the same address:

For her part, the Church can never be exempted from speaking the truth about humanity and the world, resorting whenever necessary to blunt language that may initially create misunderstanding.

Characteristically, Pope Leo follows up that warning with an assurance that the Church should always speak with charity. He does not intend to be harsh. But he does intend to preach Catholicism.