Will Pope Leo Xiv Confront Maga?

Robert Francis Prevost, the first US-born pope, embodies Catholicism’s anti-nationalist ethos. Will he follow Pope Francis in confronting the resurgence of nativism in the US and abroad?

---

The newly elected Pope Leo XIV greets the crowd from the balcony of St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City on May 8, 2025. (Andrea Straccioli / Insidefoto / Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

On Thursday, the papal conclave announced its election of Robert Francis Prevost as Pope Leo XIV, the first US-born supreme pontiff in the history of the Catholic Church.

Jacobin interviewed Massimo Faggioli in the wake of the election about the continuities and break-ups that his papacy will bring following the pontificate of Jorge Bergoglio, Pope Francis, a church reformer who, among other things, broke with the Roman authority’s open hostility toward left-wing thought.

Faggioli is a church historian at Villanova University and one of the best-known experts in the Catholic Church and its relation to American politics. His latest book is Da Dio a Trump (From God to Trump: Catholic crisis and American politics).

---

Pablo Castaño

How would you define the new pope, in a few words?

Massimo Faggioli

He is a Pan-American pope, a pope from the Americas, in plural. He is a global Catholic, born in the US, that has been a missionary in Latin America — he also has Peruvian citizenship. He has worked in the Vatican helping Pope Francis in choosing new bishops, which is a crucial role.

The most important thing of all is that he is the first pope from the United States — a taboo has been broken. Very few people could imagine this. It was complicated to imagine a pope coming from the world’s superpower. But in a paradoxical way, Francis changed so many things that it helped this taboo to be broken.

Pablo Castaño

Leo XIV is being defined as Francis’s heir. Is this an accurate portrait?

Massimo Faggioli

He has been elected by the majority of cardinals who were appointed by Francis. His election is not a conservative reaction against Pope Francis, but neither is Leo XIV a Francis II. Some things will be different — there is no question about that.

This will be a challenge for right-wing Trumpian Catholics in the United States, but also, in a different way, for liberal Catholics who thought that Pope Francis agreed with them in everything.

Prevost is an Augustinian. They are a bit more skeptical about modernity, the secular world, and politics, compared to Jesuits such as Pope Francis. It will be interesting to see how he frames different issues. Although clearly, his Augustinianism is very different from that of J. D. Vance and of many American bishops.

Pablo Castaño

Francis moved the Vatican’s geopolitical position closer to the Global South and to China, especially through a contentious agreement with the Chinese government to appoint bishops. Will Leo XIV follow this idea of a global church, one less focused on the West?

Massimo Faggioli

The universal idea of Catholicism will continue, absolutely. Prevost embodies an idea of Catholicism that is anti-nationalist — all his life has been about this. This is one thing in that Catholicism has been consistent on over the last two centuries: there is a global church that is allergic to nationalist projects, for theological and political reasons. I think this will continue.

Pope Francis had a natural inclination toward Asia. As a young Jesuit, he wanted to be a missionary to Japan. The most interesting of Francis’s trips were to Asia and the Middle East. We will see what kind of world map Prevost will work on.

Pablo Castaño

What about conflicts in which the United States plays a central role, such as Gaza or Ukraine? Will Leo XIV keep Francis’s criticism and independent position?

Massimo Faggioli

We will have to see. Leo XIV will need strong support from the Curia. Francis’s secretary of state [the equivalent to a prime minister], Pietro Parolin, will probably continue to be the Vatican’s chief diplomat. We don’t know what it means to have an American pope to deal with Russia, Israel, the Arab world, or China. It was impossible to think about this and now it is a reality. It is a new picture.

Pablo Castaño

Prevost publicly criticized Vance for an anti-immigrant interpretation of the Catholic message. Will Leo XIV be as critical and vocal against the far right and xenophobic policies as Francis was?

Massimo Faggioli

In terms of message, yes. In terms of style, I expect something different, something less personal, less based in instinct, more mediated through the institutional channels. Some of the language and the symbols will change.

As an American, he can talk to the American politicians and government in a way that is not possible for a Jesuit from Argentina. He knows them; they can’t accuse him of not knowing America or being anti-American. It’s more complicated for them to dismiss him as a pope who just doesn’t like America. He knows exactly what is happening in the United States — his social media show clearly that he is aware of it.

Pablo Castaño

Prevost showed a hostile position toward LGBTQ people in a 2012 statement. What do you think are his current views on sexual diversity?

Massimo Faggioli

I think there is a difference between the way prelates speak and a pope does. As he has been elected after Francis’s pontificate, I expect some new answers to that. However, American liberals will need to understand that their positions on gender issues and sexual morality are not exactly the position of the papacy. We don’t know if Leo XIV will be more conservative, but clearly he will not be a Francis II on these issues.

Pablo Castaño

Francis appointed women to Vatican ministries for the first time. Will Prevost keep enlarging women’s role in the church?

Massimo Faggioli

Appointing women to managerial roles, as Francis did, is the easy thing to do. The difficult thing is opening women to the deaconate [deacons are an inferior category to priests, but they can baptize, lead the faithful in prayer, witness marriages, and conduct funeral services]. Francis was opposed to this. We will see if Prevost keeps appointing women to some other offices, if he will proceed in a more forward-looking direction. This is one of the areas in which there might be differences between the popes — we could be surprised in one way or another.

Pablo Castaño

Francis approved harder norms to prevent sexual abuse within the church. Will Leo XIV continue on this track?

Massimo Faggioli

Pope Francis did something important, but this is a never-ending project, something that needs to continue. Coming from the United States gives Leo a perspective that Francis didn’t have. The United States has a particular history of abuse and cover-up; the American Church has been fundamentally changed by those scandals. There will be higher expectations for him: the first American pope has to show that he understands the problem and can do more than Francis did.

Pablo Castaño

The Argentinian pope defended a more democratic church, where the faithful would have a more important role, under the concept of “synodality.” Where does Leo XIV stand on this issue?

Massimo Faggioli

He was a member of the Synod [an assembly convoked to discuss the future of the church], where he made a good impression. He mentioned synodality in his first speech as pope. All depends on how you interpret this: the role of the people, women, the pope, and so on. Pope Francis opened a door, but it all depends on what happens after that door is open.

---