Scholar, Peruvian, circumspect and manager. The qualities that Robert Prevost brings to the pontificate are numerous. The usefulness of some is obvious. But Léon XIV, perceived as a moderate, could reserve other surprises than his election.
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“When I realized that it was him, I thought about texts he has published since he was a prefect of the Dicastery for the bishops,” explains Yoland Ouellet, an Oblat who directs the pontifical missionary works in French-speaking Canada, and who was in Saint-Pierre place when the white smoke came up. “It reassured me a lot. He wants the priests to have sheep smells, that they have proximity to people on the ground. It is the opposite of clericalism [la tendance des prêtres à se considérer dans une catégorie séparée des fidèles] far too developed in the Vatican. »»
This Vatican dicastery (ministry) manages the appointment of bishops all over the world. Previously, Léon XIV had also directed the order of Saint-Augustin for ten years.
Father Ouellet heard of the American prelate when the latter was bishop of Chiclayo, Peru. “We had projects in Peru and he seemed to manage things well. »»
On Thursday, the Peruvian media made a big case because Léon XIV has Peruvian nationality, since he stayed in the country from 1984 to 1998 and from 2014 to 2023.
The president of Peru, Dina Boluarte, spoke of a “historic day” for her country. Theologians noted that he was vice-president of the Peruvian episcopal conference, having been able to make peace between the priests associated with the theory of liberation, close to Marxism, and those of the opus dei, reputed to be very conservative.
Gilles Routhier, theologian at Laval University, had predicted twice in the Quebec media this week the election of the American Cardinal. “This period looks a lot like Vatican II [concile qui a modernisé l’Église dans les années 1960]. In this regard, François looks like John XXIII [mort avant la fin du concile] And Leon to Paul VI. When you kick the anthill, it takes someone who takes things back in a reassuring way and leads the reforms. »»
Mr. Routhier was one of the only ones to consider the election of an American pope. The Italian media recalled Thursday evening that he is “the least American of the Americans”, because his two parents were not born in the United States, but in France and Spain.
Sexual crimes and homosexuality
Some false notes, however, resonated in this concert of praise. He is notably one of the cardinals denounced by the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Prests (SNAP) group, because of the way he has dealt with the files of an American priest and two Peruvian priests accused of sexual assault on minors.
And in 2012, in a conference at the Vatican, the future Léon XIV denounced the “sympathetic media to beliefs and practices contrary to the Gospel”, citing as an example “same -sex families and their adopted children”.
-This intervention on the theme LGBTQ+ is the exception which confirms the rule: Léon XIV expressed his opinion very little on the subjects of sexual morality. He did not comment on the document Confidence in supplicatingapproved by François, who in 2023, authorized the blessing of people in homosexual couple (but not their marriage), killing in Africa and among traditionalists.
I am sure it is open as Latin America is.
Yoland Ouellet, Oblat at the head of missionary pontifical works in French -speaking Canada
In his first speech Thursday evening, Léon XIV made an allusion to another controversy of the Pontificate of François, the question of the war in Ukraine, where the Vatican did not directly denounce Russia. He called for “disarmed and disarming” peace. However, the importance of not arming the weaker belligerents was central in the desire for peace of François, according to Vincenzo Paglia, the archbishop who is spiritual advisor to the secular community Sant’Egidio, an organism rooted in Ukraine.
François notably considered “hypocritical” in December 2024 the sending of arms to Ukraine. Mgr Paglia, met in her offices in the Roman district of Trastevere, quotes a passage from Saint Luke where Jesus says that a king facing an enemy with 20,000 soldiers, while only 10,000, must send an emissary rather than fighting.
Winks to conservatives
Two passages from his first speech Thursday evening refer to concepts dear to conservatives. He declared “the evil will not prevail” and recited a Ave Maria After a praise of the Virgin, is often favored by traditionalists who want to limit the role of women in the Church.
Father Ouellet believes that the passage on evil is not necessarily a reference to sexual morality. “It is also bad that the rich are enriched while the poor are becoming poorer, he wants to give us hope. And it must be remembered that the Virgin is very important in Latin America. He also believes that the Virgin can be inspiring for everyone because she means that “the mother has given us a father”.
Mr. Routhier believes that the passage on evil wanted to be “reassuring for some” which could be worried about an overly advanced progressivism of the new Pope. As for the insistence on the Virgin, it is normal for the popes-François had visited the Sainte-Marie-Majeure basilica in the aftermath of its election. “He could have been Marian otherwise, but that’s how it was. »»
Certainly, the Augustinian past of Leon XIV will be useful to face criticism. “The Augustinians have a solid intellectual training based on the Fathers of the Church,” says Mr. Routhier. His opponents will not be able to do as with François, reproach him for not being constant in terms of doctrine. »»
Leon’s inheritance
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni explained at a press conference that the new church chief chose the name of Léon in reference to Léon XIII and Léon the Grand, first of the name, who reigned from 440 to 461 and arbitrated fundamental theological questions of Christianity. The last Leon to have occupied the pulpit of Saint Peter, Léon XIII, had one of the longest pontificates in history, from 1878 to 1903. In 1891, he had made great modernization with his encyclical Of the revolutionarywhich had denounced the working conditions of the workers and had founded “social Catholicism”. “It is a return to social Catholicism, to the dignity of the individual, who was sometimes forgotten because we thought that politics, the economy or sociology could solve the problems,” explains Christian Lépine, Archbishop of Montreal, in an interview on the sidelines of a pilgrimage to Rome on Thursday evening.
