Newly elected popes often use their first public acts to signal the direction of their papacy. Pope Leo XIV has followed this custom with a clear message: continuity.
His choice of name was the first clue. Breaking with Francis’s and John Paul I’s decisions to select entirely new regnal names, Leo (like Pope Benedict XVI) opted to honor a predecessor—Pope Leo XIII.
In an address to the College of Cardinals, Leo explained his choice:
“Sensing myself called to continue in this same path, I chose to take the name Leo XIV. There are different reasons for this, but mainly because Pope Leo XIII in his historic Encyclical Rerum Novarum addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution. In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour.”
In the same address, Leo reaffirmed his “complete commitment to the path that the universal Church has now followed for the decades in the wake of the Second Vatican Council.”
To help bring this vision to life, Leo turned to Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis’ programmatic exhortation, and highlighted several of its key points.
“We take up this precious legacy and continue the journey,” Leo told the cardinals, emphasizing the simplicity and outreach that marked his predecessor’s papacy.
Leo’s first public appearance echoed this tone. Standing on the loggia after the Habemus Papam!, he paid an emotional tribute to Francis:
“We can still hear the faint yet ever courageous voice of Pope Francis as he blessed Rome, the Pope who blessed Rome, who gave his blessing to the world, the whole world, on the morning of Easter… Help us, one and all, to build bridges through dialogue and encounter, joining together as one people, always at peace. Thank you, Pope Francis!”
In all of his major public appearances so far, Pope Leo XIV has consistently acknowledged his immediate predecessor.
During his first recitation of the Regina Caeli prayer, Leo invited Catholics to take up an invitation left by Pope Francis in a message for this World Day of Prayer for Vocations. In his first public homily this Sunday, Leo said that, “as Pope Francis taught us, we are called to witness to the joy of the faith of Christ, the Savior.”
Leo’s pontifical program can also be deduced from his first symbolic gestures. On his first visit outside the Vatican as pope, Leo visited the tomb of Pope Francis at St. Mary Major’s Basilica. There, he laid a single rose and paused for silent prayer.
Today, Leo XIV also celebrated Mass at the tomb of St. Peter and prayed by the tombs of others of his predecessors, namely St. Paul VI, Bld. John Paul I, Vn. Pius XII, and Benedict XVI.
His background reinforces the sense of alignment with Francis. Though US-born, Cardinal Robert Prevost served most of his ministry in South America, often among the poor and marginalized.
Later, as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, Cardinal Prevost also took part in both sessions of the Synod on Synodality, expressing strong support for Pope Francis’ vision for a more synodal Church.
This pastoral experience reflects Francis’ priorities and suggests a shared vision of a missionary Church rooted in justice and mercy.
While Leo XIV’s individual style will emerge with time, his first days suggest a pontificate marked by respectful continuity and deep admiration for those who came before him—namely Francis.
This article was originally published at The City and the World, under the title, “Walking in Francis’ Footsteps: Leo’s First Acts Signal Continuity.”
Featured image: Vatican Media.
Pedro Gabriel, MD, is a Catholic layman and physician, born and residing in Portugal. He is a medical oncologist, currently employed in a Portuguese public hospital. A published writer of Catholic novels with a Tolkienite flavor, he is also a parish reader and a former catechist. He seeks to better understand the relationship of God and Man by putting the lens on the frailty of the human condition, be it physical and spiritual. He also wishes to provide a fresh perspective of current Church and World affairs from the point of view of a small western European country, highly secularized but also highly Catholic by tradition.
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