Is Leo truly the first American Pope?

In theory, we’ve got the first American Pope, Robert Prevost.

Born and raised in Chicago, university educated in Philadelphia. Parents French/Italian and Spanish – hence his command of four languages.

Did Leo XIV so much as mention the US during his first speech from the balcony? He did not. Maybe conscious that being an American cuts less ice in the church than being Latin American, he mentioned the Peruvian pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square and the Peruvian church (where he ministered as a bishop) during his address, and spoke to them in Spanish. But zilch about his country of origin, nada in the English language.

It would have been fascinating to hear American-inflected English from that balcony. But we didn’t. This is significant. In theory, being an American aligns him with the most powerful country on earth – and Americans were previously written off as papabile precisely because of that. But he is an American who is plainly identifying as Peruvian. President Trump may be proud that he’s the first American Pope – and fair enough – but Leo isn’t doing anything to fly the flag.

It’s probably unfair to parse his first address too closely, but let’s give it a go. First of all, before he opened his mouth, he was not, like Francis, in simple white; he was in a muzetta – that velvet cape, just as in pre-Francis days of lovely vestments. So it’s back to business as usual for Gamarelli’s, the papal outfitters. More to the point, it’s back to the pre-Franciscan tradition.

Secondly, he didn’t start off with Francis’s simple Good Evening to the crowd below. That too may have been a conscious break. What he did do was mention peace incessantly during his address. Peace and bridges – he laid stress on building bridges, and the primary title of pope is of Pontifex Maximus, the big Bridge-Builder. I don’t know about you, but those themes didn’t suggest to me that he is a man who sees eye to eye with the US president. He was making a point of reconciliation, which isn’t the first thing that comes to mind with the Trump. Francis too incessantly spoke of peace and unsuccessfully offered his services as a peacemaker for the Ukraine conflict. Leo will also make this a theme of his pontificate.

But Leo did explicitly align himself with Francis’s legacy. He spoke of his predecessor by name. He spoke of a synodal church, which was Francis’s contribution to church governance. In theory this is Leo backing a model of a listening church emphasized by Francis. Let’s see where he takes it.

And he addressed the people of Rome – because, let’s not forget, the actual title of the Pope is the Bishop of Rome. It may be that he’ll take that aspect of the role as seriously as it merits.

He’s also a former head of a worldwide religious congregation, the Augustinians (sorry, not the English one; Augustine of Hippo, the African). He spoke of a missionary church, and he himself was in Peru as a missionary. That means lots of emphasis on global outreach. But with a bit of luck it will also entail missionary activity here in Europe, which arguably needs it even more. (And it was as an Augustinian that he took J. D. Vance to task for using a quote from Augustine, about the ordo amoris, out of contest.)

But many of the faithful will be reassured by his conclusion to his address: the Hail Mary. That is to say, the most Catholic of prayers, invoking the Virgin. Indeed he expressly aligned his work as Pope with her. That’s an element of tradition that modernists and conservatives will warm to.

One more thing. The first Pope Leo, the Great, had a celebrated encounter outside the city of Rome in which he saw off Attila the Hun. Now who might fit into that role?

Robert Prevost…the first American pope? Yes and no.