A lion to protect the flock

"Hate! The Roman Church in mani dei Catalani!", said a cardinal upon learning that Rodrigo de Borja had been named pope in the 15th century. A similar stupor swept through St. Peter's Square when it was learned that an American would sit, for the first time, in the chair of St. Peter.He's not MAGA! He's not MAGA at all!", yells an American journalist, in the press gallery, just after the expected we have a popeChicago-born Cardinal Prevost is the chosen one, and some Italian journalists are looking astonished. A Yankee pope? After the photo of Trump dressed as a pontiff? HateBut the misunderstanding is soon dispelled: Prevost is on the list of papabili and all journalists have their file at hand, which leaves no doubt: he is not a reactionary, he will be a continuationist pope, faithful to the legacy of Francis, and very far from the postulates of MAGA (Make America great again). Some media outlets even say that the conclave's decision was JD Vance's worst nightmare, and that Leo XIV will be Donald Trump's "nemesis." Among European journalists, however, the inevitable jokes circulate: "Will the US pay tariffs to export this pope?"

The Catholic Church, according to the cliché, doesn't think in days or months, but in decades and centuries. Changes aren't sudden, shifts are slow, and any reform is limited by loyalty to doctrinal principles. "The new pope will not be the successor of Francis, but of Peter," say the official Vatican media. And yet, in Rome, everyone is clear that there will be continuity, and that the conservatives have been defeated by the fast track. The only question is whether Leo XIV will maintain or accelerate the course marked out by Jorge Bergoglio: a determined, but incomplete, break to repel the rise of the global far right. With Prevost, the Vatican Spring will continue.

The sudden outcome surprised everyone. The journalists who were letting the afternoon pass in the press room rushed to the tribune, in unnecessary haste, because between the white smoke and the appearance of the new pontiff, an hour had passed, an hour so long that more than one thought of Michel Piccoli, that fictional pope who had a panic attack before the panic attack. The square wasn't full, by any means, when the white smoke began to rise from the chimney; it filled, in the following hour, with a motley crowd of faithful, pilgrims, tourists, and curious onlookers who were delighted to experience the Historic Moment, with a capital H. A euphoric mass, shouting "Long live the Pope" before his name was known, with a profusion of national flags, especially Latin American and Spanish (no flag), and a single US flag, which soon after attracted the attention of a cloud of photographers.

Time management

The two-thousand-year-old Church is slow, but a conclave is a matter of days, not decades. This one didn't even last 24 hours. The thesis of certain Vatican experts, according to which the tempo of the conclave is managed with delicate precision, has been refuted. A too rapid outcome can give the impression that the election was pre-cooked. Infovaticana, the outlet for conservative Spanish Catholics, stated Thursday morning that "every black smoke is a victory," because it means that "the candidates manufactured in the offices crash against the invisible wall of providence." Well, the white smoke appeared at the fourth. Bang-bang. The cardinals voted for continuity, they did so without hesitation, and providence—apparently—agreed.

After the new pope's speech, the religious men strolling through Sant Pere Square smile more or less, but they are all very receptive to journalists who ask their opinion. It's understandable: they're not used to receiving attention, and on days when the smoke is white, they get a lot of attention. I have her chat with a young Mexican priest who praises Prevost and justifies the "sins" of the curia. "We're all fragile, with or without a cassock, but a mistake made with a cassock is much more noticeable. There are very good people here who have to cope with loneliness." When I reply that priests might feel less lonely without celibacy, she replies: "It depends. Ask married people if they're as happy..." She doesn't believe the new pope would risk such a radical change.

I also spoke to a Chinese Catholic living in Rome, who was very disappointed with the choice of the new pope: "Catholics in my country are suffering a lot, and the Church has not taken them into account. I would have liked a conservative pope who would change course." I am desperately looking for one. priest American, but finally I have to settle for an English priest, a real outsider (Catholics are only 10% in Great Britain). He says he hopes Leo XIV will bring stability, that Francis has generated some confusion "because the press has often misinterpreted it." And he reminds me that they – the English Catholics – are few but steadfast, while the Anglicans are deserting in droves. Who is not consoled...

Prevost has chosen to be called Leo, not only because it is a name that invokes strength and leadership, but also in homage to Leo XIII, the father of the so-called "social doctrine of the Church." He is the pope who, in 1891, at the height of industrial capitalism, proclaimed that justice is the only true foundation of peace.