I have had the grace of meeting Pope Leo, and in his presence I have discovered something more than a shepherd: I have seen a man who listens with the ear of his heart, who speaks with the serenity of one who prays, and whose gaze embraces like a sacrament. His prudence is not a fearful silence, but a wisdom that discerns and dares to point the way. His commitment is not limited to diplomatic gestures: it is a radical commitment to the Gospel, to justice, to peace, and to the care of the Earth, our common home entrusted to us and today in agony.

In the window of the Antico Forno in Legna, at the gates of Castel Gandolfo, Daniela proudly displays a letter sent by the Vatican Secretariat of State and signed by the Pope Francis in which the Argentine pontiff thanks them for sending some artisan pastries. "His Holiness thanks you for the gift and the feelings of filial veneration that this kind gesture has suggested […] and gladly sends you his blessing," reads the letter, dated 2022. "Pope Francis was a fan of our pastries. Every Sunday, someone would pass by and take them to Rome."

Queen Letizia has taken advantage of a privilege only a few consorts in the world have: wearing white in front of the Pope. Three weeks after attending Pope Francis' funeral this Sunday, both she and Felipe VI have traveled to Rome for the Inauguration of the new pontificate of Leo XIV in the Piazza Sant'Etienne in the Vatican. However, it was the Queen's attire that has become the center of attention, as only six women in the world have been allowed to wear the color white.

"So you've seen all the Rome ritual on TV?!" Some of my friends, most of them agnostics and republicans, are amazed when I explain that I'm a ritual junkie and that I never miss the election of the Pope, or any royal wedding or funeral, or coronation.

Pope Leo XIV made a firm defense of freedom of expression and of the press and recognized the "courage" of journalists who work in adverse places or circumstances, "even at the cost of their lives." Before thousands of journalists at the first audience of his pontificate, the Pope expressed "the Church's solidarity with journalists imprisoned for seeking and reporting the truth" and called for their release. "Only informed people can make free decisions," the American pontiff affirmed, precisely at a time when the government of his home country is engaged in an open struggle against the media.

Since Thursday afternoon since we have a pope And no: none of the predictions or the occasional Vatican experts' predictions were correct in predicting that the chosen one would be Robert Francis Prevost, a Chicago native but a Peruvian national. In fact, they didn't even come close. And no, the Church hasn't initiated the counter-reformation, as the vast majority of the prescient predictions predicted, nor has it fallen into the hands of the ultra-Catholic sectors that, according to some, had an unbeatable offensive prepared. And no, Pope Francis must not have been as disorganized or as idiotic as some painted him, because the conclave has given continuity to his doctrinal, pastoral, and political legacy. If this had happened after the pontificate of a conservative pope, a crowd of analysts with their eyes rolled back would be talking about the subtlety of a two-thousand-year-old tradition of diplomacy, etc. However, if it happens when the time comes to hand over the reins to a progressive pope, it turns out to be a fluke. The unwritten law of automatic lowering of appraisals when progressives reach—or maintain—levels of power is therefore once again imposed.

When on Thursday the cardinal Robert Prevost stepped out onto the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica As the 267th pope, Chiclayo, in northern Peru, exploded with joy and disbelief. This city, the fifth largest in the country with just under 800,000 inhabitants, was little known until last week, when many people had never even heard of it. For days now, the only thing talked about in Chiclayo is this.

Pope Leo XIV has launched an appeal against war in his first prayer of the Regina Caeli This Sunday at noon in front of thousands of faithful gathered in the Vatican's Piazza Sant'Pere. Quoting Pope Francis, the American pontiff denounced the "current dramatic scenario of a Third World War in pieces" and firmly appealed to world leaders: "Never again war!"

"Peace be with you all." So the pontificate of Leo XIV began. Standing on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, the new spiritual leader of 1.4 billion Catholics launched a plea for peace in his first address to the world. "An unarmed peace," he urged. Despite his affable face and almost trembling voice, the new pope's political program was already evident in his speech. In these turbulent times, the American pontiff's priority will be to achieve an end to conflicts. An ambitious goal that will test the leadership of Francis's successor.

With the conclave, everyone has talked about the countercultural aura of secrecy in a society tired of transparency and the fascination with liturgy in a world without rituals. This is all very well, but I would say it's being discussed in a rather poor way, assuming a logic of caprice according to which we desire what we don't have simply so we can romanticize the past. But what if behind all this calling us the Catholic Church there were answers to important questions, whether we are religious or not?

So many good words uttered from the Vatican in recent weeks—starting with the latest from Pope Francis—heard globally, and so little echo in the political sphere. new pope, Leo XIV, speaking after bridges and peace on their first outing on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, and the following day one of the first news items on the news was The military parade, with 11,000 troops, in Moscow's Red SquareThe message consisted of a display of equipment, the martial prowess of the troops, and Vladimir Putin accompanied by Chinese Prime Minister Xi Jinping, next to the Kremlin Wall. The purpose of the event was to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, but Putin turned the whole thing—including the international guests—into a personal propaganda event. In parallel, another scene showed Donald Trump expressing his respect for Pope Francis in the Oval Office, while his advisors, who surrounded him, burst out laughing, perhaps because they remembered his head. disguised as a pontiff by artificial intelligence a few days before.

Pope Leo XIII devoted much of his term to combating the so-called "Americanist heresy," a liberal Catholic movement that emerged in the United States that embraced the separation of church and state (which the Vatican rejected) and prioritized evangelization over dogmatism in the 20th century. The formerly powerful diocese of Munich, with 1.7 million members, had only one seminarian at 99 in 2022. the country that contributed the most money, in the form of a grain of sand, in the Catholic Church. Now the country that contributes the most annually, with more than 10 million dollars (a similar sum in euros), is the United States. Both American continents represent almost half of the world's Catholicism. And the new pope, who has decided to resume the name of the anti-American pope and call himself Leo XIV, is American.

Pope Leo XIV visited the Badalona neighborhood of Sant Roc, one of the poorest in Catalonia, twice. It was in 2016, and the AugustinianRobert Prevost He ended up in the city, invited as prior of the order by the parish priest of the small church in the neighborhood, where he took the opportunity to learn firsthand about the work of the historic Ateneo de Sant Roc, whose headquarters are in premises attached to the parish.

The speculation is over. After weeks of uncertainty, the Catholic Church now has a new pontiff. Expectations for this conclave—the most universal and least European to date—have been enormous, as the election of the new pope was supposed to determine the path the institution would take after Francis's transformations had enraged the most conservative and disappointed the most progressive. Beyond the solemn liturgical scenes, the ritual also produced more curious scenes. We highlight a few:

Today there is only one name, and one piece of news, Robert Francis Prevost, 69 years old, is the new pope with the name of Leo, Leo XIV. Leo XIV did not waste his first appearanceIt was not a more or less improvised greeting but rather he read a speech. peacePope Prevost knows the state of the world he's speaking to. Bombs are falling in Gaza, guns are ringing in Europe, which is rearming, and authorities are calling on citizens to be prepared for emergencies. An international of hatred against immigrants, the poor, the excluded, or simply those who think differently, is triumphing on social media and in politics. And that's why a phrase stands out from his speech that could almost be the motto of his pontificate:

It was just a few minutes after six in the evening when, through the chimney placed on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, a few meters from the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, white smoke rose into the Vatican sky. Cardinal Protodeacon Dominique Mamberti announced the expected "Habemus papam!" And just a few minutes later, the curtains of the window on the facade of St. Peter's Basilica opened completely to reveal the identity of the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church: Robert Francis Prevost, the first American to sit on the chair of St. Peter, who will govern under the name of Leo XIV. A name that appeals to the social doctrine of the Church promoted by the Roman pontiff Leo XIII.

"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 name by which each pope wishes to be known says a lot about the personality and spirit he wishes to imprint on his pontificate. The new pope, Leo XIV, confirmed this Friday that he has adopted that name in honor of Leo XIII and his social encyclical, Rerum novarum, who addressed the social question in a structured way for the first time during the first great industrial revolution. "He is a figure who guides me," he assured the cardinals who elected him as their 267th pontiff. The choice of the name is no coincidence: Leo XIII (1878-1903) was the first pope of the contemporary era to develop his own social doctrine, with a conciliatory approach between capital and labor that, more than a century later, continues to inspire reformist sectors within the Church.

On Thursday afternoon, it was noticeable that some internal rumblings had caused the various television networks to be wary of the white smoke. On Channel 1, they were broadcasting the soap opera The promise with a fixed side panel showing the chimney with the seagulls that have guarded it all these days. Just before the smoke emanated, the series abruptly cut to a commercial break. When they returned from the commercial break, they showed us the white fog on the roof, and the network's special correspondents informed the audience: "Habemus papam!On TV3, The jungle was doing a talk show about it and the cloud of smoke was very opportune. But Xavier Grasset had to close the stall quickly to make way for the news services. Xavi Coral seemed to have stayed on guard after the TN to break the news. On Telecinco they announced: "Possible imminent white smoke", anticipating any sign from the chimney. In fact, other private channels such as Cuatro and La Sexta went into commercial time minutes before the smoke came out, preparing to be able to face the new pope's announcement without so much advertising load.

The speculation is over. After weeks of uncertainty, the Catholic Church now has a new pontiff. Expectations for this conclave—the most universal and least European to date—have been enormous, as the election of the new pope was supposed to determine the path the institution would take after Francis's transformations had enraged the most conservative and disappointed the most progressive. Beyond the solemn liturgical scenes, the ritual also produced more curious scenes. We highlight a few: