There are gestures that identify him with Benedict and others with Francisco. On Thursday he left the balcony of the Basilica of San Pedro dressed as the papal protocol foreseen, he was accompanied by the three cardinals planned according to the rules of the conclave, spoke of peace, synodality and … Of the poor, he returned to Santa Marta in an official car, and went to sleep in his own apartment instead of staying in Santa Marta. He knew that from the first moment his gestures would be looked with magnifying glass to decipher him, and not to waste time or create false expectations, he chose to be himself. Pope Leo XIV is not a Francisco dressed as Benedict, but has his own style and personality.
While in 2013 Francisco preferred not to put the “red muleta” for his first public appearance, that short red layer they inherited from the Roman emperors, he did consent to carry it, as provided for the liturgy of the pontiffs. But imitating Francisco, who maintained his pectoral cross with the figure of the good shepherd, Leo XIV also did not remove his own episcopal cross, which has embedded relics of Santos of the Order of San Agustín. In a matter of details, he also left the red shoes parked and stayed with the ones he was wearing, black.
Although Francisco opened a new path in the tradition of names of Pontiffs, Prevost, just like Ratzinger, has chosen a papal name that links with the tradition of a specific predecessor, in this case León XIII. Benedict explained that he wanted to boost peace like Benedict XV tried to stop World War I, although he subsequently linked his name to San Benito, patron of Europe.
León showed that it is rigorous: he is the first Pope who speaks in Italian and who chooses to read his first greeting. Benedict and Francisco preferred to improvise a few words only in Italian. But like Francisco, he invited the pilgrims to pray together before imparting their first blessing. In the content, he uses the vocabulary of Pope Francis: a “unarmed” peace, the memory of the poor, the mention of a concrete devotion to the Virgin and the “synodality.”
The first Mass
In his first Mass as Pope, in the Sistine Chapel, León has used the same pastoral – the cane crowned by a cross – used by Benedict XVI, and a simple chasuble given to Francis for the victims of the Aquila earthquake. León has also invited the ceremony to the cardinals over 80, who could not attend those who celebrated their two immediate predecessors the day after the conclave. He has also acted on his own.
At that same ceremony, Benedict read in Latin a homily previously prepared by the Secretary of State. Francisco preferred to make a homily without papers, in which he said that “if Christ is not put in the center, the Church risks to become a pious NGO.” The Christological Message is the same as Friday recalled Leo XIV, who faithful to the tradition of his order, cited a father of the Church, Ignacio de Antioquía.
-From the Sistine Chapel he returned to Santa Marta in an official car, which reminds of Francisco’s Ford Focus than to a presidential limousine, but that is not the white Fiat 500 with which Francisco circulated in Rome.
The Pope’s house
His first operational decision was to spend the night in his own home within the Vatican walls, and not in Santa Marta, where most of the cardinals still spent the night. Apparently the decision has yet made where the residence will be. The truth is that the spirituality of the Augustinians is linked to community life, and it is difficult for him to opt for a completely isolated life. At the same time, it is unlikely to go to Casa Santa Marta. In these hours he plans to visit the Apostolic Palace to remove the stamps that prevent the passage to the area reserved for the Pope, and get an idea of whether he adapts to his own needs.
Also this Friday the Vatican confirmed that the Pope has renewed all the high positions of the Holy See and the governor of the Vatican City State, although he has done it “provisionally, until he decides differently, because she wishes to reserve a time for reflection, prayer and dialogue, before any definitive appointment or confirmation.” Benedict and Francisco also acted like this, although it took more time to declare it, and Ratzinger immediately confirmed his Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano. The Pope has not done with Parolin.
His agenda of the first days is very similar to that defined by his predecessors. This Saturday will meet again with the cardinals, as is traditional. The novelty is that Sunday will look out to the central balcony of the Basilica of San Pedro at noon, and not to the window of the Apostolic Palace as it is traditional, to pray the Regina Coeli and make a brief greeting. Francisco took advantage of his first act to celebrate Mass in the parish of the Vatican. León has preferred not to do it.
The Pontificated Start Mass will be next Sunday at 10 in the morning, with official delegations, with great expectation in Rome for the possible presence of Donald Trump, since it is the first Pope born in the USA. Unlike Benedict and Francis Extramuros and Santa María la Mayor. The other potatoes were less rigorous in these commitments. Another novelty is that the first Saturday available, on May 24 it will meet with the Vatican Curia and with the employees of the Vatican City State.
Each successor of Pedro is a mirror of his own time. While Benedict liked classical music, Francisco liked football, he already likes tennis and is an Alcaraz admirer. As Benedict XVI said, the most correct way to interpret the history of the Catholic Church is the hermeneutics of continuity. Leo XIV demonstrates that “continuity does not mean being the same.”
