WORLD leaders have reacted to Thursday’s election of the Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XIV (News, 9 May), as more details emerged of his background and likely approach as head of the Roman Catholic Church.
In a congratulatory post on social media, President Trump described the advent of an American pope as an “honour” and “excitement” for the United States, while his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said that the election offered “renewed hope and continuity” during the Church’s current Jubilee Year.
Mr Rubio added that the US Administration, whose policies on refugees and migrants were criticised on several occasions by the then Cardinal Prevost, looked forward to deepening its “enduring relationship with the Holy See with the first American pontiff”.
Vice-President J. D. Vance, whom the new Pope implicitly criticised in a social- media post in February for his claim that there was a hierarchy of Christian love, also congratulated the new Pope, saying that “millions of American Catholics and other Christians” would be praying for his “successful work leading the Church”.
The Presidents of the European Commission and European Council, Dr Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa, said in a statement that millions of Europeans drew “daily inspiration from the Church’s enduring commitment to peace, human dignity, and mutual understanding among nations”. The European Union stood ready “to work closely with the Holy See to confront global challenges and nurture a spirit of solidarity, respect and kindness”, they said.
In a statement on X, Sir Keir Starmer called Pope Leo’s election “a deeply profound moment of joy for Catholics”, and said that he looked forward to “meeting the Holy Father” and “continuing to work closely with the Catholic Church . . . to advance our shared values and the common good”.
He said that the Holy See had a special part to play “in bringing people and nations together to address the major issues of our time; especially on climate change, alleviating poverty, and promoting peace and justice”.
In Peru, where Pope Leo holds citizenship and ministered for two decades, latterly as Bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023, President Dina Boluarte said that the new Pope’s “closeness to those most in need” had “left an indelible mark” on her country.
“In our lands, he sowed hope, walked alongside the neediest, and shared the joys of our people”, the statement noted. “His opting for Peru was not merely formal, but profoundly spiritual and human. He chose to be one of us, to live among us and carry in his heart this nation’s faith, culture and dreams.”
In Brazil, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a personal friend of the late Pope Francis, said he hoped that the new Pope would “continue the legacy” of his Argentinian predecessor, “whose main virtues were the incessant search for peace and social justice, defence of the environment, dialogue with all people and all religions, and respect for the diversity of human beings”.
The election of Pope Leo XIV, who made several appeals for peace in his inaugural message from St Peter’s Basilica on Thursday evening, has also been welcomed by charities and human-rights groups, including the Vatican-based Caritas Internationalis (CI), which said that his choice of name was “deeply significant” ahead of the anniversary on 17 May of Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, and encompassed “a clear commitment to the social apostolate of the Church and Catholic social teaching”.
“This is an exciting moment for the Church and the world,” the British secretary-general of Caritas Internationalis, Alistair Dutton, said on Thursday evening. “Pope Leo’s immediate identification with issues of peace, solidarity, dialogue, and charity, and particularly his commitment to people who suffer, is an early indication of his commitment to a missionary Church for the poor and social justice.”
The new Pope, the 267th since St Peter, is likely to continue the multiple peace initiatives of Pope Francis, whose opposition to war and violence, and linking of peace with social justice and environmental protection, is viewed as one of his key legacies.
Media commentators have drawn attention to the challenges facing Pope Leo, however, in a world experiencing prolonged war and violence, along with a continuing realignment of powers, and geopolitical uncertainties over the rise of China and the current reorientation in US foreign policy.
In a statement on Thursday, President Zelensky said that his country valued “the Holy See’s consistent position in upholding international law, condemning the Russian Federation’s military aggression against Ukraine, and protecting the rights of innocent civilians”. He said that he hoped for “continued moral and spiritual support from the Vatican” for Ukraine’s “efforts to restore justice and achieve a lasting peace”.
President Putin also congratulated the new Pope, saying that he was confident that the “constructive dialogue and interaction established between Russia and the Vatican” would develop further “on the basis of the Christian values that unite us”.
In the Middle East, where Pope Francis condemned actions by both sides during the current Gaza war, urging a ceasefire and hostage release, and insisting that “terror should not justify terror”, President Isaac Herzog of Israel said that he was looking forward to “enhancing the relationship between Israel and the Holy See”, and to “strengthening the friendship between Jews and Christians in the Holy Land and around the world”. He hoped, he said, that the new pontificate would help to bring a new era of peace by “building bridges and understanding between all faiths and peoples”.
Pope Leo will face many demands by groups representing indigenous peoples and marginalised communities, as well as from victims of past clerical abuse, which Francis took many steps to combat.
In a lengthy open letter to the new Pope, the Chicago-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), referred to claims that the then Bishop Prevost had mishandled sexual abuse cases in both Peru and the US. The letter said that SNAP had supported more than 25,000 abuse survivors worldwide for 35 years, and would now “demand accountability” from the new Pope and a “grave reckoning”.
SNAP said that the “theatre and international acclaim” surrounding Leo’s election suggested that no one now wished to know about the “sexual and spiritual affliction” visited on abuse victims, or about the RC Church’s “disavowed and obscene underside”.
“Many of the cardinals that elected you covered up the crimes committed against us, and the priests and others who assaulted us hold significantly greater social value and prestige than any of us, individually or collectively,” SNAP told the new Pope.
“Your three predecessors accepted the papal office, fully aware that they had betrayed the innocence of children in the dioceses entrusted to them. . . Like them, will you fail to fully recognise what you and your fellow-bishops have done and what you are continuing to do?”
Among other messages welcoming the new Pope’s election, the secretary-general of the Anglican Communion, the Rt Revd Anthony Poggo, said that he hoped that Leo XIV would “lead with faithfulness, vision, and courage, embodying the Christian values of peace and justice in service of mission and evangelisation.
“At this point in history, the world and the Church face significant challenges: crises of mass migration, war, poverty, and division press upon us all”, Bishop Poggo said in a message.
“We welcome Pope Leo’s commitment to building bridges through dialogue, and his summons to all the faithful to visible unity without fear. The Anglican Communion remains committed to our collaboration with the Catholic Church in the friendship of Jesus, sustained by our formal ecumenical institutions and the pioneering ministry of the Anglican Centre in Rome.”
Preaching on Thursday evening, the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew said that he hoped that Leo XIV would join in current 1700th anniversary celebrations of the Council of Nicaea and inaugurate a “new era” in East-West church relations, while embracing the “Church’s contribution to the world, not only in the social sphere but by offering answers to the existential questions that continue to concern humanity”.
He also called on the new Pope to “inspire the Church and the world with universal ideals of freedom, equality, justice, and solidarity”, and to help end the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, while preventing a new conflict between India and Pakistan.
Patriarch Daniel of Romania said that his Church was “fully convinced” that the new Pope would “continue to promote the spirit of dialogue, peace, and co-operation between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches”, and that the “united voice of Christians” was ever more needed “in a world facing multiple spiritual, economic, and social crises”.
The head of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Tawadros II, said that he also prayed that Pope Leo would “uphold true Christian values and faith-based principles”. The Grand Imam of Cairo’s Al-Azhar Mosque, Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, said that he looked forward to working with the new Pope “in strengthening interfaith dialogue and promoting the values of human fraternity”.
