No Time to Dye

Gunnar Lee • June 11, 2025

After 17 days of interregnum and a notably short two-day conclave to elect the new Bishop of Rome, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected to the pontificate as Pope Leo XIV on May 8, marking the first time in history that an American has been pope (AP News). This comes shortly after the death of Pope Francis, the first pontiff from South America, who headed the Catholic Church from March 2013 to April 2025. His funeral Mass on April 26 was attended by more than 400,000 people (Catholic News Agency). Delegates from over 130 countries, including President Donald Trump of the United States, Prince William of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy and United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, also paid their respects (The Guardian).

Pope Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on December 17, 1936, as the son of Italian immigrants, and grew up in Argentina (The Holy See). After finishing his studies to work as a chemical technician, Bergoglio was inspired to join the priesthood and became a novice in the Society of Jesus in 1958. From then until his creation as Cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II, he served in various Church roles in his native Argentina, including as a professor of theology, philosophy and literature, and as Archbishop, Primate of Argentina (The Holy See). After Pope John Paul II’s death in 2005 and Pope Benedict XVI’s historic resignation in 2013, Pope Francis was elected. Upon his inauguration, he became the first Jesuit and South American to assume the papacy, and the first pope to choose the regnal name Francis after Saint Francis of Assisi, signaling his desire to reach the poor (NPR). To lay people, Pope Francis was known for his efforts to reach the marginalized, advance social justice and mitigate climate change. His major actions included reforming the Catechism of the Catholic Church to oppose the death penalty, instituting more stringent procedures to investigate clergy sex abuse scandals and calling for people to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a “moral obligation” (The Holy See).

The conclave to elect Pope Leo XIV featured 133 cardinals hailing from across the globe, all of whom were below the 80 year age limit to vote (ABC News). The 22-member list of preferiti, or top contenders for the papacy included Cardinals Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State; Luis Antonio Tagle, the former president of Caritas Internationalis, a Catholic charity organization, and former Archbishop of Manila; Peter Erdo, the Archbishop of Hungary and Matteo Zuppi, the Archbishop of Bologna (The College of Cardinals Report). Despite much division among news media over which candidate was most “papabile,” white smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel chimney after only two days, signaling that a decision had been reached.

Robert Francis Prevost was born on September 14th,1955 in Chicago, Illinois, to parents of French, Italian and Spanish descent. Having decided on the priesthood at an early age, he attended a variety of Catholic institutions, including Villanova University, the Catholic Theological Union, and Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Vatican News). In 1985, he began working at a mission in Peru while still maintaining positions in his native Chicago. In Peru, he held various roles, including judicial vicar, parish priest. and Professor of Canon Law, Patristics. and Theology. In 2015, he was appointed Bishop of Chiclayo, and in 2023, he was created cardinal.

While Catholic traditionalists often recoiled at the reformist tendencies of Pope Francis, which included blessing same sex unions and releasing the encyclical, Laudato Si’, which addressed climate change, Pope Leo XIV’s social and political beliefs remain shrouded in mystery (The College of Cardinals Report). However, certain clues may offer insight into what his papacy’s focus will be. His regnal name Leo XIV is a nod to Pope Leo XIII, who is best known for publishing the encyclical “Rerum Novarum,” which examined workers’ rights and heavily influenced Catholic social teaching (Catholic News Agency). According to public voting records, Leo XIV voted in the 2024 general election (ABC News). He is known for his posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, with some of them being highly critical of President Trump’s immigration policies. According to the Associated Press, one of his reposts read, “Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?” Junior August Medrano shared his perspective on the new pope.

“It [will] be hard to [succeed] Pope Francis.” Medrano said. “Leo XIV’s going to continue [his legacy] any way he can. Is he going to be as progressive as Pope Francis? I don’t know.”

However, regardless of his political views, Leo XIV has made it clear that as an Augustinian, he wants to focus on unity — in 2023, he remarked that “Unity and communion is fundamental.” Only time will tell whether he is successful.