Leo XIV, the peacemaker

Spaniards are currently getting a close look at a pope the world still knows little about. He has gone from being a mystery, a man who seemed feeble, to becoming, in the space of two months, a startling revelation after he clashed with Donald Trump in mid-April and, two weeks ago, published a far-reaching encyclical; an argument against the techno-fascism of Silicon Valley. His visit to Spain will culminate in the definitive discovery of Prevost, since it is his first major trip to Europe and he will speak to the entire Western world. But what does this pope think and why has he been so disconcerting?

The disorientation stems from a matter of timing. Prevost’s method is to listen, reflect, and then speak and act directly. That explains his initial silence, which he has begun to break by deploying a viewpoint that did not appear out of nowhere. As a devout Augustinian, his Christian outlook shapes a political stance in line with the arguments of The City of God by Saint Augustine, which describes two cities — an earthly one and a spiritual one — the latter being the one men should keep in mind. In his address to the diplomatic corps on January 9, he explicitly quoted the work: “Christians living in the earthly city are not strangers to the political world, and, guided by the Scriptures, seek to apply Christian ethics to civil government.” They do so, he argued, for “a more just and peaceful coexistence.” “Augustine also warns of the grave dangers to political life arising from false representations of history, excessive nationalism and the distortion of the ideal of the political leader,” he said.

The first U.S. pope began with that speech, at the outset of the year, to outline a political vision that would bring him into collision with Trump. In fact, after hearing this, alarm bells went off at the White House, and the nuncio in Washington was summoned for a “frank” exchange of views, as was later reported. Elected in May, Prevost took 2025 to prepare before stepping into the spotlight. After the summer he began speaking to journalists as he left the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo on the outskirts of Rome. With striking lines: “Someone who says I’m against abortion but is in favor of the death penalty is not really pro-life,” he said.

But it was after that January speech that he began to speak ever more plainly: “War is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading. The principle established after the Second World War, which prohibited nations from using force to violate the borders of others, has been completely undermined.” Prevost defended the UN, international law, and humanitarian law, condemned attacks on civilians, and the use of hunger as a weapon of war.

At the same time, he set the tone on other fronts important to the progressive world, condemning abortion and euthanasia, defending conscientious objection and even speaking of “a new Orwellian-style language” that, “in an attempt to be increasingly inclusive, ends up excluding those who do not conform to the ideologies that are fueling it.” “In the West, the space for genuine freedom of expression is shrinking rapidly,” he said at one point, almost in line with U.S. Vice President J. D. Vance. All this offers clues about what his speeches in Spain will address, which will sometimes please some and at other times others.

His aim is to speak to everyone. In her book, Leo XIV. Citizen of the World, Missionary of the 21st Century, Vatican correspondent Elise Ann Allen asked him about Trump’s politics and he replied: “I do not plan to get involved in partisan politics.” His idea is to speak about the values of the Gospel and “hopefully people on both sides of the aisle, as we say, can listen.” In fact, he has confessed that as a young man he considered entering politics.

What’s interesting is that he has become Trump’s moral antagonist on the global stage while garnering more consensus than Pope Francis, without internal fractures. Because of his measured style it doesn’t feel like he has deliberately set out to confront Trump politically; rather, Trump ended up clashing with him. In fact, Trump attacked first. Prevost’s response was very calm: he said he was not afraid of him and had no interest in debating him. Regarding his predecessor, he is aware of having an advantage: “The fact that I am American means, among other things, that people cannot say, as they did about Francis, ‘he does not understand the United States, he simply does not see what is happening.’”

Someone who says I’m against abortion but is in favor of the death penalty is not really pro-life

Pope Leo XIV

The line of conflict is clear. Besides reacting to barbarity, Leo XIV chiefly responded to attempts by the U.S. far right to manipulate the Christian message, and also by Israel to use the Bible to endorse war as a crusade. On March 29 the pope recalled that Jesus “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them: ‘Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood.’”

On April 11 he was even harsher, with remarks that were clearly aimed at Trump. He said that in the kingdom of God “there is no sword, no drone, no vengeance, no trivialization of evil, no unjust profit, but only dignity, understanding and forgiveness.” “It is here that we find a bulwark against that delusion of omnipotence that surrounds us and is becoming increasingly unpredictable and aggressive. […] Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war!” The next day came Trump’s first personal attack on Leo XIV. He said the pope should “stop catering to the radical left.”

It is useful to recall the first words Leo XIV said when he appeared on St. Peter’s balcony upon his election on May 8, 2025: “Peace be with you all!” He then clarified: “A peace that is unarmed and disarming, humble and persevering.” Those adjectives suit him well. That sentence sums up his first major priority, a drive that continues today: to calm tempers. His great concern is polarization and division, both in society and within the Church. That will likely be one of his central messages in Spain.

One revealing detail shared by those who knew him: he drives “like a madman,” at full speed. And in Peru he also danced salsa at parties

This is the core of his thought: the idea of division that clashes with that of community, which for him is essential (“I am not a lone ranger; I never have been”). He became an Augustinian for that reason (“The communal life of the Augustinians, the aspect of friendship, doing things together — all of that made sense to me”). The priority is unity, overcoming differences, and also leaving no one out, being inclusive. That is why he sees a root of polarization in inequality — “the ever-widening gap between working-class incomes and those of the richest.” “The news that Elon Musk is going to be the first trillionaire in the world: What does that mean and what’s that about?” he has said.

For Prevost, the idea of unity is dynamic; it is linked to movement, to advancing together without getting bogged down on problems. That gives him a practical bent. Leo XIV is a mathematician and canon lawyer with a very pragmatic American mindset. In every post, he has shown himself to be a skilled administrator. He summed it up in Allen’s book: “I know how to listen, I think, quite well. When I’m with people, I have respect for everyone’s point of view, but then I also reach a point with them, when possible, to say: friends, we have to make a decision here.”

Prevost is someone who, despite appearing timid, takes his time and then takes risks: “I’m adventurous. Some would use the word brave, others would say crazy, but I’m willing to move forward. […] You can’t keep going around in circles.” One revealing detail shared by those who knew him: he drives “like a madman,” at full speed. And in Peru he also danced salsa at parties, even El meneíto.

His entire worldview was formed by his experience in Peru. His biography provides many clues to understand how he thinks: he is the first missionary pope. John Paul II never left Poland before becoming pope. Benedict XVI, a German, spent his life in Rome. Francis was Latin American but lived in Argentina his whole life. As general prior of the Augustinians, Prevost traveled to nearly 40 countries.

He himself admits that going to Peru changed his life. He ended up in a remote corner of the world and knows what it is to be in such a place: “I remember arriving in Chulucanas in 1985. It was the year after the horrible floods of 1983 and 1984. The roads were still destroyed. It was a situation of extreme poverty, very different from even what it is today, and part of me looked around and said: Lord, where have you brought me?”

It is in Peru where his political vision also takes shape. When he arrived in 1985, the country was being ravaged by the terror of the Shining Path terrorist group and an economy in collapse. The terrorists even threatened Americans and some priests left. Prevost and others stayed. He was clear that his place was alongside the people. Like Francis, and hence their strong shared origins, he is a child of the new progressive, post–Second Vatican Council Latin American Church following the CELAM conference in Medellín in 1968. This is what he thinks of liberation theology: “It is beginning to look through the eyes of the poor and with the poor to understand how God is in and among us. It does not necessarily mean you are promoting Marxist ideology, although some have labeled it as such.”

Prevost experienced something else on the front lines in Peru: the brutal effects of an ultraliberal regime that drives a country into poverty and ultimately into dictatorship: Alberto Fujimori’s regime and its fujishock measures. Leo XIV knows well what leaders like Javier Milei do. In Peru he had to fight that by creating soup kitchens, helping the poorest. He also promoted street demonstrations in defense of human rights and democracy. He gathered signatures for the creation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which investigated human rights violations committed in Peru between 1980 and 2000, after Fujimori’s downfall.

Likewise, it is not that he merely believes in climate change; he has seen its effects in natural disasters in Peru, such as the coastal El Niño in 2017 and the Yaku cyclone in 2023. His diocese delivered prefabricated houses. Equally, his empathy with migrants is evident in all those he helped in Peru, especially from 2018 onward with the massive arrival of Venezuelans. Prevost provided assistance to migrants and helped pay for more than 3,000 regularization procedures. But, to begin with, he is the son of immigrants, from a mestizo family: “I remember a neighbor who would not speak to my mother because ‘your mother is African American’ and there was prejudice there. We didn’t pay much attention. My father at the time was a school superintendent and he brought people home all the time — African Americans, whites, Hispanics — it didn’t matter.”

Prevost also experienced firsthand how Cold War tensions translated into the Latin American Church, which spurred the rise of ultraconservative movements. He knows the lay of the land perfectly. In the Peruvian Church, from the 1980s onward, Opus Dei, the Neocatechumenal Way and the Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana came to dominate. Prevost had to deal with all three. But again he applied his method: do not prejudge, engage with everyone, let differences dissolve through mutual treatment.

When he arrived in the diocese of Chiclayo in 2014 it had been an Opus Dei stronghold for decades, with Spanish bishops. He faced resistance and was castigated in WhatsApp groups. But he remained unperturbed, simply confronting it with patience. The same happened in El Callao, where Francis deployed him parachute-style in 2020 to restore order in a chaotic diocese. A Neocatechumenal bishop had practically gone mad, wanting to impose adherence to his movement on all priests. He even sent thugs to parishes. After a time, Prevost imposed peace and restored coexistence.

Leo XIV’s toughest battle was against the Sodalicio, and it continues, because attacks against him originate from its circle, which has connections to the U.S. and Spanish far right. This group, with cult-like traits and inspired by the Spanish Falange, spread among Peru’s upper classes and neighboring countries, where it gained economic and political power. In 2015 a book exposed dozens of cases of sexual abuse and Prevost was one of the few Peruvian bishops who supported both the victims and the press. He was decisive in the group’s final dissolution in January 2025.

This is the issue that revealed to Leo XIV the scourge of pedophilia. He has recounted how he was struck by a woman’s complaint against a well-known member of the Sodalicio: “Of course, the institutional response was to muddy her name, say she was crazy, look for every form of defamation, simply to destroy the person. […] The institution itself becomes corrupt under this mentality of ‘we must defend the institution above and against everything.’” On his contact with victims, he has said: “I don’t know if I have ever heard a case in which I did not believe the victim. I have to say it, because when you talk to people and know they are suffering, that suffering comes from somewhere. It’s not made up.” This is what he thinks about pedophilia, but being one of the most complex issues he faces, he has not yet taken any steps on it.

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