As a friend texted me right after the pope’s selection was announced, that shift (cultural) “almost feels like … hope.
That was the closing line of David French’s New York Times article on Pope Leo XIV (Pope Leo, Leo, or the Pope) posted on May 12.
It finally feels cool to be a Peruvian American former altar boy who went to Catholic high school and Catholic college.
That was the opening line of Carlos Lozada’s New York Times article, posted on the same day.
Although their personal perspectives differed, Lozada and French were united in the hope they share for the future because of Pope Leo. They do not stand alone in that hope.
David Crary and Tiffany Stanley of the Associated Press report:
From U.S. Catholics to the left of the ideological center, there is optimism that Leo will carry on Pope Francis’ outreach to poor and marginalized people, including migrants, and provide a counterweight to policies of the Trump administration that distress them. To the right, there is hope the new pope will faithfully uphold Catholic doctrine, including opposition to abortion, same-sex marriage, and women’s ordination.
Time will tell whether this new hope brought forward by the new pope for so many will be sustained. We are cautiously optimistic because hope is critical to the future.
We have written about the importance of hope frequently. Hope is not a strategy. Nonetheless, hope is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for surviving tough times and achieving great things.
Hope may not make something so. But a lack of hope makes accomplishing anything virtually impossible. Hope is essential. It is what keeps us going against what appear to be overwhelming odds and adversity.
Unfortunately, in the United States and around the world today, hope is in short supply, In large part, this is due to the chaos and consternation being created by the Trump administration and its numerous initiatives to move the nation backwards, both internally and internationally. This condition is extremely problematic and could become catastrophic for our country.
As we stated in 2012, “America is a nation founded on hope. America is in the business of hope. America is dedicated to perfecting hope. America is committed to innovating hope. America is the world’s best hope.”
In 2021, we wrote: “For hundreds of millions in the country, and around the world America is hope.” In 2025, because of the current Trump regime, this is no longer true. Hope in America is not dead, but it is definitely on life support.
Pope Leo XIV has a chance to renew the hope and belief in America, and the kindness and goodness of the American people. He has that chance because of where he comes from, who he is, what he has done throughout his life, and the course he appears prepared to chart going forward.
Pope Leo, Robert Francis Prevost comes from Chicago, Illinois. His two brothers indicate that even at an early age he knew he wanted to be a priest and to serve and help others.
His decision to become a priest in the Order of St. Augustine, an Augustinian, reflected that childhood commitment. Justine McDaniel notes in her Washington Post piece:
Augustinians follow spiritual ideals aimed at bringing people together… The order — a religious community that dedicates itself to a specific family of thought — focuses on unity, harmony, friendship, charity and service.
As a missionary and then a bishop, Robert Prevost applied those ideals and principles in Peru for more than two decades. In 2015, he became a dual citizen of the U.S. and Peru.
This demonstrates that Prevost was not only doing his job. He was also building a bridge between North and South America. Prevost has developed a reputation as a bridge builder for impoverished communities, and those who live in them, throughout his career.
Prevost as Pope Leo will extend the legacy of his predecessor Pope Francis, who was known as “the peoples pope” because of his advocacy for the poor and those in need.
By choosing to be named Leo XIV, Prevost communicated his intention to follow in the footsteps of Pope Leo XIII. In his Nation article, John Nichols writes that:
Pope Leo XIII, the leader of the Catholic Church from 1878 to 1903, came to be known as ”The Pope of the Workers” because of his groundbreaking 1891 encyclical on the Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor, which provided the outline for modern Catholic social justice teaching.
Advancing the rights of the working class and promoting social justice will undoubtedly be part of Leo’s agenda.
The Pope has not set out a detailed agenda in these early days of his tenure, but he did identify some of the key areas that are important to him in his initial pronouncements.
In his opening speech from the balcony at St. Peters Basilica after he was announced as pope, he said:
To the church of Rome, a special greeting: We have to look together how to be a missionary church, building bridges, dialogue, always open to receiving with open arms for everyone, like this square, open to all, to all who need our charity, our presence, dialogue, love.
In his first address to the College of Cardinals, he said:
Pope Leo XIII in his historic Encyclical Rerum Novarum addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution. In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice, and labor.
In speaking to the media representatives in Rome, he said:
Today, one of the most important challenges is to promote communication that can bring us out of the “Tower of Babel” in which we sometimes find ourselves, out of the confusion of loveless languages that are often ideological or partisan. Therefore, your service, with the words you use and the style you adopt, is crucial. As you know, communication is not only the transmission of information, but it is also the creation of a culture, of human and digital environments that become spaces for dialogue and discussion.
In spite of these words, it is impossible to predict the specific actions that Pope Leo will take in the future on the critical issues that he will confront during his papacy. What is possible to say, because of who he has proven to be, is that Leo will approach all of this with an indomitable faith and spirit.
Yes, that will be his Catholic faith and the Holy spirit. But, as importantly, it will be a faith in freedom and democratic values forged in America, and the spirit of an American, who understands that with dedication and hard work, progress can be made in confronting even the most difficult challenges that lie ahead.
In closing, as we stated earlier, Pope Leo XIV has a chance to renew the hope and belief in America, and the kindness and goodness of the American people. We are certain this redemptive act is not on his radar screen.
That doesn’t matter. What matters is that as the first American pope, he will be the leader of more than 1.4 billion Catholics around the world and have an impact on billions of others.
In his role, Leo will embody what it means to be an American. By discharging his duties and responsibilities constructively and collaboratively, he can help bring hope and healing to a divided America and throughout the world.