Pope Leo XIV Overcame a Major Strike Against Him: Being American

In retrospect, Pope Leo XIV had it all going for him.

The new pope, whose election on the second day of the conclave stunned the Roman Catholic world, seemed to be from two places at once. He was born and educated in the United States, a country vital to the church’s finances. But he was also a missionary, pastor and bishop in Peru who ran the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, a part of the world where the church is vibrant.

He had the good papal housekeeping seal of approval from Pope Francis, his predecessor, who put him in one of the top jobs in the Roman Catholic Church. There, as Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, he led the office that helped that pope choose bishops and, thus, determine the future of the church.

He knew, and was one of, the voting cardinals in the church’s powerful bureaucracy, but he put liberals at ease with his strong support for Francis’ arguably greatest change, which sought to make the church’s decision-making process more bottom-up and closer to the faithful.

In uncertain times, he ran a global religious group, the Order of St. Augustine, that required a sophisticated understanding of the world. His deep theological formation may have put conservatives worried about doctrine at ease. At age 69, the new pope is the ideal age for a papal candidate.

The major strike against him was his American nationality, a deal breaker in decades past because it was seen as being too closely aligned with the world’s dominant super power. But in a world order that has changed significantly and in a church that increasingly sees beyond nationality, that apparently turned out not to matter to the 133 cardinals voting in the Sistine Chapel.

“He checked all the boxes,” said John Allen, a veteran Vatican analyst and author of the book “Conclave.” He added, “Geography and nationality stopped being a voting issue.”