May 8th brought a new pope to lead the Roman Catholic Church and over a billion Catholics worldwide – originally born as Robert Francis Prevost, Pope Leo XIV was elected to fill Pope Francis’ role. While the Catholic Church does not maintain real power outside of the Vatican, the Pope does influence world politics due to its large following. Like those before him, Pope Leo will shape Catholic beliefs as he serves as the head of Catholicism. Between the wealth of Catholic organizations and powerful Catholics elected to political office, like Vice President JD Vance, Pope Leo holds a great deal of unwritten power beyond the Vatican’s borders.

Leo is now the 267th Bishop of Rome, and billions of individuals are researching his previous beliefs, statements, and history to grasp better what his reign may look like. He is taking the position at 69 years old after serving his life within the Church, but mainstream news has drawn attention to how Leo is the first American pope in history. Leo is from Chicago, Illinois, and is the second pope from the Americas, following former Pope Francis, and was only recently made a Cardinal by Francis in 2024. Ultimately, there is no true way to know how Pope Leo will lead the Catholic faith in upcoming years: Francis was considered “progressive” by media outlets, but held both conservative and liberal views that he used to bridge the Catholic Church to the world public. As he aged, Francis became more vocally progressive through the belief it was his duty to be a symbol of the modern Church rather than espouse personal politics. Leo was a close confidant of Francis, and while most are predicting he will be more conservative than Francis, that future is not written in stone since Leo may choose to handle his responsibility in a number of ways.

It is also imperative to note that Pope Leo and the Church try to stay out of politics when possible. Leo isn’t going to give statements on budget reform, college debt, taxes, or social security. The Church only speaks on politics that they believe directly impact human life, like refugees, the death penalty, abortion, and euthanasia. It is only a recent development within the Church to have a stance on climate change, tied to the potential great loss of human life and society’s responsibility to tend to God’s creation. Yet, the above subjects are hot topics – especially when one of America’s two political parties has very hard values on their platform, regardless of the cost of life. 

Lastly, before continuing, Pope Leo’s voting record has allegedly been made public. As an Illinoian, there are no records kept on who Leo has voted for in the past: the only records kept show that Leo has historically voted both in Republican and Democrat primaries and that he regularly votes in most elections. Since there are no “official” records of how Leo really feels on politics, media outlets throughout the world are trying to guess where he might stand.

Leo on… MAGA

Remember: Leo was a confidant and ally of Francis, and Francis was no friend to the Trump administration. Just before Pope Francis died, the former pope scolded JD Vance for using his Catholic faith to harm others. While the Trump administration may try to cozy up to the Vatican, Pope Leo has already made a public point that he is not in favor of MAGA, especially concerning issues of immigration, poverty, and war.

Most knowledge of this subject comes from Pope Leo’s social media account on X/Twitter. Leo is currently regarded as a centrist on the world stage, but this is bad news for MAGA since “centrist” equates to far-left communism due to their Overton window shift of American politics. In February 2025, Leo shared an article on his account: “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others,” in reference to Vance’s stance that faith commands us to love ourselves before our neighbors and the world at large. Months later, Leo shared a link to an article condemning the Trump administration for not facilitating the return of wrongly deported man Kilmar Abrego Garcia and MAGA’s path towards deportation without due process or humanity. In Leo’s own words, “Do you [Trump, Vance, and MAGA] not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?”

These critiques are not new, and the Associated Press has found similar statements by Leo dating back to 2015. During Trump’s first presidential campaign, Leo posted an article titled, “Why Donald Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric is so problematic.” In short, Leo is already considered a foil or opposite to Trump’s administration, so it’s only a matter of time before it boils to a head.

Leo on… Immigration

Immigration is one of Leo’s key issues and will likely fuel any potential rivalry between him and the Trump administration. Leo holds dual citizenship in Peru, where he has spent most of his life on missions, and identifies as a child of immigrants. Pope Leo has made it clear that he is against MAGA immigration and deportations, so we are likely to see the most news related to Leo and his responses to Trump on immigration and refugees.

Leo on… Climate Change

Pope Leo actually deeply cares about climate change and the current state of the environment, similar to former Pope Francis’ stance. In 2024, Leo called on the Church to move “from words to action,” and affirmed the Vatican’s commitment to protecting the environment.

Leo on… LGBTQIA+ Rights

Most media organizations reporting Leo as conservative compared to Francis focus on his stances on LGBTQIA+ people – although I believe they should be doing so with more nuance. Back in 2012, Leo made a statement disapproving of positive depictions of LGBTQIA+ families in media, claiming it was at odds with the Church’s stance. However, nuance is needed – in 2012, Francis himself was not necessarily supportive of queer people either. In 2015, Francis compared transgender identity to genetic manipulation and nuclear war and made a couple of statements condemning marriage equality. Francis was “progressive” in his numerous statements that queer people should be included in the Church, which Leo will more than likely follow, but Francis never believed in true marriage equality.

In 2024, Leo commented that more conversations needed to happen regarding blessing same-sex couples: Leo did not object to such blessings, but rather stated variance needed to exist within the Church to handle blessings internationally since blessings are sanctioned within North America and Europe but not in African countries still enforcing the death penalty against same-sex activity. Then, in a public appearance in May 2025, Leo stated that the Church affirms notions of ‘family’ as the “stable union between a man and a woman” – before walking slightly back to ensure LGBTQIA+ Catholics “are welcome in the church,” according to the Associated Press. Leo is unlikely to sanction queer marriage within the Church, similar to Francis, but he will probably push to include more queer individuals in the Church – especially if conservative comments and positions by himself and the Church continue to drive people away.

Leo on… Women’s Rights

Like most Catholics, Leo is most conservative here: much like his predecessor Francis and other leaders of the Church. Leo generally opposes expanded reproductive care like abortions, viewing the issue as similar to euthanasia. In 2019, Leo stated we “cannot build a just society if we discard the weakest – whether the child in the womb or the elderly in their frailty.” The Associated Press reported that Leo recently affirmed this statement: “No one is exempt from striving to ensure respect for the dignity of every person, especially the most frail and vulnerable, from the unborn to the elderly, from the sick to the unemployed, citizens and immigrants alike.” Other topics like contraception and IVF are unclear, and Leo will likely avoid such topics like Francis.

While Leo supported some of Francis’ decisions on expanding women’s involvement within the Church, he disapproved of discussions on women’s ability to hold official positions like deacons. “It isn’t as simple as saying that, ‘You know, at this stage we’re going to change the tradition of the Church after 2,000 years on any one of those points,” Leo stated back in 2023 to The Catholic News Agency.

Leo on… Church Reform

Francis opened dialogue within the Church through “Synod on Synodality,” where priests, bishops, and regular folks were summoned by the pope to engage in debate. It was considered radical and forced the most conservative bishops to listen and engage in debate with “outsiders” across the religious and political spectrum. Leo has indicated he plans to carry out Francis’ synodal reforms, so his Church legacy will continue these open discussions on world social issues.

Unfortunately, Francis was conservative on women’s roles within the Church, as mentioned above. Leo shares Francis’ opinions on opening women’s involvement within leadership roles, and we’re unlikely to see any extreme changes.

Pope Leo is inheriting Francis’s attempts to end sexual abuse in the Church. Francis became the pope during the height of systematic cover-up, constantly barraged with scandals from former Pope Benedict’s reign. In 2019, Francis went on the record as stating he had been part of the problem in dismissing accusations made against Catholic bishops. The Church has barely acknowledged its sexual abuse and continues to cover up most ongoing scandals. Leo himself was accused by the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests for covering up abuse while he was leading the Diocese of Chiclayo. It is now Leo’s turn to steer the Church – while we can hope Leo will choose to fight against sexual abuse, he’s likely to keep to the Church’s self-interests.