By Nancy Nuñez and Emiliano Rodriguez Nuesch

Robert Francis Prevost, a cardinal from the United States, has been elected by the Conclave as the new pope of the Catholic Church. He has taken the name Leo XIV—a choice that signals not only continuity with tradition but also a renewed focus on some of the most urgent moral challenges of our time.

So who is Pope Leo XIV, and what might his background tell us about the direction he’s likely to take?

He spent two decades as a missionary on the ground in Peru. He later served as head of the Augustinian order, one of the Church’s most intellectually rich and socially engaged traditions. Overall, that means he brings a combination of pastoral depth and real executive experience.

“I am a son of Saint Augustine, an Augustinian, who said: ‘with you I am a Christian and for you I am a bishop.’ In this sense, we can all walk together toward that homeland that God has prepared for us,” he said in a recent address.

Here are five key takeaways about Pope Leo XIV—and what his leadership could mean for the Church and the wider world.

1. A Name with Social Justice Resonance

When Prevost chose the name Leo XIV, he wasn’t just honoring tradition—he was sending a message. The name directly evokes Pope Leo XIII, who in 1891 issued Rerum Novarum, a response to the social tensions of the first industrial revolution. At a time when workers had few rights and inequality was growing, that encyclical called for fair wages, protections for labor, and human dignity.

By invoking that legacy, Leo XIV appears to be drawing a parallel between the moral upheavals of the first industrial revolution and the disruptions of our own era: artificial intelligence, climate breakdown, and widening economic divides.

“In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching,” he said, “in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour.”

Robert Presvost during his first year in Peru

2. A Voice for Migrants

Long before stepping onto the balcony at St. Peter’s, Pope Leo XIV had already made one thing clear: the Church cannot stay silent while migrants are pushed aside.

He’s spent much of his life walking with the poor—not just speaking about them. As a missionary in Peru, he lived in communities where migration wasn’t an issue on paper, it was a daily reality. Families torn apart. People forced to move to survive.

In his view, forced migration is a moral and political issue.

As pope, he’s likely to continue challenging the politics of fear and exclusion that push migrants to the margins. His previous statements suggest he’ll keep this issue at the heart of his papacy.

On the left, Robert Prevost (Pope Leo XIV), with his mother, Mildred Martínez, and his brothers, John Joseph and Louis Martín.

3. A First Message: “Peace Is Always Possible”

In his very first speech as pope, Leo XIV didn’t avoid the headlines. Speaking from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, he issued a direct appeal for peace in Ukraine and Gaza. He urged the international community not to grow indifferent and to intensify diplomatic efforts to end the suffering of civilians.

“Let us pray for this peace, which is reconciliation, forgiveness, and the courage to turn the page and start anew,” he said, in a speech that extended concern to conflicts from the Middle East to the Caucasus and the Horn of Africa.

Papal diplomacy isn’t just symbolic. It can be a force for real pressure and moral clarity in a fractured world.

Pope Leo XIV in the cover of Time Magazine

4. From Words to Action on Climate Change

Like his predecessor Pope Francis, Leo XIV has shown a strong commitment to addressing the climate crisis. But he’s also suggested it’s time to stop talking and start doing.

Last year, while still a cardinal, he called for a shift “from words to action,” urging humanity to cultivate a “relationship of reciprocity” with the environment.

His message echoes Laudato Si’, the environmental encyclical of Pope Francis, but also frames climate justice as both an environmental and social responsibility that spans generations.

Cardinal Robert Prevost with Pope Francis

5. Continuity with Pope Francis—With a New Lens

There is a connection between Pope Leo XIV and Pope Francis: both place the poor, the planet, and peace at the center of the Church’s mission. Yet Pope Leo XIV brings his own perspective, emphasizing the ethical challenges posed by technology—especially artificial intelligence and automation— and the need to update Catholic social teaching in light of today’s realities.

His papacy opens a new chapter for the Church—one rooted in tradition but oriented toward justice, compassion, and renewal in an increasingly complex world.

Pope Leo XIV: A New Papacy for a Changing World