The U.S.-Born Pope Is Changing U.S. Catholicism

Pope Leo XIV is changing the public voice of American Catholicism. He is building on the legacy of Pope Francis, but has turned out to be better placed than Francis was to shift the direction of the U.S. Church, and not only because of his national origin (or the fact that he’s a baseball fan). Leo has focused his papacy on a series of issues—immigration, economic justice, war and peace, and the moral challenges of artificial intelligence—on which the American polity is hungry for moral guidance. He is lending support to bishops who were named by Pope Francis to shift the priorities of the American Church. His desire to give cardinals a larger role in governance has empowered some of the strongest progressive voices in the U.S. Church’s leadership. The outspokenness of Cardinals Robert McElroy, Blase Cupich, and Joseph Tobin on immigration, the Iran War, and other questions has begun to alter public perceptions of where the Church stands and what its priorities are.