By electing Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as Pope Leo XIV, the College of Cardinals has sent a subtle but unmistakable message: The Catholic Church will continue the reformist energy of Pope Francis, but with a fresh calibration toward tradition and doctrinal clarity. 

In Prevost, the cardinals have chosen both an insider and an outsider—someone rooted in the current Vatican structure yet bearing the marks of an older religious tradition and a missionary’s experience with the challenges of the Global South.

Before becoming head of the powerful Dicastery for Bishops in 2023, Prevost served, not in one of Europe’s storied archdioceses, but in Chiclayo, a relatively poor diocese in Peru. There, he was not simply a distant administrator but a missionary friar engaged in the real-world struggles of poverty, injustice, and pastoral care. His elevation to Rome by Pope Francis placed him at the epicenter of Church governance, where he influenced the appointment of bishops worldwide—a role that signals Vatican insider status. Yet, his roots remain in the periphery, among communities grappling with issues that continue to shape Catholicism in the developing world.

His Augustinian background deepens this dual identity. While Francis’ Jesuit order emerged in the 16th-century Counter-Reformation, the Augustinians trace their foundation to the 13th century, and their spiritual lineage back to St. Augustine of Hippo in the 4th century. This places Prevost within a tradition that predates modernity and speaks to enduring Catholic concerns with orthodoxy, interiority, and prayer. This resonance is not lost on traditionalists, many of whom have felt uneasy with some of Francis’ more open-ended approaches to doctrine and discipline.

Indeed, the very image of the new pope’s first appearance—wearing the traditional red mozzetta and rochet—evoked a visual connection with the papacies of John Paul II and Benedict XVI. This sartorial choice was more than ceremonial; it was symbolic of a potential reconnection with the doctrinal firmness and clarity that marked those earlier papacies. Pope Leo XIV seems poised to bridge the pastoral activism of Francis with the theological rigor of his predecessors.

Signal

The choice of the papal name “Leo” is itself a loaded signal, though much of the commentary has so far been superficial. Analysts have largely noted the name’s association with Pope Leo XIII, celebrated as the founder of modern Catholic social teaching through his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, which defended workers’ rights and advocated for just wages. This focus on social justice aligns with the new pontiff’s missionary past and the Church’s ongoing commitment to addressing global inequality.

But the name “Leo” carries deeper historical freight that may foreshadow a richer and more complex papacy. Pope Leo XIII was not only the architect of Catholic social thought but also the pope who issued Aeterni Patris in 1879, calling for a revival of Thomistic philosophy as the intellectual framework for engaging modernity. In that encyclical, Leo XIII sought to restore the primacy of St. Thomas Aquinas’ thought in Catholic seminaries and schools, thereby reaffirming doctrinal orthodoxy while providing a robust intellectual platform for dialogue with secular ideologies, science, and modern culture.

This dimension of Leo XIII’s legacy often goes unnoticed but could prove pivotal in understanding Pope Leo XIV’s vision. Prevost, after all, received his higher theological formation at the Angelicum in Rome, the Dominican-run university that has long championed Thomistic scholarship. As an Augustinian steeped in the Dominican intellectual milieu, Leo XIV is uniquely positioned to revive this tradition of doctrinal clarity paired with intellectual engagement.

Even more telling is the possible allusion to Pope Leo the Great, the 5th-century saint whose theological writings were central to the Council of Chalcedon’s affirmation of Christ’s dual nature—fully human and fully divine. This was a foundational moment for Catholic orthodoxy, and Leo the Great’s assertive exercise of papal authority, including his historic negotiation with Attila the Hun to spare Rome, marked the emergence of the papacy as a powerful moral and political force. 

In invoking the name Leo, the new pope may also be signaling a commitment to defending the integrity of Catholic doctrine in an age marked by relativism and doctrinal confusion.

Synthesis

Thus, while Pope Leo XIV will undoubtedly continue Francis’ emphasis on pastoral outreach, inclusion, and social justice—particularly toward the marginalized in the Global South—he also appears poised to reinvigorate the Church’s doctrinal foundations. He embodies a synthesis that appeals both to those who wish to sustain the Franciscan reforms and to those who yearn for a return to the clarity and confidence of the John Paul II and Benedict XVI eras.

His Augustinian identity further enriches this potential synthesis. St. Augustine’s influence permeates Catholic theology, particularly in the areas of grace, sin, and the interior life. The Augustinian Rule, emphasizing community life, prayer, and the search for God in one’s heart, offers a counterpoint to the external activism of the modern Church. In an era where many Catholics feel spiritually adrift amid rapid social change, a papacy that re-centers interiority and orthodox belief could resonate widely.

In sum, the election of Pope Leo XIV signals, not a rupture, but a recalibration. The cardinals have chosen a figure who stands at the confluence of multiple currents within the Church: Francis’ pastoral priority for the peripheries, the theological depth of the Thomistic revival, the historic authority of the papacy, and the ancient wisdom of Augustinian spirituality. He is at once an insider and an outsider, a missionary and a Roman, a reformer and a guardian of tradition.

Catholics and observers should thus expect a papacy that will neither simply replicate Francis’ agenda nor retreat into pre-conciliar traditionalism. Rather, Pope Leo XIV may seek to craft a middle path—one that renews Catholic social engagement while reasserting doctrinal clarity, and one that draws from the deep wells of the Church’s intellectual and spiritual patrimony to address the pressing challenges of the 21st century.

In this first-ever Augustinian pope, the Church may find a leader capable of holding together its centrifugal forces—mission and orthodoxy, tradition and reform, charity and truth.

Lito B. Zulueta, a professor of journalism at the Pontifical University of Santo Tomas, has covered key Vatican events such as the conclaves of 2005 and 2013 and the double-canonization of Popes John XXIII and John Paul II in 2014.