This papacy, much like the one before, is proving to be one of symbols. When Pope Leo XIV stepped out onto the loggia wearing the red mozzetta, he instantly endeared himself to those wanting a return to a stable, Benedict-style papacy. Catholics who felt sidelined by years of turbulence were quietly relieved before he greeted the crowd gathered in St Peter’s Square.
The name Leo also indicated what papacy we might expect. The most recent Leo, Leo XII, who enjoyed a longer-than-expected pontificate at the end of the nineteenth and the very beginning of the twentieth century, was described as having an intellectual, diplomatic, and cautious disposition. He was 67 when he came to the throne, while Leo XIV was 69. Leo XIII came to the Chair of St Peter at the beginning of a period of immense societal change, marked by mass industry, urban expansion, global trade, and labour movements, a period often described as the Second Industrial Revolution. Leo XIV has come to power at the beginning of what might be called a second digital revolution, an age of accelerated technological advancement driven by artificial intelligence.
