In his first Sunday address, Pope Leo XIV explicitly condemned Russia’s imperialist war in Ukraine — a striking departure from his predecessor’s careful ambiguity. For Ukrainians long frustrated by Vatican equivocation, this moral clarity arrives at a critical moment when Western support wavers and the Kremlin watches the Holy See’s transition with trepidation.
The election of Chicago Cardinal Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XIV represents more than a historic first for American Catholicism—it signals a careful Vatican compromise between competing visions of conservatism, with implications stretching from Washington to Kyiv.
The conclave’s swift resolution—electing Leo XIV on the fourth ballot after the favorites failed to secure a majority—tells us something significant. This was clearly a compromise candidate who satisfied the majority when no single program presented by the favorites gained sufficient support.
For years, conservative American Catholics, including those in the Trump administration, desired their own pope as part of a global anti-liberal counter-revolution. This explains Vice President Vance’s visit to Francis and Trump’s attendance at the funeral, as representatives actively worked with cardinals, promising support—primarily financial—for various projects.
Yet the context matters: This conclave occurred against the backdrop of Trump’s last 100 days in office, with all the scandals, interventions, and bullying directed at many states, including the Holy See.
When Trump publishes a meme of himself in papal vestments, it represents a certain challenge to the Catholic Church—one the Church criticized. Against this background, there was little expectation that an American would become pope.
This group had their candidates among the papabile (papal candidates), culture war generals like Cardinal Burke—a far-right critic of Pope Francis who had been stripped of some positions. Burke would have been the favorite of what we might call “Trump’s party,” including Vice President Vance, himself a devout Catholic.
There were more moderate American candidates, like Cardinal Dolan of New York, who publicly criticized Trump’s papal vestments meme. But they didn’t elect those considered the most likely American candidates—they elected someone unexpected.
The Pope’s formation
The new pope’s political principles seem to stem from the old (pre-Trump) Midwestern Republican values. His worldview was also shaped by his academic formation at Villanova University in Pennsylvania—located, notably, in Trump’s home state—and the Angelicum in Rome.
I know both environments. Villanova, an Augustinian university where I once lectured, combines traditional Catholic values with genuine appreciation for knowledge and science. The same applies to the new Pope’s Dominican alma mater.
These institutions are moderately conservative, but grounded in common sense. The Augustinian order to which Leo XIV belongs similarly values both tradition and openness to learning.
Importantly, Leo XIV began as a mathematician before entering religious life. His choice of name references Leo XIII, who while conservative, strongly supported the compatibility of faith and reason during his 1878-1903 papacy.
Unlike certain figures who might be called “gnoseomachs”—fighters against knowledge—and conspiracists, Leo XIV values learning, logic, and human experience. We might call him a humanist, though with a conservative tilt.
His election represents a compromise with Trump’s followers. They seemingly got their person, but he’s not entirely theirs. By choosing this figure, the conclave didn’t give them a protagonist of their culture wars, while the cardinals preserved current and future investments from the US in their projects.
Implications for Ukraine and Russia
Regarding Russia, I believe they’re re-corking the champagne—if I may put it that way. This will surely frustrate both the Kremlin and the Moscow Patriarchate, who had their own favorites among the papabile. Not pro-Russian figures, obviously, but those we might call “Putin-verstehers”—people who would show understanding toward “great Russian culture” and the leaders of the Russian Federation and Russian Orthodox Church.
The new pope doesn’t seem to belong to this group.
The Pope who couldn’t name evil: Francis’s struggle with Russia’s war on Ukraine
He’s a pragmatist. Though born and raised in Chicago, he served as a missionary in Peru for roughly two decades, becoming Bishop of Chiclayo in 2014 and Archbishop in 2023. This gives him direct experience with the Global South while maintaining his Euro-Atlantic worldview.
He won’t have the flawed and mistaken view of Ukraine that Trump and his circle possess.
I think his view of Ukraine reflects traditional conservative American foreign policy—the Reagan and Bush-era approach that strongly supported Ukraine’s independence and democratic development, rather than the recent isolationist turn under Trump. This traditional view, which championed democracy against authoritarian threats, was crucial for Ukraine’s development as an independent state after 1991.
Pontifex maximus – the ultimate bridge-builder
Each party sees what they want in Cardinal Prevost’s election, and this is mostly wishful thinking. Liberals note that Leo, in his first speech, seemed to signal he’ll continue Francis’s line. Conservatives hope for some turn toward conservatism.
The overall tone of initial publications in conservative American media is approving—they’re breathing deeply in relief: what they believe to be the apostasy instigated by Francis, with his liberal stance on triggering issues, is postponed for now.
I hope the fears of many Ukrainians—that Leo XIV will view Ukraine through either Trump’s or Francis’s eyes—won’t be realized either. I think his view isn’t South Atlantic like the previous pontiff’s, nor the new isolationist one, but traditional North Atlantic, characteristic not of post-liberalism but of neoconservatism.
Pope Francis was “pro-Ukrainian” but wouldn’t name Russia as aggressor: Orthodox theologian explains pontiff’s complex legacy
The timing is crucial: The pope is elected for life, while presidents serve limited terms. The pope remains not just the leader of over a billion Catholics worldwide but an important geopolitical figure—as we saw with Pope Francis.