On one day, his shoes caught the eye: simple black leather shoes, rather than the traditional red patent mules. "Like Francis!" people exclaimed. This was in vain − the next day, he appeared in the red ceremonial garb that his Argentine predecessor had abandoned. And in his hand, the golden ferule – the equivalent of a bishop's staff – used during the conservative Benedict XVI's pontificate.

Since the election of Cardinal Robert Prevost to the throne of Peter on Thursday, May 8, the Vatican has become the stage for a grand treasure hunt, where each appearance is a piece of a puzzle that is far from complete. The ultimate goal: to understand this new American pope who took the regnal name Leo XIV.

There is the attire, there are the decisions (where will he live? At the Apostolic Palace as tradition dictates, at the Casa Santa Marta like Francis, or elsewhere?), and then there are the words. On the evening of his election, from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, he filled his address with numerous tributes to Francis. The next day, the tone of his very first homily echoed the fight against the "dictatorship of relativism," so dear to Benedict XVI (2005-2013).

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