Almost 1,600 years ago, a 75-year-old Bishop without any possessions died in a besieged city overflowing with refugees.

There may be no obvious link between St Augustine of Hippo and Donald Trump, but in the mysterious way of history, the accession of Pope Leo XIV means that the relationship between the US administration and the Vatican could yet be shaped by the 5th century philosopher-saint.

At first glance, that relationship appears destined to be fractious: the ethical differences between the two sides are profound.

However, Pope Leo, like his predecessors, has important points of agreement with Trump’s Republicans. They both oppose abortion and gender ideology. They both value the nuclear family as the bedrock of society. And there are Roman Catholics at the highest level of Trump’s administration, including Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, Melania Trump, the first lady, and of course JD Vance, the vice-president, who converted from atheism as recently as 2019. In fact, a third of Trump’s cabinet are Catholics.

And now, for the first time in two millennia, there is an American pope. A priest from Chicago, Illinois, has passed in a day from obscure Cardinal to St Peter’s linear successor.