Pope Leo XIV attends a gathering with jubilee pilgrims from the Italian area of Umbria in St. Peter’s Basilica on the Vatican, Saturday, Sept. 13.
Gregorio Borgia/AP
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Gregorio Borgia/AP
VATICAN CITY – In his first interview as chief of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV talked about his issues about revenue inequality, polarization and the necessity for peace.
“We’ve got to proceed to remind ourselves of the potential that humanity has to beat the violence and the hatred that’s simply dividing us an increasing number of,” Leo mentioned within the interview. “We stay in occasions when polarization appears to be one of many phrases of the day, however it’s not serving to anyone. Or if it is serving to anybody, it is only a few when everybody else is struggling.”
The interview, performed over two classes in latest weeks and printed by the Catholic information web site Crux on the his 70th birthday, supply a primary glimpse into Leo’s persona and priorities.
In his dialog with Crux’s senior Vatican correspondent, Elise Ann Allen, Leo signaled continuity together with his predecessor Pope Francis and the late pontiff’s imaginative and prescient for dialogue and full participation within the church, generally known as synodality.
Already positioning himself as a pope of reconciliation, Leo mirrored on the explanations behind the deep polarization in society and the church as we speak. He pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic, but additionally a way of lack of the worth of human life as partly liable for sectarianism and division.
“Add on high of that a few different elements, one which I feel may be very vital is the repeatedly wider hole between the revenue ranges of the working class and the cash that the wealthiest obtain,” he mentioned.
Shortly after his election on Could 8, the pope mentioned he took the identify Leo as a result of he was impressed by Pope Leo XIII, who addressed the stresses placed on society by the Industrial Revolution within the late 18th century. Leo XIII’s encyclical “Rerum Novarum” (On Revolutions) laid out the explanations for the church’s help of the working class, truthful wages and the precise to unionize, whereas opposing communism and unbridled capitalism.
Within the Crux interview, Leo XIV questioned the disproportionate distinction within the incomes of contemporary CEOs and people of their employees, and challenged the acute wealth of billionaires – and trillionaires reminiscent of Elon Musk. “What does that imply and what’s that about? If that’s the solely factor that has worth anymore, then we’re in large bother.”
The pope referred to as synodality, whose its roots are in Latin American church, the “antidote” to the deep divisions within the church and society, describing it as “an angle, an openness, a willingness to know.” He mentioned that some church leaders really feel “threatened” by synodality, due to what Leo referred to as a mistaken understanding of their authority. He mentioned a synodal church permits every member to play and function and contribute based mostly on their respective vocations as bishop, priest, missionary, lay individual or member of the family.
“It is an angle which I feel can train loads to the world as we speak,” Leo mentioned, “I feel this can be a method of addressing among the best challenges that we have now on the earth as we speak. If we hearken to the gospel, and if we mirror upon it collectively, and if we try to stroll ahead collectively, listening to at least one one other, making an attempt to find what God is saying to us as we speak, there’s a lot to be gained for us there.”
Leo mentioned he hoped to proceed the method of instilling synodality within the church to construct a church that’s each united inside and engaged with the world. He clarified, as Francis had, that synodality just isn’t synonymous with democracy, “which if we take a look at many international locations all over the world as we speak, democracy just isn’t essentially an ideal resolution to every little thing.”
Leo XIV’s additionally spoke concerning the significance of peace in Ukraine. He praised the Holy See’s diplomacy efforts to stay above the fray and supply itself as a bridge for dialogue with all events concerned in conflicts, however he additionally mentioned that the probability of the Vatican internet hosting peace-talks between Russia and Ukraine is “not as sensible.”
“I feel a variety of completely different actors must push laborious sufficient to make the events which are at warfare say, sufficient is sufficient, and let’s search for one other approach to clear up our variations,” he mentioned, including that he has “excessive hopes for human nature” and the prospect for peace.
Leo acknowledged that the United Nations “has misplaced its capacity to carry individuals collectively on multilateral points” and mentioned that the important thing to “constructing bridges is primarily by way of dialogue.”
In a extra private portion of the interview, Leo talked about his expertise within the first months of his papacy. “There’s nonetheless an enormous studying curve forward of me,” he mentioned. “The completely new facet to this job is being thrown onto the extent of world chief,” he mentioned.
He mentioned that “probably the most basic function” of the pope is to “affirm others of their religion.”
Requested whether or not he feels extra like a citizen of the US, the place he was born, or Peruvian, the place he spent most of his life as a priest and missionary, Leo answered by saying “each/and.” He mentioned his appreciation for the lifetime of the church in Latin America allowed him to know among the imaginative and prescient that Francis had for the church.
Whereas he confirmed that he’s a fan of the Chicago White Sox baseball group, he mentioned that “as pope, I am a fan of all groups.” He underlined the significance of being open and pleasant even in sports activities, whereas including that when Peru and the US play towards one another within the World Cup he’ll probably again Peru, “simply due to affective bonds.”
All the interview will seem in Allen’s biography of the pope, “Leo XIV: Citizen of the World, Missionary of the XXI Century,” which might be printed in Spanish on Sep. 18 and can accessible in Portuguese and English in early 2026.
This story was produced by way of a collaboration between NPR and Faith Information Service.
