Liberal or conservative? This is the ideology of Robert Prevost, Leo XIV, the new Pope

The Catholic Church has a new Pope. His name is Robert Francis Prevost, born in Chicago, a naturalized Peruvian, and former bishop of Chiclayo.

He will take the name Pope Leo XIV, becoming the first American Pope in history, and only the second from the American continent. His election carries a curious political nuance, given the current influence of the Trump administration on global geopolitical and economic affairs. But ideologically, the new Pope couldn’t be more different.

Experts believe that Prevost - educated in the Augustinian tradition and theologically trained in his native United States - shares the values of Pope Francis, which likely contributed to the Conclave concluding after only four rounds of voting. After Francis’ death last month Prevost himself remarked that “there is still much work to be done” regarding the transformations initiated by his predecessor.

Experts on the new Pope

Wilmar Esteve Roldán Solano, a professor at the Faculty of Theology at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, described Leo XIV as “a bridge Pope, between the progressive and conservative lines. He is a missionary, a religious man, open to dialogue. He was formed in the Augustinian Church to engage with the world, with the values of humanism and the Gospel.”

Prevost’s profile is heavily shaped by his pastoral work in Peru, a country he has been connected to since 1985, when he began his mission as parochial vicar of the Cathedral and Chancellor.

Valentina Alazraki, a Mexican journalist and Televisa‘s Vatican correspondent since 1974, described Prevost during his inauguration as a “reformer, close to Francis, concerned for the poor - it makes perfect sense that he was chosen.”

La Nación, an Argentine newspaper, described him in a report - after interviewing several of his supporters - as a “balanced alternative, capable of navigating between the progressive and conservative wings that have caused division within the Church,” an analysis echoed by The New York Times: “He represents a respectable middle ground.”

These reports present him as a cleric committed to social justice, rooted in his South American experiences. However, his positions on LGBTQ+ issues and gender identity are more conservative and depart somewhat from Francis’s outlook. In a 2012 speech cited by The New York Times, he criticized Western media for promoting “sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the Gospel,” referring specifically to the “homosexual lifestyle.”

Leo XIV’s Relationship with Trump

Another glimpse into Leo XIV’s ideology can be seen in his response to President Trump’s government policies. On social media the new Pontiff has publicly criticized the Republican administration, particularly its stance on immigration. In a post from early February, Prevost openly criticized the U.S. Vice President, writing: “J.D. Vance is wrong: Jesus does not ask us to prioritize our love.”

The message quoted the title of an article by Kat Armas, published in National Catholic Reporter, which refuted Vance’s interpretation of Jesus’s teachings as applied to public policy. “It’s not about love confined to bloodlines or geographic borders. It’s about a love rooted in responsibility, that expands outward… Jesus invites us to let love move freely and without hierarchy, tearing down the borders we’ve been taught to build,” Armas wrote—an argument implicitly endorsed by the new Pope, as a clear rebuke of anti-immigrant sentiment.

Prevost is also opposed to the death penalty, and his choice of the name Leo XIV has been interpreted as a statement of purpose: a nod to Leo XIII, a Pope known for his austerity and fight against inequality at the end of the 19th century.

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