Analysis-Pope Leo, in first month, makes a break in style from Francis

By Joshua McElwee

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -In his first month, Pope Leo has taken a very different approach to his predecessor Francis. 

Leo, the former Cardinal Robert Prevost, has led some two dozen public events since he was elected as the first U.S. pope on May 8 but not made notable appointments, nor announced plans for foreign trips, nor said where he will live at the Vatican.

It's a stark contrast to when Francis, originally from Argentina, was selected as the first pope from the Americas in March 2013.

Within a month, Francis had announced he would be the first pontiff in more than a century to live outside the Vatican's apostolic palace, appointed his successor as Archbishop of Buenos Aires and created a new formal advisory group of senior Catholic cardinals.

Two of Leo's long-time associates told Reuters they expect the 69-year-old Pope to take a deliberative approach to the challenges facing the Catholic Church and may require months before making major decisions.

"Leo is taking his time," Rev. Mark Francis, a friend of the new pontiff since the 1970s, told Reuters. "While he is going to continue in the path indicated by Pope Francis, his disposition is very different."

Leo was first appointed a bishop by Francis in 2015 and then chosen by the late pope to take up a senior Vatican role two years ago. He has frequently praised his predecessor in his first weeks. 

He has also repeated some of Francis' main themes, and has echoed the Argentine pontiff's emotional appeals for an end to the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.

But the two men have different temperaments, according to Rev. Francis, who attended seminary with Leo in Chicago and later knew him when they both lived in Rome in the 2000s. 

"Leo is much more focused and methodical and not inclined to hasty decisions," he said. 

Among the challenges facing the American pope is the Vatican's 83-million-euro ($95 million) budget shortfall, which Reuters reported in February had stirred contention among senior cardinals under his predecessor.

Other looming issues facing the 1.4 billion-member Church include declining adherence to the faith in Europe, ongoing revelations of clerical sexual abuse, and doctrinal debates over matters such as inclusion of LGBT Catholics and the possibility of women's ordination. 

Francis, who sought to modernise the Church, did not formally change many doctrines but garnered criticism from conservative cardinals by opening the door to communion for divorcees and blessings for same-sex couples.

Rev. Anthony Pizzo, who has known Leo since 1974 when they attended Villanova University outside Philadelphia together, said the pope is someone who listens carefully and seeks to hear many viewpoints before making decisions.

"This is going to be his modus operandi," said Pizzo, who leads the Midwest U.S. province of the Augustinian religious order, to which Leo also belongs.

"When you first come into leadership, listen well, get to know your constituency … to make a well-informed decision," Pizzo added, describing the pope's thought process.

A 'SHY' LISTENER

Francis and Leo came to the papacy at different ages and with different career backgrounds.

Francis, elected at age 76, had been a cardinal for 12 years before ascending to the papacy. He had earlier been a leading contender in the 2005 conclave that elected his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI.

Leo, seven years younger when he donned the white papal cassock, is a relative unknown on the world stage who only became a cardinal and Vatican official two years ago. He spent most of his prior career as a missionary in Peru.

Early in his tenure, Francis told journalists that, due to his age, he expected to have a brief papacy of only a few years. Leo, the youngest pontiff since John Paul II was elected at age 58 in 1978, can perhaps expect a papacy of ten or more years.

Among the challenges facing the new pope is a Vatican budget shortfall estimated at 83 million euros, two knowledgeable sources told Reuters. 

The city-state also has a much larger gap in its pension fund, said to total some 631 million euros by the Vatican's finance czar in 2022 but estimated by several insiders to have since ballooned significantly.

In his first weeks, Leo has not addressed the budget issues and has made only a few new appointments to Vatican roles. 

But he has held formal one-on-one meetings with many senior Vatican officials, which Pizzo suggested the pope could be using to try to learn quickly.

Rev. Jorge Martinez Vizueta, who knew Leo in Peru, said he is someone who pays close attention to what people tell him. "He listens a lot, even with a certain shyness," said Martinez, an Augustinian at a monastery where Leo previously was a spiritual advisor.

Although Leo has not announced where he will live, more than three informed sources said he is expected to move into the official papal apartments in the Vatican's apostolic palace overlooking St. Peter's Square.

Francis shunned the palace in favour of a Vatican hotel.

One senior source, who asked not to be identified, said the papal apartments, which have not been lived in since 2013, will require at least 2 to 3 months of renovations.

CAREFUL WITH RESPONSES

While Francis made some big decisions quickly in his first month, he also took time on other issues. He did not make his first trip abroad until late July 2013, four months into his papacy.

Leo's first foreign trip is likely to be to Turkey, to celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of an early Church council with Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

The Vatican has not announced the trip, but it was previously planned for Francis. Bartholomew told an Italian television station that he and Leo discussed the possibility of the new pope travelling to Turkey in late November.

Francis, who often spoke off the cuff, was known for giving freewheeling news conferences on flights home from his trips abroad and frequently responded to queries with an unexpected quip.

Asked during his first flight home about a Vatican official said to be gay, Francis famously responded: "If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge him?"

Rev. Francis said Leo, who in his first month has largely read from prepared texts, is likely to be more careful with his responses during news conferences. 

"He won't be shooting from the hip like Francis did while speaking with journalists," said the priest. 

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(Reporting by Joshua McElwee; additional reporting by Marco Aquino in Lima; editing by Daniel Flynn)