The first days can give clues to leadership style

Not long after, he greeted the crowds from the balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square on Thursday night, Pope Leo XIV returned to the Sant’Fisio Palace, where he had lived in the last two months.

He was greeted by a cheerful group of employees and former colleagues, all eager to shake his hand and greet him.

A young girl handed him the Bible to bless and sign. “Of course, although I have to try my new signature,” said Pope Leo with a smile. “The old man is no longer helpful.”

He had stopped being Robert Francis Presses a few hours earlier when he was elected Pope. As he took the name Leo XIV, a new life began for the 69-year-old Cardinal, born in Chicago.

But details of how Pope Leo will strive to rule the Catholic Church are still scarce and so in the next few days and weeks every small clue will be considered – from his clothing to his choice of accommodation.

A check began as soon as he stepped on the balcony, giving the crowd a look at the relief he chose for his first appearance.

The golden cross around his neck, which captures the evening light, is regarded as the first sign that he deviates from the simplicity of the simple silver pendant of his predecessor; The embroidered stolen and red moosa cemented this impression.

Then the fact that Homilia he delivered to the Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel on Friday morning was a script – instead of improvising – he also sent a signal that “Leo will be more brought to the tradition than Francis,” says Austin Ivery, Catholic writer and commentator.

But several events in the next few days and weeks will give Pope Leo an additional chance to outline the priorities of his pontiff.

On Monday, he has to hold an audience with the media and on May 18 he will celebrate a solemn opening liturgy on St. Peter’s Square.

As part of this liturgy, he will deliver Homilia in the presence of numerous heads of state and dignitaries.

In his opening Homilia of 2013, Pope Francis asked “all who carry positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life” to be “defenders of creation, of God’s plan … each other and of the environment.”

So this moment can also give clues for the most expensive questions of Pope Leo’s heart.

Choosing the new accommodation of the new pope will be significant.

Francis made the choice to choose to live in the prostate guest house of Casa Santa Martha, which is regarded as revolutionary, but Leo can decide to follow in the footsteps of almost all his predecessors and reside in the great apostolic palace.

“He was chosen less than a day before; let’s give him time to decide,” said Vatican sources, quoted by the Italian media.

“These are important elections,” Ivery added.

“Over the next few days, we will learn more and more about it – the first week of pontilation is a constant revelation.”

Meanwhile, in the absence of details about his future as Leo XIV, fragments of the old life of the Pope appear as Robert Presses from around the world.

This is so Especially in his native Chicago and his adopted homeland of Peru, from which he became a citizen in 2015.

In one photo, he is presented with a large handmade birthday card written in Spanish and surrounded by cakes and balloons.

A video recorded when he left Peru for Rome, in which he said he would miss Peru’s “joy” and local cuisine brackets as a Sevice, was greeted with a triumph by South America users on social media.

“The Pope is a Peruan; God loves Peru,” said Peruvian President Dina Bolurta.

American tourists are amplifying themselves on St. Peter’s Square on the day after the election they were more restrained and slightly blurred by the news that the new Pope is from the United States.

“I am still surprised that they have chosen an American to be honest,” said Chicago Carrie, who is in Rome on her honeymoon.

She admitted that she still didn’t know much about the new pope, but was pleased with the rumors that he was a fan of White Sox’s baseball team.

Asked how she thinks Pope Leo feels today, she laughed: “He must really be overwhelmed; I bet he didn’t sleep!”

Her husband Joseph agreed: “When you are selected Pope, you come here as a cardinal for a conclave, but then things never go back to the way they were,” he said.

But he felt that the new pope seems to be “a man of confidence, prayer and humility.”

“I just pray that he will show the world what a man of God can do.”

The new seats posed for a photo with the newspapers for the day, after which they embarked on the Saint Peter square, shining in the spring sun.