The originality of Prevost
Although Robert Prevost was elected pope just over a year ago, the public presence of Leo XIV has been a surprise to many. His start was discreet and his demeanor, prudent, very different from the spontaneous and somewhat excessive character of Francis, led many to believe he would be a transitional pontiff who would diminish the political and media weight of the Church. However, after a few months, this perception began to change and, in part, it was thanks to a compatriot of his: Donald Trump.
Trump's re-election and his policies against migrants, support for the massacre in Gaza, and the attack on Iran, among others, have been the subject of brave criticism from Leo XIV, which has also met with a more crude response from Trump. Far from intimidating him, Prevost has maintained his line, as could be seen in the presentation, a few weeks ago, of his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, which deals with the impact of artificial intelligence, but which does not forget the poor, the excluded from society, and immigrants at any time.
Everything suggests, therefore, that Robert Prevost will not be an irrelevant pontiff. For this reason, it is pertinent to ask ourselves whether these expectations are justified or, rather, respond to that common, and not necessarily correct, belief that today, to succeed in anything, the first thing you must do is turn everything upside down. You have to be radically original.
If we analyze it coldly, however, Prevost's originality lies in his lack of originality. For a pope to oppose wars and ask for prayers for peace is as natural as for an association of dentists to educate about oral hygiene. For him to side with migrants reminds us of the commandment we read in chapter 19 of Leviticus: “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. Treat them like one of your own people, and love them as you love yourselves”. When he identifies with the poor, he is simply letting himself be imbued with the message of the gospel.
What is original in Prevost is not a supposed innovative character, but the fact of not renouncing millennial values and principles, something that many others have done. Some people are surprised by the harmony between the pope and the left-wing parties, but if this happens it is not because he is now a social democrat, but because social democracy is no longer one. The left has long forgotten the poor, the workers, and the most vulnerable to focus on identity and cultural struggles that, while legitimate, are insufficient for most people. Even the more enlightened right has ended up sacrificing the principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity in their original universal dimension, renouncing great ideals and dedicating itself to accumulation and ostentation. A hundred years ago, billionaires promoted artists and created museums and libraries; today, however, most are content to boast about their yachts and luxury mansions.
The originality of Leo XIV is that, as fortunately still happens with other people, he does not renounce the possibility of reaching a more just society, overcoming the wild and selfish capitalism that has captivated so many. A complex and difficult exercise because, as someone once said, it seems easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.