Pope Leo XIV’s mention of synodal church sparks striking similarity to Pope Francis’ papacy

Pope Leo XIV was welcomed as the most recent pontiff by a sea of trustworthy and an uninterrupted view of St. Peter’s Sq. on Thursday.

Conversely, Pope Leo, born Robert Francis Prevost, launched himself to the general public utilizing Italian and Spanish dialects and greeted onlookers each in individual and just about with a concise speech about constructing bridges and fostering hope for a synodal church.

“In his opening remarks, he talked about being a missionary church that features all folks, and that comes proper out of Pope Francis,” Dennis Doyle, professor emeritus on the College of Dayton in Ohio, advised Fox Information Digital.

Doyle taught on the Catholic analysis college for 40 years.

FIRST AMERICAN ELECTED PONTIFF, GET TO KNOW POPE LEO XIV

Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert Prevost of the USA seems on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, on the Vatican, Could 8, 2025. Reuters/Guglielmo Mangiapane     TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY (Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters)

Pope Francis, the 266th Vicar of Christ, created Provest a cardinal in 2023.

“Pope Francis’ first main doc was known as ‘Evangelii gaudium’, ‘The enjoyment of the gospel,” Doyle mentioned.

In his evanescent deal with, Pope Leo XIV mentioned, “To all you brothers and sisters of Rome, Italy, of all of the world, we wish to be a synodal church, strolling and at all times searching for peace, charity, closeness, particularly to those that are struggling.”

“Pope Francis was actually large into this concept of synodality,” Doyle mentioned.

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Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, stands for a portrait on the finish of the consistory the place Pope Francis elevated 21 new cardinals in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Sept. 30, 2023. (Riccardo De Luca/AP)

“For him, in his very transient remarks, to say we should be a synodal church, that may be a large sign that he intends to proceed a lot of what Pope Francis was about,” he mentioned of Pope Leo XIV.

The primary American pope, although pointing to Francis’ papacy symbolically, wearing conventional garb together with a pink mozzetta and white cassock. Pope Francis, in 2013, was notably absent of adornments on the balcony for his first public look as elected pontiff.

“He is signaling he intends to be conventional in some methods,” Doyle mentioned. “It’s going to be fascinating to see if he lives within the Apastolic Palace.”

The papal residences on the Apastolic Palace are the official residence of the pope. Pope Francis broke custom and declined residency there and, as a substitute, lived at Domus Sanctae Marthae, the placement the place cardinal electors keep throughout a conclave.

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Archbishop Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, receives the pink biretta hat from the late Pope Francis through the consistory in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican Metropolis, Vatican, on September 30, 2023.  (Photograph by Isabella Bonotto/Anadolu Company through Getty Photos)

“In some methods, possibly he’ll be totally different from Francis,” Doyle mentioned. “Francis did do some issues that alienated traditionalists.”

Prevost was ordained on June 19, 1982. Throughout his ministry, Cardinal Prevost was elected as head of the Augustinian Province of Chicago, his hometown, and served as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, amongst different notable titles.

The newest Bishop of Rome chosen the papal identify “Leo” and whereas it’s presently unclear which of the 13 namesakes he admired most, Leo the Nice, the primary Pope Leo, and Pope Leo XIII appear forward of the pack, based on Doyle.

Undated image of Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, with late former Pope John Paul II.   (Augustinian Province of Our Mom of Good Counsel/Handout through Reuters)

“All people’s trying first to Leo the XIII,” he mentioned. “You by no means know till he says extra.”

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Pope Leo XIV attended the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on April 26, 2025, in Vatican Metropolis, Vatican. Pope Francis died on April twenty first on the age of 88. Born in Argentina as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, he was the primary Latin American and the primary Jesuit to turn into Pope when elected in 2013.  (Photograph by Franco Origlia/Getty Photos)

Pope Leo XIII is commonly famend for writing the primary of the good Catholic social encyclicals, Rerum Novarum.

“In Latin, Rerum Novarum is an idiom, and it means ‘On Revolutionary Modifications,’” Doyle mentioned. “It is like an idiom for revolution. Though, lots of people simply translate it literalistically as ‘On New Issues.’”

The encyclical, based on Doyle, addresses the rise of communism and the economic revolution, together with new and harsh circumstances for employees within the nineteenth century.

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Pope Leo XIV leads the Professional Ecclesia Mass within the Sistine Chapel, on Could 9, 2025, in Vatican Metropolis, Vatican. White smoke was seen over the Vatican early yesterday night because the Conclave elected American Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost because the 267th Pontiff. The average from Chicago and an in depth buddy of Pope Francis shall be often known as Pope Leo XIV.  (Photograph by Vatican Media/Vatican Pool – Corbis/Getty Photos)

“It begins out with a condemnation of socialism,” Doyle mentioned. “Though, by socialism, he meant what we might solely use the phrase ‘communism’ in the present day.”

“He condemned it as being out of contact with the pure regulation. As a result of that pure regulation would inform us that possession is one thing that’s form of pure to human beings; that we’re going to have property, if we make issues and so forth, that they’re ours,” Doyle added.

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Doyle mentioned that Catholic social teaching is basic and addresses primary human rules concerning the financial system and society with some room for interpretation.

“I believe that he’ll be a really balanced pope,” Doyle mentioned.