VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV marked his first anniversary as pontiff on Friday by delivering a homily on peace in the ancient city of Pompeii, capping a year in which his reserved, pastoral temperament largely defined his papacy but an ongoing war of words with President Donald Trump repeatedly pulled him into the political spotlight.
The former Robert Prevost, a 70-year-old Midwestern missionary priest and the first American to lead the Catholic Church, spent the eve of the anniversary meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The visit was a fence-mending mission after Trump’s repeated broadsides against the pope over the Iran war strained relations between Washington and the Holy See, according to the Associated Press. By the end of the meeting, both the Vatican and the State Department emphasized their strong bilateral ties.
Leo seemed intent throughout his first year to present himself as a pastor, not a political combatant. “If someone wants to criticize me for announcing the Gospel, let him do it with the truth,” he said this week, after Trump’s latest misrepresentation of his views. During his recent trip to Africa, Leo temporarily quieted the feud by declaring he was above the president’s social media rants, insisting that it was “not in my interest at all” to debate Trump and that his priority was to “be with, to celebrate with, to encourage and accompany all the Catholics throughout Africa.”
At heart, Leo is a calm, even shy figure. He plays tennis alone, cites the fifth-century philosopher St. Augustine from memory, and insists he is merely quoting the Bible when he calls for peace. “May the God of peace pour out an overflowing abundance of mercy, touching hearts, soothing grudges and fratricidal hatred, and enlightening those who bear special responsibilities of governance,” he said during his anniversary homily in Pompeii.
That Augustinian emphasis on community and harmony has shaped his approach to the church’s internal divisions. After Pope Francis’s revolutionary and sometimes polarizing 12-year papacy, Leo has brought what many describe as a calming balm to the Vatican. Cardinal Wilton Gregory, a Chicago native like the pope, said social media had amplified divisions within the church and that Leo seemed intent on tamping them down. “He has to call us to our better angels,” Gregory said.
The pope’s American identity and command of English have also helped reset the U.S. church’s relationship with Rome, which had grown strained under Francis. Kerry Alys Robinson, chief executive of Catholic Charities USA, said U.S. bishops were more united than she had ever seen, particularly in speaking about the dignity of migrants and poor people. “It’s very different when you are hearing the message without it being mediated through translation,” she said.
Ward Fitzgerald, president of The Papal Foundation, which funds papal charity projects, said there was anecdotal evidence of a “Leo effect” spurring new converts and donations. The foundation recently announced 25 new families had joined its ranks since Leo’s election; membership requires a minimum $1.25 million pledge. “When you tell a donor, ‘I really appreciate what you do’ in English — and they’re English — I think it resonates,” Fitzgerald said.
At a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica honoring the foundation, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, a towering figure in the U.S. hierarchy and a member of Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, drew a parallel between the pope and St. Joseph, the patron saint whose silence and steadiness the church reveres. “A man who exuded a sense of depth and substance. A man who is shy, all right, a man who is focused on his mission,” Dolan said of Joseph in his homily, before asking the American congregants if they could think of anyone else who fit the description. “I can,” Dolan added. “Pope Leo reminds me of Joseph.”
The anniversary homily and the Rubio meeting together captured the dual role Leo has been forced to navigate: a pastor seeking to preach the Gospel and unify his flock, and a head of state contending with an unprecedented public rift with the leader of his own country.