A spiritual and pastoral filiation
In his first speeches, Leo XIV never ceased to pay tribute to his predecessor, Pope Francis, whom he called "a father in the faith" and "a model of a universal pastor". Their relationship is not merely ceremonial: it reveals a genuine spiritual continuity, rooted in the same vision of the Church, turned towards the peripheries, mercy, simplicity of life and listening to the Spirit.
Pope Francis has marked the contemporary history of the Church by his desire to desacralise the pontifical office, to open the Church to those wounded by life, and to place the poor back at the centre of the Gospel message. Leo XIV, while having his own style, takes up this breath: he does not seek to break with the past, but to deepen it, to extend it, to make it bear fruit.
Gestures reminiscent of his predecessor
From the very first days, several of Leo XIV's choices were seen as direct echoes of Francis' pontificate. He maintained his residence in the Maison Sainte-Marthe, refusing to occupy the traditional papal flat. He made a point of ensuring that his first official visit was to a suburban hospital, to see patients at the end of their lives. And, like Francis in 2013, he spent a long moment in silence in St Peter's Square, asking the people to pray for him before giving the apostolic blessing.
But more than the gestures, it is the inner attitude that brings the two pontiffs together: the rejection of clericalism, the desire for inner reform, the emphasis on synodality as a way of existing together in the Church.
A theology of closeness
François revived a Church that "goes out", that does not withdraw into itself, but goes out to meet the world with compassion. Leo XIV followed the same logic: for him, the heart of pastoral ministry is closeness. Closeness with the excluded, with young people, with wounded families, but also with priests, bishops, people in doubt.
Like his predecessor, he insisted on the need for a hospitable Church, which does not judge before welcoming, which cares before teaching. He takes up the image of the Church as a field hospital, but enriches it with Augustinian spirituality: not only healing visible wounds, but also healing the heart through grace.
A humble and decentralised style of government
Pope Francis has begun a reform of the Curia and the government of the Church that is not complete. Leo XIV is inheriting it with prudence but conviction. In his first weeks, he appointed collaborators from different continents and increased the number of lay men and women on decision-making councils. Like Francis, he willingly delegates, consults at length, and is not afraid of internal debate. He did not want to impose a vision, but to lead God's people forward together, taking account of cultural and ecclesial diversity.
Nuances in continuity
Despite this great closeness to Francis, Leo XIV was not content to copy. He added his own tone, more meditative, more contemplative, sometimes more theological. His Augustinian heritage led him to place greater emphasis on interiority, conversion of heart and the depth of grace. Where Francis insisted on pastoral action and the conversion of structures, Leo XIV emphasised the spiritual renewal of each individual.
He spoke a little less, but his silences were inhabited. He writes more, with sober, dense language. He seems to want to anchor for the long term what Francis has begun, giving a stable and spiritually profound form to a renewed Church.
A Church on the move, always guided by the Gospel
Walking in the footsteps of Pope Francis, Leo XIV does not look backwards, but forwards. He does not repeat, he extends. He does not reproduce, he grows. He takes up the prophetic intuitions of Francis - universal fraternity, attention to the poor, synodal reform - and carries them forward with his own voice, in an increasingly uncertain world.
And if he follows in the footsteps of his predecessor, it is because they have the same guide: Christ, poor, humble, merciful, who invites the Church to be the reflection of his face and the place of his love.
