US President Donald Trump is set to be be “challenged” by fellow American Pope Leo XIV who was elected into the role by cardinals on Thursday as successor to Pope Francis
The newly elected pope is set to “challenge” US President Donald Trump, according to an expert on the goings on of the Vatican.
Followers of the Roman Catholic Church around the world were delighted yesterday when Pope Leo XIV was chosen as the successor to Francis, who died on Easter Monday. As with any new pontiff, Pope Leo will be keen to signal to his fellow Catholics what his leadership will mean for them and the church in the first 100 days and years ahead. A key aspect into the role will be dealing with world leaders, including his fellow American Trump.
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UK theologian Professor Anna Rowlands said she thinks the pontiff will be able to avoid confrontation – and also prove a challenge to the difficult 78-year-old. She said from Rome: “I think he might have this way of being quite a disarming presence.
“He’s gentle, he’s thoughtful. He’s almost all the opposite characteristics to Trump, so if you think about somebody quiet and not boisterous, someone who thinks before they speak, someone who is centred.
“There’s a kind of serenity about him. And he’s very unassuming. He’s almost exactly the opposite human characteristics to Donald Trump, and that could work in an interesting way.
“He’s unlikely to be confrontational, I think, because of his nature, and yet I think the content of what he says will be quite challenging. I think he won’t want to simply judge Donald Trump.
“I think he will genuinely want to engage in a fruitful dialogue towards genuine human good, a just peace, security in the world, a genuine orientation towards real values – those are the kind of things he will want to enter into dialogue with the US administration on.”
Prof Rowlands, originally from Manchester but now based in Durham, spent two years seconded to the Vatican during Francis’s papacy. She met and shook hands with Pope Leo in the hours after his election on Thursday, describing the experience as “brief but really lovely”.
The new Pope celebrated mass in the Sistine Chapel on Friday, beginning his first full day in his role as the Church’s leader. Among other messages of congratulations were those from the King and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Buckingham Palace said Charles sent a private message to Pope Leo, sending his and the Queen’s most sincere good wishes for his pontificate. While Pope Leo has been celebrated by millions of Americans, many MAGA conservatives lashed out against the pontiff who they view as “woke” due to his stances against the Donald Trump administration and his apparent support for refugees.