How does Pope Leo XIV embody the idea of a global Church?
Professor of Italian Studies
For a long time, because the Church has been run in Italian and the pope speaks Italian, there has been a kind of implicit sense that Italians own the Church and that all other expressions of Catholicism are not the "real thing." Pope Leo XIV brings this sense of the universal Church that is much needed, and his ability to speak English, Spanish, French and Italian emphasizes that. I think one of the reasons that he was chosen as pope is because of his global exposure and global understanding, not just from his time spent in Peru but also from his experience as Prior General of the Order of Saint Augustine. He traveled to many different places in this role and gained an understanding of the different cultures that are part of the body of Christ and of the Church, and the different voices that exist and challenge us to think differently.


