What is Pope Leo XIV's communication style and what impact could that have in successful discourse on difficult subjects? 

In his language to diplomats and about matters of international concern, Pope Leo is notably good at articulating and reaffirming the principles that Catholics insist must guide decision-making, without getting down into the conclusions at a contestable level. The way he speaks and his presence could make it easier to discuss such sensitive topics. There were times when Pope Francis would talk off the cuff and give exaggerated responses, which would sometimes cause [the Vatican] to have to backtrack. With Leo, it's always careful. I think he sees his job to be a model of deliberation, care and unequivocal commitment to first principles that everybody should live by.

Pope Francis was very prophetic, and he had a spiritual charism—there was a freedom there. He saw where the Church needed to go. He saw that it was too sluggish, too staid and too reserved, and his Laudato si' encyclical was really groundbreaking in what it could call us to... A fear with Pope Leo is that he's going to be too moderate and too much of a statesman. He wants to keep everyone happy and together, but I don't think "The universal Church is universal" approach works anymore. Because it's such a very large, complex world, it's very hard to hold together something that is unifying. Unity can only work locally.

Pope Leo is cautious, but he is still bold. He has still spoken out on Russia and Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East and all of that. And his caution is not out of fear; it's a caution out of truly wanting to listen before speaking. If anything, I think he's modeling a hunger for a "spirituality of we," and he's also insisting that we need silence for a little bit. It's a lot of noise, but the silence is going to help us understand what's that next step we take together.