Pope Francis wrote in his autobiography that when his papacy began in 2013, he felt that he would only have two or three years in the role. He certainly acted like a man on a mission, quickly trying to put into motion his vision for the Church.
Six months into his papacy, Pope Leo still looks like a man who is taking in the gravity of the role, and weighing up his options. There are times when he can appear slightly emotional about where he finds himself.
At the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Istanbul, as he stood at the altar before the congregation made up of the tiny Christian minority that had welcomed him so warmly and joined worship with him, the pope took a moment where he even appeared to be holding back tears.
In a way, it was reminiscent of that moment in May when he stepped on to the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, having just agreed to take on the daunting task of leading well over a billion people in something so personal and sensitive as their faith.
As a statesman leading the Vatican, he can often appear to be in listening mode, but on this trip, Pope Leo has shown that he can still issue some strong statements.
Standing next to Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he decried powerful countries flexing their economic and military might, blaming that for heightened levels of conflict around the world and saying “the future of humanity is at stake”.
At an event marking 1,700 years since a hugely significant Christian council in what is now the Turkish city of Iznik, he said: “We must strongly reject the use of religion for justifying war, violence, or any form of fundamentalism or fanaticism.”
On the plane from Istanbul to Beirut, when addressing the decades old conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, he said the only solution had to include a Palestinian state.
“We all know that at this time Israel still does not accept that solution,” he said but quickly followed that up by saying the Vatican was still “friends with Israel” and was seeking to be a mediating voice.