VATICAN CITY (AP) \u2014 Pope Leo XIV had tried during his first year as pontiff to insist that his essential role was that of a pastor accompanying his flock. President Donald Trump\u2019s continuing criticisms \u2013 and Leo\u2019s increasingly bold retorts \u2013 complicated the effort and overshadowed Friday\u2019s anniversary of Leo\u2019s election.<\/p>\n
Leo spent the eve of the 1-year mark meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio<\/a>, who had come to the Vatican on a fence-mending visit. Trump\u2019s repeated broadsides against history\u2019s first U.S. pope created an unprecedented back-and-forth on the Iran war that strained U.S.-Holy See relations.<\/p>\n By the end of the visit, both the Vatican and the State Department stressed their strong bilateral ties. But the episode nevertheless pushed Leo out of his comfort zone and onto the global stage to make zingers like the one this week, after Trump\u2019s latest misrepresentation of his views. \u201cIf someone wants to criticize me for announcing the Gospel, let him do it with the truth,\u201d Leo said.<\/p>\n It\u2019s all a bit out of character for Leo who \u2014 the world has come to learn in this first year \u2014 is at heart a mild-mannered, 70-year-old Midwestern missionary priest, and a reserved one at that. He likes to play the solitary game of tennis, cites the fifth-century philosopher St. Augustine from memory and insists he is merely quoting the Bible when he calls for peace, as he did again Friday in marking his anniversary.<\/p>\n \u201cMay the God of peace pour out an overflowing abundance of mercy, touching hearts, soothing grudges and fratricidal hatred, and enlightening those who bear special responsibilities of governance,\u201d Leo said during an anniversary homily in the ancient city of Pompeii.<\/p>\n The Trump-Leo feud aside, the former Robert Prevost after his first year seems driven not by the dramatic gesture or headline-grabbing tensions that often fueled his predecessor, Pope Francis. Rather, Leo seems inspired by the calm, persistent zeal to preach the Gospel and \u2014 thanks to his Augustinian spirituality<\/a> \u2014 emphasize community and harmony.<\/p>\n A year of learning and unifying<\/p>\n Leo began his improbable papacy promising to work for unity<\/a> in a polarized world and church, and at the one-year mark, he seems to be delivering.<\/p>\n After Francis\u2019 revolutionary and sometimes divisive 12-year papacy, Leo has brought a calming balm to the Vatican and church at large. He seems intent on healing divisions, even as new threats of schism emerge.<\/p>\n That has certainly been the case as he navigates some of the thorniest challenges facing the Catholic Church: tensions between traditionalists and progressives, financial problems facing the Holy See<\/a> and the geopolitical crises at the heart of the Trump vs. Leo dissonance.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI think the challenge that the Holy Father has is to strengthen the unity of the church,\u201d said Cardinal Wilton Gregory, a Chicago native like Leo and the retired archbishop of Washington. While there have always been divisions, Gregory said social media had amplified them, and that Leo seems intent on tamping them down.<\/p>\n \u201cSocial communication makes it possible for people to take sides, and sometimes taking sides adds to the divisiveness that we have to deal with and that the Holy Father, as the Bishop of Rome, has to respond to,\u201d Gregory said in an interview.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has to call us to our better angels,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n That seemed to be Leo\u2019s modus operandi when, days into his recent Africa trip, he temporarily quelled the Trump broadsides by essentially declaring he was above the president\u2019s social media rants. While insisting he would continue preaching the Gospel message of peace, Leo said it \u201cis not in my interest<\/a> at all,\u201d to debate Trump. <\/p>\n \u201cI primarily come to Africa as a pastor, as the head of the Catholic Church to be with, to celebrate with, to encourage and accompany all the Catholics throughout Africa,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He repeated that message at the trip\u2019s conclusion, saying the political role that comes with being pope, a head of state and global moral authority, was simply not his priority.<\/p>\n An English-speaking American pope<\/p>\n For many, the shock of an American pope, who defied the taboo precluding a Rome-based moral counterweight to the White House, still hasn\u2019t worn off.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been the first year of an American pope who has been critical of what America is doing for the most part,\u201d said Anthea Butler, senior fellow at the Koch Institute, Oxford University.<\/p>\n She stressed that Leo is doing so \u201cnot coming full-on like Francis would,\u201d but approaching issues from the side. He\u2019s not naming names, he\u2019s merely preaching the Gospel.<\/p>\n That approach has certainly helped some U.S. Catholic institutions, after the American church developed an almost comically bad relationship with Francis<\/a>. His criticism of American-style capitalism was amplified by U.S.-based conservative Catholic media during his papacy.<\/p>\n For many Vatican watchers, the Argentine pope simply didn\u2019t \u201cget\u201d the U.S., and vice versa. Some U.S. Catholics eventually soured on donating to the Holy See<\/a> under Francis, following years of unrelenting stories of mismanagement, corruption and scandal. <\/p>\n But with a Chicago math major now pope, \u201che can\u2019t be dismissed as being ignorant of the realities in the United States,\u201d said Kerry Alys Robinson, chief executive of Catholic Charities USA, a national network of Catholic agencies.<\/p>\n Robinson said she had never seen U.S. Catholic bishops so united as now<\/a>, particularly in speaking about the dignity of migrants and poor people. She credits that to many factors, including the Trump administration\u2019s immigration crackdown and funding cuts that have created a common purpose. But she doesn\u2019t discount the unifying message from Leo, in English.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very different when you are hearing the message without it being mediated through translation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Repairing US relationships<\/p>\n Ward Fitzgerald, president of The Papal Foundation, which funds the pope\u2019s charity projects in the developing world, said an English-speaking pope has been a boon especially in the U.S. and Europe, where there is anecdotal evidence of a \u201cLeo effect\u201d spurring new converts.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there\u2019s lots of reasons for it, but I certainly think that having a pope who speaks English helps young people understand the messages of the Holy Father,\u201d Fitzgerald said in an interview. That also translates to donors to the church, especially from the U.S.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you tell a donor, \u2018I really appreciate what you do\u2019 in English \u2014 and they\u2019re English \u2014 I think it resonates,\u201d Fitzgerald said. \u201cAnd so they give a little more.\u201d<\/p>\n The Papal Foundation recently announced 25 new families had joined<\/a> its ranks since Leo\u2019s election, a not-insignificant number given membership requires a minimum $1.25 million pledge.<\/p>\n Fitzgerald and members of the foundation met with Leo last week and gathered in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica for a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the towering figure of the U.S. Catholic hierarchy and a kingmaker in the 2025 conclave that elected Leo.<\/p>\n Dolan is also chummy with Trump, and is a member of his Religious Liberty Commission.<\/p>\n In his homily, Dolan extolled the attributes of St. Joseph, the father of Christ and a figure so beloved in the church he is the patron saint of more causes than any other saint. Dolan also revealed his feelings about Leo, whom he had watched in the Sistine Chapel become the 267th pope<\/a> a year ago Friday.<\/p>\n St. Joseph was a man of silence, Dolan said, calm and secure in his place.<\/p>\n \u201cA man who exuded a sense of depth and substance. A man who is shy, all right, a man who is focused on his mission,\u201d he added. \u201cA man, always attentive to God\u2019s plan.\u201d<\/p>\n Dolan then asked the Americans seated in the pews if they could think of anyone else who fit St. Joseph\u2019s description.<\/p>\n \u201cI can,\u201d Dolan said. \u201cPope Leo reminds me of Joseph.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n