ROME – At one month since the May 8 election of Pope Leo XIV, the “honeymoon phase” is still very much in effect, when the Church, and the world, are still getting to know the Catholicism’s new universal shepherd.

The so-called “Rorschach test” stage of the papacy, in which people can project whatever they want onto the pope in this early stage as he is getting settled, continues and will likely last for some time still, as Leo seems to be easing his way into his reign.

With just four weeks at the helm, Pope Leo has done demonstrated a sense of calm and restraint, preferring to get the lay of the land and understand how things work before making any big decisions, however, he has also wasted no time in getting down to business on certain lingering issues from the Francis papacy related to personnel and some matters of reform.

Leo has also demonstrated a measure of balance, expressing clear continuity with his predecessor while also carving out his own priorities and personal style.

A shepherd seeking to unify

Differently than his immediate predecessors, Leo does not fit easily into the categories many pundits eagerly want to assign, such as “reformer,” “traditionalist,” “liberal” or “conservative,” though many in this “Rorschach stage” want to claim him as one or the other.

His vast experience in Latin America and even his stints in Europe, as well as his contact with the various corners of the world as superior of his Augustinian Order, has given Leo a very rounded perspective that will never align with the ideologies attached to the largely western notions of “left” or “right.”

Rather, Leo has already begun to style himself as a unifier and a servant who seeks to foster communion, something that was specifically underlined as a need by cardinals during pre-conclave meetings.

During his very first greeting from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica after his election May 8, Leo urged believers to follow Christ, saying, “Humanity needs him as the bridge that can lead us to God and his love. Help us, one and all, to build bridges through dialogue and encounter, joining together as one people, always at peace.”

In his May 18 homily for his inaugural Mass Leo said, “I was chosen, without any merit of my own, and now, with fear and trembling, I come to you as a brother, who desires to be the servant of your faith and your joy, walking with you on the path of God’s love, for he wants us all to be united in one family.”

Leo XIV in that homily gave a roadmap, of sorts, for his pastoral priorities as pope, saying, “Love and unity: these are the two dimensions of the mission entrusted to Peter by Jesus.”

On that occasion, he lamented the “discord” and the “many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalizes the poorest.”

Against this backdrop, his greatest desire for the Church, he said, is that it be “a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world,” and “a small leaven of unity, communion and fraternity within the world.”

“We are called to offer God’s love to everyone, in order to achieve that unity which does not cancel out differences but values the personal history of each person and the social and religious culture of every people,” he said.

Continuity and uniqueness

From the very beginning, Leo has also demonstrated clear continuity with his predecessor, Pope Francis, calling in his initial remarks for “a synodal Church” and using Francis’s language of “building bridges” of dialogue and fraternity, and he has visited Pope Francis’s tomb in the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

He has also repeatedly quoted Pope Francis in his speeches and homilies, including his inaugural May 18 homily, and has echoed Francis’s calls for care of the environment, of the poor, of migrants, and for a greater sense of global fraternity.

Yet Leo has also made it clear that he is his own man, from his choice of papal attire, bringing back the mozzetta, or red cape traditionally worn by popes, to his personal devotions, including his own expressions of popular piety.

While Pope Francis would often visit the famed Maria Salus Popoli icon in St. Mary Major, beloved by Romans and historically by Jesuits, Leo in his first week as pontiff paid a visit to the Augustinian-run Shrine of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano, to pray before the Marian icon bearing this title.

Francis made early waves in his papacy for his spontaneous gestures such as going to pay his own hotel bill, crossing the Vatican-Italy border to greet a friend while visiting the Vatican parish of St. Anne’s, and stubbornly insisting on going to the Italian island of Lampedusa, a primary destination point for migrants, threatening to purchase a ticket and go on his own when aides advised against the visit.

Leo, on the other hand, has been spontaneous in his own way, making surprise visits to the Augustinian headquarters in Rome, where he lunched almost daily as cardinal, to be with his community and to celebrate the birthday of his friend Alejandro Moral, the Prior General of the Augustinians.

So far, internally, Leo has demonstrated that he is not rushing into any decisions but is rather taking the time to get the lay of the land and understand the status of things and how they work before making any major changes in terms of structure or personnel, deciding to leave all dicastery prefects in their respective positions for the time being.

However, he has begun to make some decisions, making early moves to address some unfinished business of the Francis era, such as potentially delicate meetings with American Cardinal Sean O’Malley, president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, to discuss matters of sex abuse, and meeting the leadership of Opus Dei to discuss a reform of the group launched but never completed under Francis.

Leo has also met with Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, whose conviction in the Vatican’s “trial of the century” for financial crimes remains one of the most disputed matters of the latter stage of the Francis papacy, and whose exclusion from the recent conclave also generated controversy.

Some early personnel moves from Leo were likely put into motion by Pope Francis prior to his death, and can thus be seen as acts of continuity, such as the appointment of Franciscan Sister of the Poor Tiziana Merletti as secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

He also replaced Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia as president of the Pontifical Academy for Life and as chancellor of the Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for Marriage and the Family Sciences, as he had turned 80, naming Cardinal Baldassarre Reina, vicar of the Diocese of Rome, chancellor of the institute and Monsignor Renzo Pegoraro, chancellor of the academy, as its president – appointments seen as largely in continuity with Francis’s agenda.

Soon, however, Pope Leo will have to start making significant appointments that will be entirely his own, such as naming his own successor at the Dicastery for Bishops, and naming new prefects for Saints Causes, Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the Promotion of Christian Unity, Integral Human Development, and the Laity, Family, and Life, as they are all beyond the typical retirement age of 75.

Becoming an advocate

Pope Leo’s first month in office has been characterized by a sense of calm, however, he has also delved into action amid the Church’s busy jubilee calendar and has begun, tentatively, to use his voice, which carries with it the weight of the papal office.

Not only has he made repeated appeals for peace in Ukraine and Gaza, calling for the return of hostages and access to aid, for ceasefires, he has held conversations with both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, demonstrating a keen desire to prioritize peacemaking.

Yet he has also begun to speak out on more sensitive and potentially politically inflammatory matters, condemning femicide and political nationalism in a June 8 homily during a Mass for the Jubilee of Movements, Associations and New Communities on Pentecost Sunday.

In that homily, Leo spoke about the Holy Spirit’s role in “opening borders” in the relationship with others, saying the Holy Spirit “transforms those deeper, hidden dangers that disturb our relationships, like suspicion, prejudice or the desire to manipulate others.”

“I think too, with great pain, of those cases where relationships are marked by an unhealthy desire for domination, an attitude that often leads to violence, as is shown, tragically, by numerous recent cases of femicide,” he said.

The reference to femicide resounded throughout social and political circles in Italy, which has long been plagued by high rates of domestic violence and female homicides, so much so that the Italian government is currently considering a draft law on femicide that would send convicted perpetrators to prison for life.

Pope Leo also spoke of the Holy Spirit’s role in “opening borders between peoples,” saying the Holy Spirit “breaks down barriers and tears down the walls of indifference and hatred” and instead fosters a love that leaves no room “for prejudice” and for “the exclusionary mindset that, tragically, we now see emerging also in political nationalisms.”

Leo’s voice as an advocate is slowly emerging, echoing some of his predecessor’s concerns, as Francis also condemned femicide and the wave of nationalist populism sweeping through much of the world, including Europe and the United States, but he is doing it with his own style and tone.

It is his penchant for balance and calm, for thinking before acting, for moving the needle in an almost quiet way, that has characterized Leo’s first month.

Once he truly delves into the process of governing, and the more his advocacy takes shape, however, the more likely it is that the honeymoon phase of his papacy will wane, but so far Leo has demonstrated an early ability to make decisions and statements without causing too much of a splash.

Follow Elise Ann Allen on X: @eliseannallen