'A nice geek from the Midwest': Leo's brand emerges during first foreign trip as pope

After a quiet start, Pope Leo XI, the first American pontiff appears to have found his voice on his trip to Turkey and Lebanon.

After a quiet start, the first American pope appears to be finding his voice.

During his debut foreign trip, to Turkey and Lebanon, Pope Leo XIV projected a papal brand more guarded and less polarizing than that of his predecessor, Pope Francis.

But many Vatican watchers have nonetheless been impressed with his ability to deliver powerful messages — particularly on issues such as climate change, artificial intelligence, poverty and immigration — albeit in a subtler way than the man he replaced.

“Pope Leo is certainly growing into the role,” said Massimo Faggioli, a world-leading Vatican expert and professor at Trinity College Dublin. “He has resisted the temptation to give a sound bite that’s easy to use as a headline,” but “when he speaks, he says things that are quite courageous.”

For all the warm reviews, some Vatican watchers have sounded a note of caution: Leo has yet to stake out concrete positions, let alone sharp critiques, on any major issue. Doing so will almost certainly mean disappointing at least one faction in this church of 1.4 billion that he has so deftly kept onside.