What the last Pope Leo says about the new one

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The last time a man called Leo became head of the Catholic Church, in 1878, the name didn’t mean very much. This newspaper — then a six-year-old broadsheet called the Boston Daily Globe — had to resort to general descriptors of the new Pope Leo XIII.

Leo, the Globe wrote the day after his papacy began, “has a tall, thin, commanding figure” and “the reputation of being a gentleman of education and culture.” A gossip column noted that he had “a slight nasal twang,” jokingly calling it “evidently a concession to New England.” The Globe even got the new pope’s age wrong (he was 67).

But by the time Leo XIII died a quarter century later, his name meant a lot more. The day after his death, the Globe carried pages of remembrances from around New England that hailed him for modernizing the church’s reputation, aiding organized labor, and praising American democracy. “He left the world better than he found it,” one man said.

Now the Catholic world once again has a pope named Leo. A conclave of cardinals yesterday elected Robert Prevost, a 69-year-old American born in Chicago, to succeed Pope Francis after less than two days of voting.

There’s no way to know how much of the previous Leo’s history was on Prevost’s mind when he picked the name. But modern popes have generally chosen ones that indicate the kind of papacy they want to have. Jorge Bergoglio signaled a break from the past when he became the first pope to go by Francis. Prevost’s choice — which the director of the Holy See called a “direct reference to Leo XIII” — associates him with a commitment to modern problems, economic fairness, and democracy.

Here’s how those themes of Leo XIII’s papacy may echo in Leo XIV’s.

When Leo XIII came to power, the church seemed out of touch with modern life. So Leo sought to show that science and faith could coexist while engaging in diplomacy to rehabilitate the church’s reputation. In the Globe, one man credited the late pope with having “completely restored the papacy.”

The new Pope Leo’s history also suggests an attention to the world stage. Leo XIV spent years as a missionary and bishop in Peru, where one associate told Reuters that he showed care for Venezuelan migrants. It’s a hint to how he’ll approach the global problem of migration elsewhere — which Francis, who repeatedly elevated Leo during his papacy, also emphasized.

Yet if the church was in recession in Leo XIII’s day because of its provincialism, today it’s a lingering sex abuse scandal that is staining its reputation. Some advocates for victims fear that Leo XIV won’t prioritize that issue; the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests has accused him of failing to act against accused priests in Chicago and Peru. Others are more hopeful, as my colleague Kevin Cullen explains.

Leo XIII became pope at a time when parts of the world were rapidly industrializing. Factory workers suffered long hours and dangerous conditions. In the US, inequality, material excess, and political corruption mingled in an era that historians call the Gilded Age.

As pope, Leo addressed those modern problems. In 1891, he published an encyclical called Rerum Novarum (“Of New Things”) that criticized “the enormous fortunes of some few individuals, and the utter poverty of the masses” and expressed support for organized labor. Remembering Leo after his death, one Massachusetts labor leader told the Globe that “Leo’s was the voice that often called the attention of the world to the wrongful conditions under which labor strove.” Leo also criticized socialism, helping fashion an economically liberal yet mainstream strain of Catholic social justice.

There’s evidence that Leo XIV may share similar views. He led the Order of St. Augustine, which prioritizes serving the poor.

Leo XIII was Italian, but according to those who knew him he admired American democracy. “His sympathy for our constitution in America was genuine,” the Globe reported Patrick John Ryan, the archbishop of Philadelphia, as saying after Leo’s death. According to Ryan, Leo once received a copy of the US Constitution as a gift from President Grover Cleveland and responded by saying, “Your country is great, with a future full of hope. Your nation is free; your government is strong and the character of your Presidents commands my highest admiration.”

Over a century later, Leo XIV also seems comfortable weighing in on American politics — albeit in less praiseworthy ways. Last year, a social media account with his name shared an article that called Vice President JD Vance’s interpretation of Catholic doctrine “wrong.” The same account reshared a post last month that criticized President Trump for deporting immigrants to El Salvador.

Still, Leo XIV and Trump may get a chance to hash out their differences. On social media yesterday, Trump congratulated Prevost and said he looked forward to meeting him. “It will be a very meaningful moment!” Trump wrote.

🧩 6 Across: Lieu | ☔ 63º Heavy rain

Boston and Massachusetts

• Karen Read trial: A police sergeant testified that Read said she didn’t know how her SUV taillight broke after the discovery of John O’Keefe’s body.
• Strike three? Celtics forward Jayson Tatum remains confident despite two straight losses to the Knicks in the conference semifinals. Game 3 is tomorrow afternoon in New York.
• Face time: Mass General Brigham researchers developed an AI tool called FaceAge that predicts cancer patients’ survival odds.
• No age bias: A judge rejected a former Wayfair software engineer’s claim that the company discriminated against him for his age.

Trump administration

• Closing the book: Trump fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden after conservative activists called her anti-Trump. Hayden, the first Black woman in the role, served through Trump’s first term. (AP)
• Judge Jeanine: Trump appointed Jeanine Pirro, a Fox News host, to be the interim top US prosecutor for the District of Columbia. (NBC)
• Emergency exit: The head of FEMA is out after he told Congress that the agency shouldn’t be eliminated, contradicting Trump’s Homeland Security secretary. (Politico)
• Chaos in Worcester: ICE agents detained a woman and Worcester police forcibly arrested two others, including a juvenile believed to be the detained woman’s daughter, during a protest.
• ‘It’s all connected’: In Appalachia, DOGE cuts imperil a community.
• Paying forward: Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian student at Columbia fighting deportation, is seeking solace in Vermont — and helping other immigrants targeted by ICE.
• Uncertain future: Cuts to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs have forced HBCU students to recalibrate.

The Nation and the World

• Media tour: On “The View,” former president Joe Biden took responsibility for Trump’s win and blamed Kamala Harris’s loss on sexism and racism. (ABC)
• Unstable coin: The Senate voted not to proceed on a GOP-led bill to regulate cryptocurrency after every Democrat and three Republicans opposed it. (The Hill)
• ‘Urgent problems’: Bill Gates, Microsoft’s billionaire co-founder, plans to give away nearly all of his fortune within 20 years to help eradicate disease and lift Africa out of poverty. (CNBC)

From the Globe: Boston sports fans should sympathize with the Knicks. In its long-thwarted quest to win a championship, the team is much like the pre-2004 Red Sox, says Frederic Frommer.

Will India vs. Pakistan spiral out of control?

• The Trump administration helped defuse tensions between the two countries in 2019 and can do so again, Anisha Dutta argues in US News.
• But things were easier to deescalate then, Sushant Singh writes in Foreign Affairs. Now, Hindu nationalism, Pakistan’s political turmoil, and deaths on both sides risk a nuclear confrontation.

By Teresa Hanafin

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📺 What’s streaming: Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan is a former hit man, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” features past queens, “The Gilded Age” returns, and much more.

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🤣 Laugh lines: “Saturday Night Live” wraps up its milestone 50th year next week. Here are the best moments from the season, including a Kamala cameo, Domingo’s debut, and a cursing audience.

👂 Ear pleasers: Linguists say some of the most beautiful words in the English language are “ailurophile” (good luck pronouncing it), “murmuring,” and “mother.” (Word Smarts)

🌳 Them apples: If you ever wished “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein had a different ending, there’s a new version that does. Hint: The tree sets boundaries. (USA Today)

Thanks for reading Starting Point.

This newsletter was edited by Teresa Hanafin and produced by Diamond Naga Siu and Ryan Orlecki.

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Ian Prasad Philbrick can be reached at ian.philbrick@globe.com.