Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

This photo taken and handout on May 10, 2025 by The Vatican Media shows Pope Leo XIV during a meeting with cardinals  in The Vatican. Handout/The Vatican Media via AFP

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<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/176604187195717515978686991747043481809AFP__20250510__467J2NP__v2__HighRes__VaticanReligionPope.webp" style="width:960px;display:block;height:auto" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">This photo taken and handout on May 10, 2025 by The Vatican Media shows Pope Leo XIV during a meeting with cardinals  in The Vatican. Handout/The Vatican Media via AFP</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align:left"><br/></div><p>VATICAN CITY, Holy See — As he gears up for his first Christmas as leader of the world&#x27;s Catholics, Pope Leo XIV is starting to show more noticeable differences in leadership style with his predecessor Francis.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/5/9/-peace-be-with-you-pope-leo-xiv-ushers-in-new-era-with-powerful-first-blessing-0930">&#x27;Peace be with you&#x27;: Pope Leo XIV ushers in new era with powerful first blessing</a></div><p>Pope Leo has set a more guarded and formal tone than the charismatic Francis but is equally unafraid to speak his mind—even on sensitive topics like social justice, poverty and immigration.</p><p>&quot;The pope communicates by how he dresses, his gestures, his signals,&quot; Roberto Regoli, an Italian priest and a professor at the Vatican&#x27;s Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, told AFP.</p><p>Whereas &quot;Francis&#x27;s style was very linked to his words&quot; and improvisation, Leo XIV communicates emotions &quot;with his face and his penetrating gaze&quot;.</p><p>&quot;He is not a physically imposing person,&quot; he said, underlining his &quot;soft&quot; and &quot;very assured&quot; manner.</p><p>Robert Francis Prevost became the first US pope on May 8 and has so far differed little from his Argentine predecessor in terms of substance.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/5/8/soft-spoken-prevost-is-first-pope-from-us-0140">Soft-spoken Prevost is first pope from US</a></div><p>He has only had to make a few nominations to top Vatican positions -- usually seen as a good indicator of papal intentions -- since his election.</p><p>Leo has also not yet moved into the Apostolic Palace -- which Francis eschewed for more humble lodgings nearby -- and the Church&#x27;s long-planned Jubilee Holy Year has taken up much of his agenda.</p><p>On the international stage, Leo has only carried out one foreign visit to Turkey and Lebanon -- which had already been decided under Francis.</p><p>But the trip earlier this month gave important insights into their different styles.</p><p>Pope Leo spoke with emotion but without being particularly effusive to fervent crowds in Lebanon.</p><p>He stuck to the text of written speeches and soberly greeted the faithful during the visit, remaining measured even in crowded environments.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;SURE OF HIS IDEAS&#x27; </strong></div><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/176604197827717467519676851746751965563.webp" style="width:960px;display:block;height:auto" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Robert Prevost arrives on the main central loggia balcony of the St Peter&#x27;s Basilica for the first time, after the cardinals ended the conclave, in The Vatican, on May 8, 2025. Alberto Pizzoli, AFP</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align:left"><br/></div><p style="text-align:left">Pope Leo has revived an old tradition of taking a weekly day of rest on Tuesdays in Castel Gandolfo—the papal summer residence near Rome which Francis had mostly stayed away from.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/5/10/leo-xiv-humble-servant-of-god-visits-sanctuary-in-first-papal-outing-0119">Leo XIV, &#x27;humble servant of God&#x27;, visits sanctuary in first papal outing</a></div><p>Leo said he plays tennis, swims, reads and takes phone calls there.</p><p>Everyone &quot;should do some activity&quot; in order &quot;to look after themselves. Body, soul, all together&quot;, the 70-year-old told journalists last month.</p><p>Before returning to the Vatican on Tuesdays, he usually answers journalists&#x27; questions—a new way of communicating.</p><p>Francis granted several exclusive media interviews during his pontificate while Leo has only done one in seven months.</p><p>In recent weeks, he has become highly critical of US President Donald Trump -- calling the treatment of migrants in the US &quot;extremely disrespectful&quot;.</p><p>&quot;He doesn&#x27;t shy away from answering questions. He says what he thinks because he is sure of his ideas and his management,&quot; Regoli said.</p><p>&quot;He is really a modern head of state. He believes a pope can speak informally on issues that are not directly related to his remit,&quot; a Vatican source said on condition of anonymity.</p><p>The pope&#x27;s message reaches a wide audience also because of his knowledge of languages.</p><p>He speaks confidently in English, Italian and Spanish, a language he masters well after spending two decades in Peru as a missionary.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>CAPE AND SMARTWATCH</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17660421023981764583878936AFP__20251130__86LM6AY__v1__HighRes__TurkeyVaticanPopeDiplomacy_cropped_processed_by_imagy.jpg" style="width:960px;display:block;height:auto" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Pope Leo XIV leaves following a Divine Liturgy at Patriarchal Church of Saint George, in Istanbul on November 30, 2025. Ozan Kose, AFP</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align:left"><br/></div><p>In Vatican corridors there is some satisfaction with Leo&#x27;s greater respect for institutions and officialdom, a more methodical form of governance and detailed knowledge of the issues at stake.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/12/8/pope-leo-prays-for-southeast-asia-flood-victims-1648">Pope Leo prays for Southeast Asia flood victims</a></div><p>&quot;His timidity is also an evangelical way of working -- of having respect for people because with Francis it was not aways the case,&quot; a diplomatic source told AFP.</p><p>Francis was known for his sometimes explosive character in private and could dismiss staff from one day to the next.</p><p>Leo has also taken strong decisions -- such as going back on some reforms in the running of the Vatican undertaken by his predecessor.</p><p>He has also brought back greater formality in papal wear, donning the red capes and gold-embroidered stoles that Francis had rejected.</p><p>The one novel twist on tradition is the smartwatch on his wrist that can sometimes be seen under the lace sleeve of his white garments.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-TJZm4zz-_A?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LPsZ8PZQBLY?&amp;embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com%2F&amp;source_ve_path=MjM4NTE&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Pope Leo has set a more guarded and formal tone than the charismatic Francis but is equally unafraid to speak his mind—even on sensitive topics like social justice, poverty and immigration.</p>

Pope Leo has set a more guarded and formal tone than the charismatic Francis but is equally unafraid to speak his mind—even on sensitive topics like social justice, poverty and immigration.

Guarded and formal: Pope Leo XIV sets different tone

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Guarded and formal: Pope Leo XIV sets different tone

Clément Melki,

Agence France-Presse

Published Dec 18, 2025 03:17 PM PHT

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