Pope Leo breaks silence with first social media post

Pope Leo is just beginning his papacy. The 69-year-old American was elected only last week, but already there are signs regarding the direction he wants the Catholic Church to take. While experts and even his family have spoken about him, Leo has stayed quiet until now.

On X and Instagram, the Pope has finally broken his silence with a message to the world.

Pope Leo XIV made history as the first American Pope. After two days of conclave, it was settled that he would be Pope Francis’ successor. As with any self-respecting election, opinions concerning the appointment of Leo differed.

Speaking with People Magazine, Dr. Charlie Gillespie, a professor at Sacred Heart University, said he was “ecstatic” about the selection.

“A lot of people are going to say they’re excited,” Gillespie said, adding that “this is a clear signal that the College of Cardinals felt the calling of the spirit to elect someone for the whole globe.”

Another professor, Kathleen Sprows Cummings at the University of Notre Dame, said that it was an “unprecedented” move that wouldn’t have been possible “just a hundred years ago.”

“The conventional wisdom was that here would not be an American pope,” Cummings said, adding that Pope Leo “had the best chance of any American ever.”

“He was born in the United States, but he spent most of his life outside of the United States as a missionary, and also working in Italy, working at the Vatican,” the Notre Dame professor added. “So he’s really a bridge builder among three different continents, which is perfectly consistent with what the church needs.”

Pope Leo

Pope Leo was revealed as the new Pope on May 8, just two days after the conclave locked themselves inside the Sistine Chapel. When appearing on the balcony, Pope Leo XIV held a ceremonial speech to Catholics worldwide, beginning with the words, “Peace be with you.”

Leo continued: “Dearest brothers and sisters, this was the first greeting of the risen Christ, the good shepherd who gave his life for the flock of God. I, too, would like this greeting of peace to enter your hearts, to reach your families and all people, wherever they are; and all the peoples, and all the earth: Peace be with you.”

“This is the peace of the Risen Christ, a disarming and humble and preserving peace. It comes from God. God, who loves all of us, without any limits or conditions. Let us keep in our ears the weak but always brave voice of Pope Francis, who blessed Rome – the Pope who blessed Rome and the world that day on the morning of Easter.”

Pope Leo also thanked his “cardinal brothers” for choosing him as Pope. He sent a special greeting to the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, where he served as Bishop between 2014 and 2023.

“To all the faithful here present, and to all those who receive his blessing through the radio, through television, and other technologies of communication. You can recognise him in the way recognised by the church,” the Pope concluded. “Let us hope that he’s preserved for a long time and ensure peace to the church throughout the world.”

“The great champion of the poor”

Kathleen Sprows Cummings commented on the speech in her interview with People, praising Leo for his choice of words.

“He addressed his comments to all people of all peoples of the entire planet. So he’s a pope that’s going to continue to extend the church out into the world,” she said.

Gillespie added: “What you see here is someone who spent time in Peru and also took the name of Leo XIV, the great champion of the poor from the late 19th century who founded Catholic social teaching.”

“We saw a balance of the aesthetics of the traditional church along with language that sounded like Pope Francis,” he concluded. “So for me that’s a really interesting way of seeing a sign of unity, of bringing people together.”

Pope Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, wanted to modernize the Catholic Church, and in some ways, Leo is already continuing his work. He aims to embrace the poor and the marginalized, and just like Francis, Leo is also vocal regarding the threat of climate change.

As recently as November 2024, Leo spoke about global warming at a Rome seminar dedicated to “addressing the problems of the environmental crisis,” ABC reported.

Pope Leo will “continue what Pope Francis started,” nun says

The then-cardinal said it was time to move “from words to action.” Moreover, Leo has also praised the Vatican for wanting to reduce its carbon footprint by switching to electric vehicles and solar panels.

And it’s not only peace and climate change that put Francis and Leo in the same box in wanting to modernize the Catholic church. He also supported Francis in blessing same-sex couples and other people in “irregular situations.” However, he also believed that bishops had to interpret it in directives according to local cultures.

Pope Francis was also a supporter of women joining the Dicastery for Bishops. In 2023, he told Vatican News that on several occasions, he had seen women’s “point of view as an enrichment.”

So, what do people who hold the Catholic Church and Pope Leo very close to their heart hope he will do for women within the church? In an interview with Boston radio station WBUR, Sister Rose Pacatte said she has big hopes for the newly elected Pope.

“I think he’s going to continue what Pope Francis started, and I think that there’ll be more women in the dicasteries, you know, in the curia as we say, the offices serving the church at the Vatican, and that’ll probably trickle down in the diocese,” she said.

“Like in many dioceses around the world, there are already lay women chancellors, religious women who are chancellors. That’s a pretty high post in a diocese. But I think one of my favorite things to think about is the ancient order of women deacons. It kind of fell out of use around the 12th century, and I hope it can be restored.”

Urges peace

Like his predecessor, Pope Francis, Leo advocated for peace in his first act as Pope. At the time of writing, he is focusing his attention on the war in Ukraine, as well as the conflict in Gaza and Israel.

On Sunday, from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, Leo urged everyone to seek peace.

“I would also like to address the powerful people of the world,” Leo said. “No more war. The immense tragedy of the Second World War ended 80 years ago…now we’re facing the tragedy of a third world war in pieces.”

Leo continued: “I carry in my heart the suffering of the beloved Ukrainian people. May whatever is possible be done to reach an authentic, true and lasting peace as quickly as possible. May all the prisoners be freed. May children return to their families.”

“And I am deeply hurt by what is happening in the Gaza Strip,” the Pope said. “May a ceasefire immediately come into effect. May humanitarian aid be allowed into the civilian population and may all hostages be freed.”

Social media and the Pope might not seem like an obvious match, but it’s become a reality. Pope Benedict was the first pope on Twitter (now X) in 2012, and his successor, Pope Francis, became known as the “social media pope.”

Not only did he put out religious posts, but he also saw it as a way to engage with people worldwide and communicate his message.

Pope Leo has also decided to embrace a presence on social media. According to a press release from the Dicastery for Communication on Tuesday, the Pope has chosen to maintain an active social media presence through the official papal accounts on X and Instagram.

Thus far, Leo has been silent regarding interviews, but he’s now made his first post on social media. Taken from his first address on May 8, the Pope posted to both Instagram and later on X. The Instagram post also featured several pictures from the first day of his papacy.

“Peace be with you all! This is the first greeting spoken by the Risen Christ, the Good Shepherd. I would like this greeting of peace to resound in your hearts, in your families, and among all people, wherever they may be, in every nation and throughout the world,” the post read.

Per the Dicastery for Communication, the official @Pontidfex account on X has 52 million followers across nine languages.

Overnight, Pope Leo has become one of the most famous people in the world. That means his every step is being watched, and his life and childhood are being dissected fully. Therefore, perhaps it wasn’t strange when people were shocked to find out that the Pope not only has studied theology but also has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics.

The Daily Mail reported that social media platform X has been flooded with comments about the Pope’s academic qualifications–many can’t believe it.

“The Pope being a math major means that he not only believes that Jesus multiplied bread and fish – he understands exactly how he did it,” one user wrote on X, per the Daily Mail.

Another wrote, “Math major possible career paths: quant, programmer, grad student… pope,” while a third added, “The new Pope is from Chicago and has a math degree, which goes to show you can still make a success of your life even if you don’t pass the first-round interview at Jump.”

A fourth person commented, “Just found out the new pope studied math at undergrad in case you’re wondering how tough the job market is for technical roles right now,” and a fifth simply asked, “HE’S A MATH MAJOR???”

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