Newly elected Pope Leo XIV faces expectations to bridge divisions in the Catholic Church

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Newly elected Pope Leo XIV faces expectations to bridge divisions in the Catholic Church  The new supreme pontiff, elected less than a week ago, is expected by some to continue Pope Francis' legacy, while those more conservative seek a traditionalist approach.  READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/05/13/newly-elected-pope-leo-xiv-faces-expectations-to-bridge-divisions-in-the-catholic-church  Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages

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00:00Much has been said about Pope Leo XIV and his papacy.

00:06While he is widely seen as someone capable of uniting a divided church,

00:10he is expected to continue Pope Francis' legacy.

00:14Although some conservatives hope the new Pope will embrace a more traditionalist approach.

00:20His relationship with the United States will also be one to watch,

00:24especially given that some factions within the American Catholic Church,

00:28aligned with U.S. President Donald Trump's policies.

00:32He is largely unknown. This is the great question.

00:34Some bloggers and so forth are reacting with some violence.

00:38They are nervous about some of the Pope's political views.

00:42We have seen, for example, tweets of articles that have particular responses to Vice President Vance.

00:49So there is a little bit of some concern from the right side of the political spectrum.

00:54But on the whole, again, we don't really know. This Pope has not said a lot before ascending to the throne of Peter.

01:02And in these first days, we're just getting to get to know him.

01:05So any of that judgment, I think, is premature.

01:07It's really too early to tell, and we'll see as things go.

01:11Some hardliners have even suggested that the new Pope may end up clashing with Trump on a number of issues.

01:17They argue that he doesn't appear to be supportive enough of the U.S. President's Make America Great Again political agenda.

01:25And I think that's very important, because if the Pope were too allied with American politics, it would impinge his mission.

01:34The Pope has to lead the Church, and that means leading the Universal Church, the whole of the Catholic Church.

01:39And so if the Pope's main concern were a particular view in American politics, it would harm his mission, his role, which is to be Peter.

01:47Only time will tell whether Pope Leo will be able to foster unity within the Church, and what direction Catholicism will take moving forward.

01:56Giorgio Orlandi for Euronews, in the Vatican.

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