By Christopher Lamb, CNN
(CNN) — Pope Leo XIV is marking one year since his historic election, making the transition from a low-profile cardinal to one of the most recognizable figures on the planet.
His election led to something previously thought impossible: an American pope. But his pontificate has witnessed an historic period of tension between the White House and the Vatican, with the Augustinian friar taking office just a few months after President Donald Trump’s re-election.
Those who know the pope well say he remains the same person despite the monumental changes of the last 365 days. “We don’t see great differences,” Rev. Joseph Farrell, prior general of the Augustinian Order and friend of the pope, told CNN. “It still is a bit unbelievable to see him (as pope) and yet it makes so much sense. As one of our friars said to me: ‘it looks like he went to pope school.’”
And Leo still has his sense of humor. Another friend and Augustinian friar, Rev. Tom McCarthy, said that after his election he gave Leo a hug, but asked afterward if he should have done that. “They were about to shoot you!” the pope joked.
So, after 12 months in office, what have we learned about the first American pope?
1. He’s unafraid of speaking up – even if it irritates Trump
Leo XIV’s style is measured and deliberate and, as a mathematician, he takes a process-oriented approach to solving problems. He is also more formal in dress and style than his predecessor Pope Francis, who was more of a disruptor willing to break with protocol.
However, Leo does follow Francis when it comes to speaking out on immigration, the environment, poverty and capital punishment. His years in Peru serving among some of its poorest communities have given him a strong sense of social justice. He’s described the treatment of immigrants in the US as “inhuman,” while recently calling for the abolition of the death penalty.
“Pope Leo XIV has managed to ensure that his voice and actions are heard and seen with particular force by not backing down on his call for world peace, his support for migrants, and his appeal against the use of nuclear weapons,” Paola Ugaz, an investigative journalist from Peru who knows the pope well, told CNN.
The Iran war, though, is where the pope has spoken most forcefully, taking the unusual decision to name Trump, and denounce any religious justification of conflict. The pope’s speeches during his recent trip to Africa were bold, with Leo saying in Cameroon that the world is being “ravaged by a handful of tyrants” and railing against corruption.
“The only thing that I’ve noticed that has been heavy upon him is the tragedy of war, and the suffering that people go through,” Farrell said. “His response has been very clear… that the way towards resolution, of finding solutions, is not with arms, it’s not with weapons, it’s to be disarmed, and disarming, and to dialog.”
Leo’s forthright moves have sparked an unprecedented clash between a US-born pope and US president. And yet in the face of an extraordinary barrage of attacks, Leo appears to been unfazed.
Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago told CNN that’s because the pontiff “doesn’t see himself as a rival to any head of state” and instead his mission is to bring “a unique perspective, beyond any given nation.”<