Since becoming the first US-born pope a year ago this week, Leo XIV’s measured style has given way to a trenchant tone in an ongoing confrontation with US President Donald Trump.
There was initially a lot of anticipation over how relations would play out between Robert Francis Prevost and Trump two very different world leaders at odds over many issues.
But the polyglot pope, a former missionary to Peru, initially cultivated a more sober and discreet style that contrasted with the spontaneity of his predecessor pope Francis.
Leo is more of a listener and, in his speeches, he has focused on social priorities like the fight against poverty and repeated warnings over the risks of artificial intelligence.
He has also espoused a more collegiate style of governance, delegating some particularly sensitive topics to his senior clergy.
He at first let the US Church hierarchy take the lead in criticising policies of the Trump administration, particularly on migration.
In November last year, US bishops published an unprecedented letter denouncing as “inhumane” new curbs on asylum rights in the United States.
The Vatican strategy was to try to keep open a channel for dialogue with Washington while giving a moral response on key issues.