Commentary by Fr. Raymond J. de Souza: Pope Leo’s First 100 Days: Less Robert, More Peter
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Pope Leo XIV tours St. Peter’s Square in a surprise visit July 29 to the Jubilee of Youth. (photo: Daniel Ibanez/EWTN News / EWTN)
By Father Raymond J. de Souza, National Catholic Register, August 14, 2025
Father Raymond J. de Souza is the founding editor of Convivium magazine.
COMMENTARY: Since taking office in May, the Holy Father has served the Church more as a stabilizer than a disruptor.
On Aug. 16, Leo XIV marks his first 100 days as pope, enjoying enormous goodwill in the world and in the Church. That was evident from the exuberant reception he received at the Jubilee of Youth in Rome.
The Holy Father likely considers that goodwill itself a good thing, a time of comity and comfort in the Church. It may not last, but as long as it does, it is a blessing to be enjoyed. To that end, the first hundred days have been marked by steadiness in style and delayed decision-making.
The style was commented upon from the beginning; Catholic schoolchildren who wouldn’t know a mozzetta cape from mozzarella cheese were excitedly informed that Pope Leo had worn what Pope Francis refused to wear. Steadiness in style gives a sort of comfort, that things are as they should be. That Pope Leo is doing normal papal things — wearing what popes should wear, living where popes should live, even restoring John Paul II-era customs, like the Corpus Christi procession and the pallium Mass on June 29 — has no real significance. ….
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