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Excerpts from the interview were published on Sunday, the Pope’s 70th birthday.
Leo XIV talks at length about his experience as the first US-born pope and the first pope with Peruvian citizenship. He jokes about which team he would cheer for in a soccer World Cup and shares his views on the papacy and current issues, such as peace in Ukraine and the polarization that divides many parts of the world.
“The Latin American perspective is very valuable to me.”
“I am, of course, North American and feel very much so, but I also love Peru very much; the Peruvian people are part of me. The Latin American perspective is very valuable to me. This is also reflected in the appreciation I have for the life of the Church in Latin America, which I believe is important both in my connection to Pope Francis and in my understanding of his vision for the Church and how we can continue it to develop a true prophetic vision for the Church today and in the future,” said Pope Leo.
When asked which soccer team he would root for in a World Cup, the pope replied, “Probably Peru, simply because of the emotional connection. I’m also a big fan of Italy… People know I’m a White Sox fan, but as pope, I’m a fan of all teams. Even at home, I grew up as a White Sox fan, but my mother was a Cubs fan, so you couldn’t just belong to one side,” the pope said.
Four months have passed since the beginning of Leo’s pontificate. “I still have a huge learning curve ahead of me,” said the Pope. The completely new aspect for him is that he has been elevated to the level of a world leader. “I am learning a lot about how the Holy See has played a role in the diplomatic world for many years… These things are new to me in practical terms. I have always followed current events, but the role of the pope is certainly new to me. I am learning a lot and feel challenged, but not overwhelmed. I had to jump in at the deep end very quickly on this issue,” Leo XIV explained.
Pope sees himself as a bridge builder
The pope is firmly committed to peace and sees himself as a bridge builder. “One of the things I have been able to do in these first few months is to engage in at least some dialogue and visits with heads of state and leaders of multinational organizations. In theory, the United Nations should be the place where many of these issues are addressed. Unfortunately, it seems to be generally accepted that the United Nations, at least at this time, has lost its ability to bring people together on multilateral issues. Many people say, ‘You have to engage in bilateral dialogues’ to bring things together because there are obstacles at various levels that hinder the multilateral approach,” the Pope said.
The pontiff criticized income inequality in the world. He pointed to the ever-widening gap between the incomes of the working class and the richest. “In the past, CEOs may have earned four to six times as much as the average worker—today, according to the latest data I’ve seen, they earn 600 times as much,” said the pope. “I read that Elon Musk is set to become the world’s first trillionaire. What does that actually mean? And what is this all about? If that’s the only thing that matters today, then we have a problem,” the Pope criticized.
The book is scheduled to be published in Spanish by Penguin Peru on September 18 and will then be available in Spain, Mexico, and Colombia. The English and Portuguese editions of the book are planned for early 2026.
- source: oe24.at/picture: vaticanmedia.va
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