It has been a generation, since the death of Saint Pope John Paul II, since the Vatican housed a person who was a bridge across the ecumenical divide. Since St John Paul's death, we have seen two Popes who created more division among both the laity and the clergy with their non-traditional statements.
Leo, the former Cardinal Robert Prevost, has led some two dozen public events since he was elected as the first US Pope on May 8 but not made notable appointments, nor announced plans for foreign trips, nor said where he might live at the Vatican.
Unlike Francis, who made some pronouncements which seemed humble, but were brash or prideful, like when he announced he would be the first pontiff in more than a century to live outside the Vatican's apostolic palace, as if to show he was rejecting the recent living arrangements of his predecessors, friends believe Leo is considering it as his home.
"Leo is taking his time," Rev. Mark Francis, a friend of the new pontiff since the 1970s, told the media. "While he is going to continue in the path indicated by Pope Francis, his disposition is very different."
He has also repeated some of Francis' main themes, and has echoed the Argentine pontiff's emotional appeals for an end to the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
"Leo is much more focused and methodical and not inclined to hasty decisions," he said.
Among the challenges facing the American pope is the Vatican's 83-million-euro ($95 million) budget shortfall, which was reported in February and had stirred contention among senior cardinals under his predecessor.
Other looming issues facing the 1.4 billion-member Church include declining adherence to the faith in Europe, ongoing revelations of clerical sexual abuse, and doctrinal debates over matters such as inclusion of LGBT Catholics and the possibility of women's ordination.
Rev. Anthony Pizzo, who has known Leo since 1974 when they attended Villanova University outside Philadelphia together, said the Pope is someone who listens carefully and seeks to hear many viewpoints before making decisions.
"This is going to be his modus operandi," said Pizzo, who leads the Midwest US province of the Augustinian religious order, to which Leo also belongs.
"When you first come into leadership, listen well, get to know your constituency … to make a well-informed decision," Pizzo added, describing the Pope's thought process.
When one considers these intial attributive differences, Leo certainly is in a position to bridge the gap which exists in the modern Church. The schism between the Church which John Paul left to Benedict and the one left by Francis, is at a breaking point.
Perhaps, this is the prophesy St Malachy meant when he said this would be the last Pope.
The over-900-year-old prophecy, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, purports to describe every single Pope from the year 1143 until the end of time, and Pope Francis appears, at least at a glance, to be the last Pope described in the prophecy, suggesting the world will end now that his papacy has concluded.
Instead, the Church, not the world, will be changed and Leo is the bridge from the old, dying, stale Church, to something more healing, which was the intent of Jesus Christ.
In 1054, the first Schism occurred when the Roman Church broke with the Orthodox Church. Then, in 1517, the Protestant Reformation was ignited when Martin Luther allegedly “nailed” his Ninety-Five Theses to his church door.
The twenty-first century schism is well upon us and it is widening. Let us hope Leo is the Pontiff placed here at this time to bridge the divide.
Or we will bear witness to the prophesy of St Malachy being realized as the Church collapses in front of us.
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