Leo XIV, the Pope Who Speaks English Like a Native

An essay by Alfredo Grieco y Bavio

Translated from the original in Spanish by Eduardo Montes-Bradley

I’m pleased to share this article written by my friend Alfredo Grieco y Bavio—one of the sharpest and most original essayists writing in Spanish today. I decided to bring this piece to my blog following recent comments and inquiries about the global implications of Pope Leo XIV’s election. The essay first appeared in El Diario AR and is shared here in full, in English translation, with the author's permission.

When, a week ago, 133 cardinals gathered in conclave and elected one of their own—born in 1955 in Chicago—as pope, they acknowledged the global dominance of the English language. They sought to secure for the Church the comparative advantage of having the successor of Saint Peter speak directly to the world.

Among the many recent scenes of international politics against which the ascension of Cardinal Robert Prevost to the papacy can be measured, one (or two) stand out as both relevant and subtly revealing.

The Zelensky Incident

The first and most prominent took place on Friday, February 28, in the Oval Office. The bullying of the President of Ukraine by the President and Vice President of the United States was broadcast live. Donald J. Trump and J.D. Vance took turns demanding obedience, alignment, and gratitude from Volodymyr Zelensky. Western mainstream media expressed surprise and alarm at the MAGA administration’s conduct—unhappy with the obstacle Zelensky posed to a quick truce between Washington and Moscow, at any price (to be paid by Kyiv), in the war that began in February 2022.

Almost without exception, condemnation of Trump and Vance’s behavior was not accompanied by praise for the Ukrainian president. He drew more pity than credit, his courage seen as tainted with awkwardness. The scene was dramatic but not epic. In an epic, rivals are of equal stature. Bullying, by definition, is asymmetric. The victim is inferior. Ukraine was portrayed as inferior not only to Russia, but also to the EU and the United States.

Trump ended the joint press conference early. A treaty ensuring U.S. rights to rare earth exploitation in Ukraine was left unsigned. Zelensky was almost physically shoved out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue by Secret Service agents. Trump looked into the camera and boasted: great television.

Zelensky, critics argued, contributed to the theater: he had opted not to use an interpreter and spoke in fluent but accented, even amusing English. Old-school diplomats, interviewed on France Culture, recalled: “Even General De Gaulle, who spoke English very well, always used interpreters—not just because it wasn’t his native language, but because waiting for the French translation gave him time to reflect.”

A Photographic Counterpoint

The second moment was also great television—but silent. It came by way of photojournalism. A single image captured the essence: Trump and Zelensky seated across from each other at Pope Francis I’s funeral in St. Peter’s Basilica. Made visible yet unheard at the Vatican’s suggestion, the arrangement restored dignity and symmetry between two heads of state. A symbolic act of restitution.

The English Speaking Pope

When, in the third round of voting, 133 cardinals elected Cardinal Robert Prevost—born in 1955 in Chicago—they not only broke with convention, they also ratified English as the Church’s global language. They secured the comparative advantage of a Pope who could speak to the world and its powers fluently, directly, and without intermediaries—including, crucially, in social media posts and replies.

Peace, Bread, Work—and Migrants

With the election of Cardinal Prevost—known informally as “Bob”—the conclave broke a long-standing Vatican unwritten rule: to exclude American cardinals from papal contention. Since the Cold War, this exclusion had shaped papal betting pools. If that taboo ever held truly binding force, its rejection is partial. Prevost spent 38 years—more than half his life—in Peru. In 2015, Pope Francis appointed him bishop of Chiclayo, and he obtained Peruvian citizenship.

Prevost is the first pope with dual nationality. It’s just one outward sign of his commitment to migrants. Like Francis, Leo XIV sees migrants as the modern embodiment of the Gospel call to love one’s neighbor. If Bergoglio was the first pope to take the name of the mendicant Saint Francis of Assisi, the 69-year-old Prevost became the last to choose the name Leo—his predecessor being Leo XIII, whose 25-year papacy (1878–1903) launched the Church’s modern social doctrine.

Echoes of Leo XIII

The Rerum Novarum encyclical (1891), addressing the working class’s conditions and envisioning a proto-welfare state, still echoes in Catholic social thought. Both Francis (the Argentine Peronist) and Leo XIV (the American-Peruvian social Christian) were born in major industrial cities. Both came of age in post-industrial societies shaped by automation and global migration. For both, how a society receives or rejects migrants is the clearest measure of its commitment to the Gospel’s call for hospitality and love.

White Smoke, Broken Taboos

One of the first to congratulate Pope Leo XIV was Barack Obama, former senator from Illinois, where Prevost was born. Obama, elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004 with a record-breaking 70%, also broke a taboo. But, like Prevost, he was only a partial break with tradition: his father was a Kenyan economics professor, not descended from enslaved Africans.

Prevost, long before being elected pope on May 9, 2025, was no stranger to records: as prior general of the Augustinians, he was re-elected in 2007 in just 20 minutes. Like Obama’s rapid rise, Prevost’s election was a matter of timing—but also consensus.

Progressives and Progress

Analysis of this conclave often falls into binary terms: progressive vs. conservative. While not baseless, this view is limiting. Prevost’s election underscores a broader truth: changes introduced during Francis’s papacy—whether too few or too radical, depending on the critic—are now irreversible.

It is misleading to say Francis simply stacked the College of Cardinals to ensure a like-minded successor. In papal and cardinal appointments, the overriding principle is the good of the Church. Politically speaking, this means stability and continuity for the longest-enduring human institution in history.

This conclave had the widest geographical representation and the highest number of cardinals from religious orders. Prevost is the first pope from the Augustinian order; Francis was the first Jesuit pope. While the orders differ, both emphasize community life—fostering daily dialogue across generations and backgrounds, unlike the solitude of parish priests.

Age and Language

Since January 2023, Prevost had been prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, overseeing global bishop appointments. He brought women into the advisory vote. By September 2023, Francis had elevated him to cardinal.

When the conclave convened on May 7, Prevost—already in Rome—was local. A polyglot with dual U.S.-Peruvian citizenship, he speaks English, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, and reads German and Latin. His deep ties to Francophone Africa, especially the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the linguistic reality of Catholicism in Brazil, India, and the Philippines, positioned him well for a global Church.

A Pope Made in the USA

That Leo XIV is the first pope in history to speak English without an accent was no accident. It was a strategic goal. All signs suggest that his native fluency in English helped secure his election—one more step in the Church’s adaptation to a multilingual, multipolar, and digitally connected world.

About the Author

Alfredo Grieco y Bavio is an Argentine essayist, cultural critic, and journalist known for his incisive commentary on politics, religion, and international affairs. His work has appeared in leading Spanish-language publications including El Diario AR, Página/12, and La Nación. Grieco y Bavio’s essays often blend literary insight with historical and geopolitical context, earning him recognition as one of the most thoughtful public intellectuals writing in Spanish today.