His Holiness, Pope Leo XIV—the first American‑born pontiff in the Catholic Church’s 2,000‑year history—was inaugurated on Sunday, 18 May 2025, in St Peter’s Square, the worldwide headquarters of the Church.

In his homily, the 267th pope told the congregation:

“I was chosen, without any merit of my own, and now, with fear and trembling, I come to you as a brother who desires to be the servant of your faith and your joy.”

The remark was striking for its humility, reminiscent of his predecessor, Pope Francis, whose Spartan, down‑to‑earth approach to life and the papacy led him to forgo the traditional papal mansion and the mill­ion‑dollar gold Fisherman’s Ring. Instead, Francis opted for a more modest gold‑plated version.

From Pope Leo XIV’s homily and body language—echoing Francis’s example of washing the feet of society’s least privileged—it is clear that the new pontiff seeks to be servus servorum Dei, “a servant of the servants of God,” and to unify not only Catholics but Christians and humanity at large.

Although he is white, Pope Leo XIV, like Francis, appears determined to embrace every race. His homily, delivered in Italian, was immediately translated into English, Spanish, and Japanese. Diversity was also evident on the altar: many of the celebrating clergy were non‑white—Black and Brown men from every continent.

In my assessment, this reflects the Americanness of the Chicago‑born pope. Following his Augustinian calling, he left the United States for Peru—much less affluent—to become, like Saint Peter, a “fisher of men,” striving to bring lost sheep back to God’s flock.

Later in this essay, I will compare the Catholic Church’s record with its Black members—who comprise roughly 20 percent of all Catholics worldwide—with the United States’ record of welcoming Black Americans into national leadership, even though blacks are a mere 14% of the population.

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The Making of Pope Leo XIV

Media interviews with his brothers, John and Louis Prevost, reveal that Leo XIV (born Robert Prevost) had long aspired to the priesthood:

“As a child,” they recall, “he would drape a towel over his shoulders and pretend to preach homilies.”

While serving in Peru he extended his outreach to Africa. As recently as 2024, he presided over the consecration of the chapel at the Augustinian International House of Theology in Nairobi, Kenya. In his invitation to President  Bola Tinubu for the papal inauguration, he wrote:

“Your great nation is particularly dear to me; I served in the Apostolic Nunciature in Lagos during the 1980s.”

On a lighter note, President Tinubu notwithstanding that he is a Muslim by faith, but being liberal-minded, honored the pope’s invitation to the Vatican City. And he was looking dapper in his Savile row suit in Saint Peter’s Square with his son Seyi in tow. I do not know if l am the only one who noticed, but for the first time, l spotted a striking resemblance between father and son to the extent that it could be said that Seyi is a spitting image of his dad. Maybe President Tinubu should adorn himself in suits more often so that he may not be too stereotypical in his dress sense.

Also, the symbolism of President Tinubu meeting in Saint Peter’s Square Mr. Peter Obi, the Labor Party presidential candidate for the first time since their electoral face-off in 2023 is noteworthy. 

It reminds me of how US President Donald Trump met in the same Saint Peter’s Square with Ukrainian president Vldomir Zelensky for the first time after their not-too-friendly encounter in the White House. Equally, US Vice President J. D Vance, who appeared to have been hostile to Zelensky during the referenced Oval Office meeting, as a guest of the pope at the inauguration was also seen in a convivial posture with the embattled Ukrainian president in Saint Peter's Square. 

In light of the above, somehow, the Vatican City is fast acquiring the image of a Haven of Diplomacy and Enclave of Peace without any extraordinary effort of the new Pope Leo XIV to make the catholic church a beacon of peace as he elaborately enunciated in his inauguration speech.

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Two Millennia of Continuity—and Calls for Reform

Since Jesus entrusted the Church to Saint Peter, Catholicism has grown to more than 1.4 billion faithful (some estimates say 1.5 billion). Though often called the world’s oldest continuously functioning institution, the Church’s doctrine and leadership structures have seen relatively modest reforms—despite efforts by modernizers such as Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday.

Leading nearly 18 percent of humanity makes the pope, resident in Vatican City (a sovereign state enclaved within Rome, Italy), a spiritual head of a population larger than that of China (≈1.4 billion) or India (≈1.4 billion). Were all Catholics gathered in one territory, they would form the most populous nation on earth—comparable to the combined total of Africa’s 54 countries which is roughly over l.4 billion people.

The Church’s global scope is captured in the very word catholic, from the Greek katholikós, meaning “universal” or “all‑inclusive.” The term appears in the original Greek New Testament in Acts 5:11 and Acts 9:31, though later translations rendered it simply as “church.”

It is surely within the Greek sense of katholikós—“inclusive” or “universal”—that the reforms begun by Pope Francis, and which Pope Leo XIV seems determined to continue, are being driven. The goal is to make the Church as truly universal as the First Council of Nicaea (AD 325) envisioned—even before the era of Jesus Christ, who was acclaimed as the head of the Church.

The most visible sign of reform is that the papacy is no longer the exclusive preserve of Europeans or South Americans; a North American now leads the Catholic Church. An American from Chicago has become Pope Leo XIV.

Few observers noticed the symbolism when U.S. President Donald Trump released an artificial intelligence image of himself in papal vestments. Some critics claimed he was mocking Catholicism. In truth, Trump—ever leveraging his brinksmanship—was sending a subtle signal that significant change was afoot.

Consider the timeline. After Pope Francis’s funeral on 26 April 2025, 133 cardinals from every continent entered the conclave on 7 May. In just 24 hours—and only two rounds of voting—they elected Robert Prevost of Chicago as Pope Leo XIV. 

Politics, no doubt, had been at play during the funeral period. I have no hard evidence, yet the AI image and the rapid election speak volumes.

Although the world’s four largest Catholic populations are in Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines, and the United States, the Church is growing fastest in Africa and Asia. Roughly 40 million Africans joined the faith between 2022 and 2023. It is plausible—perhaps within our lifetime—that an African or Asian pope will emerge; Pope Leo XIV is still only 69.

Africa already accounts for about 20 percent of Catholics worldwide, led by the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria. Yet the continent has no decisive voice in Church leadership. Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria was a strong contender in 2013, when Pope Francis was chosen; in the latest conclave Cardinals Peter Turkson (Ghana) and Fridolin Ambongo Besungu (DRC) were also front‑runners, but none prevailed.

The College of Cardinals now includes 29 members from 23 African countries; 18 of them are electors, and all but three were appointed by Pope Francis—testimony to his influence, much as a U.S. president shapes the Supreme Court through appointments. Right now, President Donald J. Trump enjoys similar leverage in Washington.

In the United States, where Black people constitute only 14 percent of the population (versus 20 percent of global Catholics who are Black), the majority‑white electorate nonetheless accepted and elected a Black leader. In 2008, Barack Obama—son of a Kenyan father—became America’s 44th president. By contrast, the Catholic Church has yet to elect a Black pope even though Blacks constitute 20% of the 1.4 billion flock worldwide.

The larger point is that politics pervades every human enterprise; as Aristotle observed, we are “political animals.” Africa, lacking both economic and military clout, still holds the short end of the stick. Just unfair trade has relegated the continent to a supplier of raw materials, Africa has remained a victim while more powerful nations—like the United States under President Trump since 20 January 2025—have retaliated and are forcing renegotiation. Lamentably without the US type of financial and military muzzle, Africa cannot compel her exploiters to renegotiate trade with her on equal and fair terms and thus remains vulnerable.

Likewise, Africa still has no permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, even though 54 of the 193 U.N. member states are African.

With an American, renowned for championing inclusivity and equity as the pope, a Black pope may be in the making in the not-too-distant future.  

On the socioeconomic front, can the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA help to give the continent better bargaining power? And would the new world trade order being forged by President Trump open the window for Africa to get a seat at the table in the comity of nations?

Those are the pertinent questions that need to be pondered by leaders of Africa and indeed conscientious leaders of the superpower nations of the world. 

That is assuming there is still justice in this world.

Magnus Onyibe—entrepreneur, public‑policy analyst, author, democracy advocate, and development strategist