VATICAN CITY (RNS) — As Pope Leo XIV marks his first 100 days as head of the global Catholic Church, a clear leadership style has emerged: deliberate, unifying and understated. The first pope born in the United States, Leo has used the traditionally quiet summer months at the Vatican to position himself as a bridge-builder in a deeply divided church, taking a watch-and-learn approach while making strategic moves that signal his priorities.

Early on, Leo made symbolic gestures to reassure both wings of a church still reeling from a disruptive Francis papacy. Donning the traditional papal mozzetta at his election — a departure from his predecessor who chose to eschew the red cape for a white cassock — and shifting his residence back to the Apostolic Palace signaled to conservatives his respect for tradition. While his early commitment to synodality — the collaborative decision-making process championed by Francis — eased progressives concerns that Francis’ reforms would be lost.

“People who felt alienated now feel comforted, and those who loved Francis also love him — he’s brought people together who were at odds,” said Jeff Cavins, a Catholic convert and biblical scholar. “He’s beautifully equipped to be the touchstone of unity in the church.”

Leo’s unifying message has been consistent across his public appearances, from his first address to a recent speech for a crowd of 120,000 young people during a Mass at the Jubilee of Young People.

In rare off-the-cuff remarks, Pope Leo urged the next generation of Catholics gathered there to “be agents of communion, capable of breaking down the logic of division and polarization, of individualism and egocentrism.”

The July 28 to Aug. 3 Jubilee of Young People proved to be a tremendous success for the new pope, who greeted roughly 1 million young Catholics as they flocked to Rome to celebrate their faith and seek forgiveness for their sins.

Leo’s leadership style, too, has emerged as more conciliatory than his predecessor’s. While Pope Francis often scolded clergy during audiences and meetings, urging them to leave their parishes and churches to be among the people, Leo has so far taken a more encouraging tone. “You are all precious in the eyes of God and in the realization of his plan,” he told Roman priests in an address on June 12, while also urging them to live in communion with their brothers and superiors.

Leo has proved to be a man of dialogue, valuing careful deliberation over rapid change. The new pope has chosen to take his time getting to know the dynamics and responsibilities of the papacy. His calendar has for three months been filled with daily meetings with major players in the church and heads of Vatican departments. Those who have met him describe him as a keen listener.

“Leo’s first 100 days have been a master class in listening before leading,” said Edward Sri, a Catholic theologian, speaker and author of several award-winning books. “He embodies truth without arrogance and mercy without weakness — that balance is rare,” he added.

Where Leo has made concrete changes, they nod to both traditional and progressive sensibilities. On July 28, he approved new family-friendly policies for Vatican employees, establishing paid paternity leave and time off to care for disabled family members. At the same time, he has returned to the centuries-old custom of spending portions of his summer at the papal residence of Castel Gandolfo, a break from Francis, who stayed in Rome anytime he wasn’t on a papal trip.

But it’s Leo’s American identity that has sparked the most curiosity about where this pope could lead the 1.4 billion-member global church, particularly when it comes to influencing U.S. politics and culture. 

His papacy has, at times, taken on an American flair. He speaks in English occasionally, offered a message broadcast during a White Sox game in Chicago in June and accepted a deep dish pizza during a general audience.

“For Americans, there’s this instant connection — he sounds like us, he gets our references,” said Catholic radio show host and commentator Katie Prejean McGrady. “It’s like seeing one of our own up there, but carrying the whole world on his shoulders.”

A recent Gallup Poll showed Pope Leo enjoys positive reviews from Americans both liberal and conservative, topping the favorability list of 14 global newsmakers. While some of that reflects the honeymoon period that benefited his predecessors, it also stems from his ability to appeal to both sides of a church divided over Francis’ policies and approach.

“The resistance to Francis was strongest in the United States, so perhaps the desire to rally around history’s first American pope is offering a bridge-building moment,” said Christopher White, senior fellow of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University.

It remains to be seen how Leo will engage with the Trump administration, especially since images of his MAGA-supporting brother at the White House revealed he has skin in the game.

Born in Chicago and having spent half his life as a missionary and bishop in Peru, Leo can seamlessly transition from Italian, the language most commonly used by the popes, to English and Spanish. Even so, Leo is rarely unscripted, choosing to stick to prewritten speeches most of the time.

“He should buck the Italian system and use English more as a way to connect with more people. And the more he learns to put down the script and speak from the heart, the more authentic he will appear. And that’s what the world, especially young people, are craving today,” said White, author of “Pope Leo XIV: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy.”

On international affairs, Leo has continued in Francis’ footsteps of seeking peace, though he has displayed more comfort in signaling his support for one side.

At Castel Gandolfo, Leo met for the second time with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, offering his aid for the embattled nation two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Leo’s dialogue with Ukraine signifies a shift for Vatican diplomacy, which under Francis had taken a neutral stance in the hopes of mediating a peace deal. Leo reiterated his willingness to host peace talks between Russia and Ukraine at the Vatican, while still emphasizing the need for a just peace that respects the sovereignty of Ukraine.

From Leo’s first remarks after his election, when he called for an “unarmed and disarming peace,” the new pope has underlined the need for peace among nations. As war rages in the Holy Land, with thousands of casualties and civilians facing starvation in Gaza, Leo made an appeal “for an immediate end to the barbarity of this war” during his Angelus address July 20.

“You can see the Augustinian in how he speaks about peace as the tranquility of order,” said Marcellino D’Ambrosio, a Catholic speaker and author of bestselling books on faith, explaining that Leo’s background as an Augustinian is visible in his efforts to bring order in his own home at the Vatican and among nations.

D’Ambrosio, Sri, Cavins and Prejean McGrady shared their reflections on the pope in the book ‘When the White Smoke Clears: A Guide to Pope Leo XIV’s Early Days.’

Leo has, like Francis, spoken in defense of migrants, whom he referred to as “messengers of hope,” and for the environment. He celebrated the first Mass for the Care of Creation in the gardens of the Borgo Laudato Si’, a green heaven created by Pope Francis to enact the principles in his 2015 encyclical on the environment.

On the 80^th anniversary of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, Leo repeated Francis’ appeals for nuclear disarmament, describing nuclear weapons as “an affront to human dignity and creation.”

The pope has also taken on the rise of artificial intelligence, offering the church’s teaching on human dignity as an antidote to today’s increasingly digital society. “It must not be forgotten that artificial intelligence functions as a tool for the good of human beings, not to diminish them, not to replace them,” he told government officials in June. His continued emphasis on this issue has led many Vatican observers to believe Leo might issue a papal document on AI and the technological revolution currently underway.

As summer ends, Vatican watchers expect Leo’s first curia appointments, which will reveal his priorities and approach to doctrine, diplomacy and governance. How he addresses liturgy debates, the Vatican-China agreement and the role of women will further define his papacy. Meanwhile, Catholics await the Sept. 7 canonizations of Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati — another moment for Leo to connect with the next generation.