The election of Leo XIV shifts some coordinates

Until the surprising election of Robert Prevost as pope, it was considered an unwritten law that a US cardinal could not become pope. It would be too risky if the head of the world's largest religious community was a citizen of the most powerful country in the world - so the warning went.

This is because an "American pope" would almost inevitably end up in the turbulent wake of the Western superpower's political turmoil. And this could then fatally overshadow the actual messages of the head of the church. Every political appeal by a US pope would be analysed as a possible statement towards Washington, according to the augurs. The internal division of the US bishops' conference and US Catholics, which has recently grown in the Trump era, seemed to underpin these fears even further.

Cardinals overrode concerns

However, the cardinals of the Catholic world church sovereignly overrode these concerns at the conclave and elected a curial cardinal from Chicago as pope. The fact that they did so also has to do with the fact that Prevost never served as a bishop in the USA. He was therefore never involved in the domestic political conflicts of his home country. Of all the cardinals from the USA, he was considered the least North American.

Because of his years as a bishop in Peru, he has also held a Peruvian passport since 2015. And his Spanish is even better than his Italian - even though he spent several years as head of the worldwide Augustinian Order in Rome from 2001 to 2013.

It is not only these linguistic qualifications that he has in common with his predecessor Francis. In his very first speech in St Peter's Square, his thoughts and theological language were reminiscent of the Pope from Latin America. Like him, he spoke of the "faithful people of God" travelling together with their shepherd and of the openness of the Church to all people.

Like Francis, Leo XIV also spoke of peace, bridge-building and dialogue. He used these words three times in his speech at the beginning of his pontificate - and thus set a clear counterpoint to the often gruff and egocentric demeanour and speech of the US President in Washington.

Nevertheless, he reacted with great delight to the first Pope from the USA and spoke of "excitement" and an "honour for our country" in an initial statement. He was already looking forward to meeting the new Pope, saying it was a "very significant moment".

Probably not Trump's preferred candidate

There had been speculation surrounding the conclave that Trump might try to elevate one of the conservative US bishops to the papal throne as his preferred candidate. Now it has become a pope from the Democratic stronghold of Chicago who is characterised by Peruvian "Latinos".

Although the new pope probably does not fulfil Trump's wishes, he is and remains an American - and despite all the differences in appearance, this opens up completely new opportunities for understanding between the head of the world's largest religious community and the currently still most powerful country on earth.

What the papal election means for the future of the Catholic world church is an open question. As head of the worldwide bishops' authority in the Vatican, Prevost has become very familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of Pope Francis' internal and personnel policies over the past two years. In Peru, he once clashed with the conservative"Sodalicio" network. However, it is difficult to say where the trained canon lawyer fits in theologically - especially as there have been hardly any publications by him to date.