BARRY PONDERING OUR NEW POPE
- Kean Huy Alado
- Nov 11, 2025
- 3 min read
By Kean Huy Alado
The world welcomed its new leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope on May 8 of this year. In the few months leading up to today, he has practiced caution with his new role, ensuring no drastic changes would be made
in the starting phase of his papacy. Instead, the new pope familiarized himself with the
aspects of his new title, holding a meeting with the College of Cardinals two days after
his election.
At the pope’s first public address in the Vatican shortly after his election, he emphasized the importance of love and support for one another in the Catholic Church. “We want to be a synodal church, a church that moves forward, a church that
always seeks peace, that always seeks charity, that always seeks to be close above all to those who are suffering.”
Moreover, Pope Leo has reflected on the Universal Church’s commitment to the
path that the Second Vatican Council had established decades prior. From the path, six fundamental points were reviewed, which include points such as: the return to the
primacy of Christ in proclamation; the missionary conversion of the entire Christian
community; growth in collegiality and synodality; and attention to the 'sensus fidei' (the people of God's sense of the faith). These points were reminiscent of Pope Francis, as he also upheld the same points. This displayed a continuation of the late pope’s efforts, rather than an alternate direction for the Catholic Church.
In the eyes of the United States public in a Gallup Poll survey this year, Pope Leo generated a “favorable opinion” from 57% of participants while an “unfavorable opinion” was held by only 11% of respondents. These statistics align with what was seen
in Pope Francis’s ratings in 2013 and Pope Benedict’s in 2005.
Locally, Barry University students also displayed their opinions on this new Pope. Alessandro Pellegrino, a junior studying finance, had much to say on the matter, describing himself as “an Italian Catholic from Rome, where religion is– so to speak–in my blood.”
When it comes to Pope Leo, Pellegrino was slightly discontent. He emphasized that, “Pope Leo XIV is a good guy, too reserved by half; he needs to fire it up, lead
by example, lead by passion. I think that a Pope from Africa, a strong, firebrand kinda guy, like Cardinal Robert Sarah, ‘Oh, let’s keep it pure, we don’t need any relativisms,’ that sorta guy, would’ve worked way better for me.
Sharing more hopes for the future, Pellegrino would like to see Pope Leo protect his fellow Christians from persecution.
“No more soft talk, just real action against the hate that we face everywhere. Look at the 21 Coptic Christians beheaded by ISIS on the Libyan beach in 2015. Boko Haram has been killing Nigerian Christians since 2009, with more than 52,000 dead overall and 18,000 churches burned, including over 7,000 killed just in 2025 so far,” he said.
Pellegrino’s concerns extend beyond his own personal faith, touching on what he sees as a lack of global awareness.
“The mainstream media barely covers it, acting like it’s no big deal while giving airtime to everything else. We should all be brothers in Christ, no matter the
denomination,” he added.
Pellegrino finalizes his thoughts with a call to action for Pope Leo, asking, “Who’s gonna speak for these silent martyrs if not the Pope, the servant of God’s servants, with the biggest voice in the world to make people listen?”
Autumn Lynn Davis, the liturgical coordinator for Barry University’s ministry added her own perspective on the Pope.
“I have an immensely positive attitude regarding what Pope Leo XIV will bring and push forward in terms of being the Bishop of Rome and spiritual guide for the
Catholic Church,” she said.
She also corroborated his actions to carry on Pope Francis’s projects and was ecstatic to find that Pope Leo “opened doors for women to take a much larger role
regarding leadership in ministry.”
As a Catholic university, Barry maintains a close relationship with the teachings of the Vatican, and according to Davis, “any documents, encyclicals, other magisterium, or spiritual stances from Pope Leo XIV will directly affect the university,” crediting this relationship to Barry's Adrian Dominican Catholic foundation. She provided an example as “the push for inclusion and diversity from the pope,” sharing that the “influence is a positive one.”
Overall, Pope Leo’s time so far as the leader of the Catholic Church has provided plentiful insight into his character and the nature of his leadership, but with the hopes of the Catholic community, especially at Barry University, Pope Leo has a tremendous task ahead of him, because ultimately, the hope for the Catholic community rests on his actions in the near future.
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