By Joshua McElwee

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Leo's recent forceful statements about the war in Gaza and his strong call for a ceasefire during a meeting last week with Israeli President Isaac Herzog showed the new leader of the Catholic Church developing a robust, if quiet, diplomatic style.

Leo, who became the first U.S. pontiff when he was elected in May, takes an approach that is more muted than his predecessor Pope Francis, who often grabbed headlines with big public appeals or unexpected, off the cuff comments.

Francis, for example, surprised even senior Vatican officials by suggesting to a journalist in late 2024 that Israel might be committing genocide with its military campaign in Gaza, remarks that drew a sharp backlash from Israeli leaders.

Leo has tended to avoid surprises in public. He favours working behind the scenes, in coordination with the Vatican's sprawling foreign policy apparatus, and stresses in-person discussions with foreign leaders.

"Pope Francis was much more inclined to leverage the attention that he got from the media directly," said Massimo Faggioli, an Italian academic at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland who follows the Vatican.

"Leo wants to talk to the interlocutor directly ... and is inclined to use the traditional channels to convey messages,........

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