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The new American pope, Leo XIV, has somehow managed, in the four months since his election, to stay mostly out of the news. His predecessor, Pope Francis, had been committed to expanding the church’s modern appeal, reaching out to divorced and LGBTQ Catholics and expanding the church’s identity beyond Europe. He made enemies along the way, cracking down on the traditional Latin Mass, which had become associated with dissident traditionalism.

Leo, then known as Robert Prevost, was elected to be a safer if somewhat boring stabilizing force, meant to heal the rifts Francis left. So far, he has largely made good on that vision. He has continued Francis’ priorities on climate change, Gaza, and migrants but used careful, noninflammatory language. He has also extended olive branches to traditionalists by twice meeting with one of Francis’ loudest critics and allowing him to celebrate the Latin Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, in the Vatican. He has appeased both sides of the gay rights conversation by presenting himself as neither a reformer nor a reactionary, de-emphasizing the issue overall. He has shown little interest in wading into the culture wars that define so much of U.S. Catholicism.

But this week, that record broke, primarily because of a petty fight over Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin.

The conflict revolved around an award that U.S. Cardinal Blase Cupich planned to give Durbin, a Democrat who is retiring at the end of his term, in recognition of his advocacy for immigrants. When about a dozen bishops and other conservative Catholic figures objected, citing Durbin’s record of supporting abortion access, it became big enough of a story in Catholic media for Leo to be asked about it.

The pope, while speaking in Italian to reporters on Tuesday, offered to take one question in English. A reporter from a conservative Catholic publication then asked him what he thought of the cardinal’s decision. The pope gave a small laugh and said he was not “terribly familiar” with the situation. But then he went on:

I think that it’s very important to look at the overall work that a senator has done during, if I’m not mistaken, 40 years of service in the United States Senate. … It’s important to look at many issues that are related to what is the teaching of the church. Someone who says “I’m against abortion” but says “I’m in favor of the death penalty” is not really pro-life. Someone who says “I’m against abortion, but I’m in favor of the inhuman treatment of immigrants who are in the United States”—I don’t know........

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