Although the new pope is in continuity with his predecessor in terms of content, he has a different style, said Gabriel in an interview with the Spanish online medium interview with the Spanish online medium "Religión Digital" (Monday).
Leo will continue the line of Pope Francis (2013-2025) without frightening traditionalists too much: "He is a son of Francis, but he is Leo XIV."
The change between the two pontificates is comparable to the transition from Pope John XXIII. (1958-1963), who presided over the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), to Pope Paul VI.
Pope Paul VI. (1963-1978), who brought it to a close and organised its implementation.
As then, the change could help to "bring things into balance".
According to Gabriel, the conclave saw in Robert Prevost a cardinal with a profile in line with the ideas of the Second Vatican Council: "a missionary, with a popular Latin American perspective and a favoured option for the poor".
In contrast to Francis, Leo has a more reserved, introverted character. He listens a lot and speaks little. "He is authentic, a man of God, religious, profound: He will go his own way and continue on the path set by the Argentinian, attaching more importance to the laity and women and deepening the synodal reform at a possibly somewhat more moderate pace," surmises the Augustinian.
Leo's appearance already shows how he unites different directions: "On the one hand, he has chosen a name that is associated with the social side of the Church; on the other, he wears the mozetta." After his election, Pope Francis decided not to wear the traditional papal collar.
For Gabriel, the appointment of Prevost as bishop represents a deliberate decision by Pope Francis. Pope John Paul II (1978-2005) had shaped the South American episcopate by appointing bishops who were not involved with the theology of liberation theology of liberation.
Only Francis changed this. In the then Prior General of the Augustinians Prevost, he recognised a man who was in his line.
Francis got to know Prevost in 2013 at the General Chapter of the Augustinians, and in 2015 he appointed him Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru.
Bishop of Chiclayo in Peruwhere previously conservative movements such as the the now disbanded "Sodalitium Christianae Vitae" movement dominated.