The requirements of his predecessor Francis (2013-2025), which initially shaped the workload, are largely worked off. And with a little luck, the native American can finally settle domestically.
Retreat for important decisions
His new pope's apartment in the Apostolic Palace should actually be ready to move in. But even in December, workers worked on the roof of the palazzo next to St. Peter's Basilica. The long overdue replacement of electricity and water lines also took longer than estimated.
And Leo commutes between his cardinal's apartment on Italian territory and a second residence with the huge gardens in Castel Gandolfo.
After the foreseeable transfer of the apartment, Leo XIV will continue to retreat there in order to recover and think about important decisions.
Because of these, some are in the room. His authorities, the "prefects," are still only temporarily confirmed in their offices.
In addition, about a third of these world church ministers have reached or already exceeded the planned retirement age of 75. The election of the successors will allow conclusions to be drawn about the path of his pontificate.
In the Albanian mountains, Leo is also to sit on his first programmatic teaching letter, which will probably be published in 2026. The encyclical is dedicated to the understanding of artificial intelligence.
In addition to praise for the possibilities offered by AI, the Pope’s letter should above all contain reminders for the right handling of technology. On several occasions, Leo XIV already expressed his concern that people could be considered subordinate to AI.
Travel to other continents
Inwardly, Leo XIV will continue one way of pacification. A big step in this direction is the Cardinals' Assembly in early January. The Pope has invited all of the nearly 250 cardinals of the Catholic Church to Rome for joint deliberations. Such extraordinary consistories are extremely rare and usually deal with topics of great relevance.
With this meeting, Leo XIV. could want to show his ability to teamwork, but also to offer the cardinals scattered far in the world a way to exchange ideas.
Some of these high-ranking churchmen will visit Leo XIV in their homeland in 2026. His upcoming trips abroad are likely to be significantly more extensive than his first trip to Turkey and Lebanon, in terms of duration and kilometers to be covered. Leo XIV almost officially confirmed a trip to the African continent.
Algeria seems to be set as a stage, where the longtime Augustinian Father and current Pope wants to follow in the footsteps of the founder of the Order Augustine. Other visiting countries are planned, although not known.
In the first months of his term, Leo received some heads of state from Africa, who must always issue an official invitation before a pope's visit.
Before entering the continent, he may previously make a stopover in the Canary Islands, which is the target of the escape route of tens of thousands of migrants.
The Vatican has been rumored about this trip for some time and the Spanish bishops have recently expressed confidence in the pope’s visit next year.
Peru or Argentina?
And there's Leo's XIV. second home in Latin America. With an at least temporary return to his beloved Peru, where he worked for decades, many Vatican observers reckon.
But currently Leo XIV weighs in and instead brings Argentina, Uruguay and neighboring countries into play.
And so perhaps a little legacy of his predecessor lands in 2026: Francis was a native of Argentina.