The daring choice of a Cardinal born and raised in the USA – one who has directly criticised Vice President J.D. Vance’s views on immigration (while embracing the social justice emphasis of the great 19th century pope Leo XIII) –  raises fascinating questions about the future of the divided US Catholic Church.

On the one hand the new pope’s record on sexual and gender issues (one that appears to be more ‘conservative’ than that of Pope Francis) may allay some of the criticisms of even more conservative US prelates (such as Cardinal Raymond Burke).

On the other hand, however, those US prelates who tend to see a strong social justice emphasis as ‘Marxist’ or ‘communist’ may continue to be suspicious of the papacy under the new Pope – while Cardinal Prevost’s strong record of supporting synodality in Peru and in the selection of bishops will not appeal to those US bishops who were cool or opposed to the synodality programme.

Cardinal Prevost’s citing of an article on JD Vance and immigration from the left-leaning US National Catholic Reporter in February 2025 could also be a very ‘red rag’ to US Catholic conservatives – while on the other hand the fact that Leo XIV is an American could feasibly have an impact upon US policy under a president more remarkable for ‘volatility’ than any in recent memory – and now in serious danger of becoming a ‘lame duck’ following the 2026 mid-term congressional elections .

Is there a hope that a Pope from the US could have the best hope of ‘fixing’ the Vatican’s current dire financial crisis also?

And what of the ‘reckoning’ on the vast problem of clerical sexual abuse of children called for by the Irish national synodal synthesis of 2022 – with the US victims’ advocacy movement SNAP already critical of the new pope’s own record on that issue as a bishop? Those who voted for the new pope must know that this issue is far from resolved globally, and so must he.

Another unknown is how the new pope may himself be changed by the weight of his new global responsibilities – as was Pope Francis.

The whole world – and the US church and the Trump administration in particular – will now be ‘watching that space’ with the keenest attention!