Pope Leo XIV voiced concern over “some things” happening in the United States and revealed he turned down plans for an AI version of himself in his first major interview since his election.
The first American pope highlighted the significance of a letter his predecessor Pope Francis had sent to US bishops earlier this year rebuking the Trump administration’s immigration deportation plans.
“I was very happy to see how the American bishops picked that up, and some of them were courageous enough to go with that,” he said, referring to public comments made in the wake of the letter.
But Leo insisted he won’t engage in “partisan politics,” saying it’s up to church leaders in the United States to take the lead on engaging with the Trump administration.
Leo, who was elected in May this year, gave the interview to Elise Allen, senior correspondent at Catholic news site Crux, for her biography, “Leo XIV: Citizen of the World, Missionary of the XXI Century.”
Here are some highlights.
American pope on the American president
Leo said he is yet to have any direct contact with President Donald Trump, although he pointed out that his older brother, Louis Prevost, had met with Trump in the White House.
Leo said he is “very close” with his brothers “even though one is far on one end politically, we’re in different places.”
The pope said there are “some things going on in the [United] States that are of concern” and that “sometimes decisions are made more based on economics than on human dignity and human support.”
It is understood that some of Leo’s main concerns with the Trump administration regard immigration, and he brought up the subject when he met US Vice President JD Vance earlier this year.
Leo said he is not afraid to “raise issues,” to “continue to challenge” and to engage Trump directly if given the opportunity. He said that, unlike his Argentine predecessor, “the fact that I am American means, among other things, people can’t say, like they did about Francis, ‘he doesn’t understand the United States, he just doesn’t see what’s going on’.”
He stressed he would “want to support” Trump in his efforts “promoting peace in the world.”
But he said he’ll seek mainly to engage with the bishops of the US, won’t “get involved in partisan politics” and, when asked if whether being an American pope might give him more sway with Trump, replied: “Not necessarily.”
Leo is signaling he’s going to be less combative with Trump than his predecessor, but that he is not going to be afraid to speak out if needed. Before his election, Leo had reposted tweets critical of Trump and Vance.
Leo says no to ‘artificial me’
The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics addressed an issue that would have baffled his predecessors in the millennia-old office: artificial intelligence.
The pope wants the church to “speak up” on this topic, warning against “the extremely rich people who are investing in artificial intelligence, totally ignoring the value of human beings and of humanity.”
Leo said he refused to authorize plans for an “artificial me” which meant “anybody could sign on to this website and have a personal audience with ‘the pope’,” and receive answers to questions.
“I said, ‘I’m not going to authorize that.’ If there’s anybody who should not be represented by an avatar, I would say the pope is high on the list,” he explained. He did not elaborate on who put forward the proposal.
He stressed he is not against AI but said that to lose the relationship between faith and science “will leave science as an empty, cold shell.”
Stops short of declaring genocide in Gaza
Pope Leo raised the possibility that genocide is taking place in Gaza, saying that “the word genocide is being thrown around more and more.”
However, he stopped short of explicitly asserting this himself, despite growing international accusations. This week an independent UN inquiry concluded for the first time that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, in a report the Israeli government rejected as “distorted and false.”
Leo said: “Officially, the Holy See does not believe that we can make any declaration at this time about that. There’s a very technical definition about what genocide might be, but more and more people are raising the issue, including two human rights groups in Israel have made that statement.”
He described the situation in Gaza as “very, very grave.”
Gaza is facing a humanitarian crisis and seen tens of thousands killed since Israel launched its offensive in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks. – Abdel Kareem Hana/AP
Clerical abuse still ‘not solved’
Leo said clerical abuse is “a real crisis” that must continue to be addressed and is something that is “not solved.”
The church, he said, must show “deep sensitivity and compassion to the pain, the suffering that people have endured at the hands of church ministers.”
But he also said that abuse cannot become “the center focus of the Church,” that the accused have rights and that sometimes there have been cases of false accusations.
Church teaching on sexuality ‘unlikely’ to change
Leo said he will continue Pope Francis’ welcome to LGBTQ Catholics but added that church teaching on sexuality is “highly unlikely” to change.
“What I’m trying to say is what Francis said very clearly when he would say, ‘todos, todos, todos’ [all, all, all] – everyone’s invited in, but I don’t invite a person in because they are or are not of any specific identity,” he said. “I invite a person in because they are a son or daughter of God.”
The pope is indicating that he will cautiously continue with Francis’ approach but is laying down some boundaries.
He raised concerns that in parts of northern Europe some churches were publishing formal rituals for the blessings of same-sex couples, which Leo said went against Francis’ opening in this area. In 2023, Francis moved to allow informal, non-liturgical blessings of same-sex couples by a priest.
Leo also said the “traditional family” – father, mother, children – needs to be supported.
Role of women ‘to continue to develop’
Leo said he will continue to promote women to leadership roles and that the understanding of the role of women has “to continue to develop.”
He said: “I hope to continue in the footsteps of Francis, including in appointing women to some leadership roles at different levels in the Church’s life.”
On the ordination of women deacons – members of the clergy but not priests – he said he isn’t going to make any changes “at the moment” but wants “to continue to listen to people” and allow study groups to keep examining the question.
“We’ll walk with that and see what comes,” he added.
Controversial China policy to continue
Leo said he will continue, in the short term, with the policy of diplomatic rapprochement and dialogue with Beijing “that the Holy See has followed for some years now.” But he added that he’s in “ongoing dialogue with a number of people, Chinese, on both sides of some of the issues that are there.”
In 2018, the Vatican signed a secret accord with China on the appointment of bishops which is understood to give Beijing some say in episcopal nominations.
The agreement has never been fully disclosed and remains controversial. Chinese Catholics must choose between worshipping at state-sanctioned churches or underground congregations.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
