Pope talks about peace, synodality, Musk in first major interview

Pope Leo XIV speaks with Elise Ann Allen of Crux on July 30, 2025. Image: Crux Photo

Source: Crux

Pope Leo gave his first major interview in July, extracts of which were published this week by Crux on the occasion of his 70th birthday.

Speaking with journalist Elise Ann Allen for an upcoming biography he reflected on his decades working as a missionary in Peru, how he has been adapting to the role of pope, his hopes for world peace, concerns about the growing disparity between rich and poor and comments on the United Nations.

"I'm obviously an American and I very much feel that I'm an American, but I also love Peru very much, the Peruvian people, so that is a part of who I am," he says, adding, "Half of my ministerial life was spent in Peru, so the Latin American perspective is very valuable to me."

With regard to becoming Pope Leo says, "There's still a huge learning curve ahead of me, I think." The "pastoral part" has so far been the easiest, the Pope says.

"The total new aspect to this job is being thrown onto the level of world leader....It's very public, people know the phone conversations or meetings I've had with the heads of state of a number of different governments, countries around the world, in a time when the voice of the church has a significant role to play."

The Pope also explains that he is learning a great deal about the Holy See's diplomatic role: "Those things are all new to me, in any sense of 'hands-on' … I'm learning a lot and feeling very challenged, but not overwhelmed."

With regard to efforts to promote peace, Pope Leo - responding to a question about the war in Ukraine -recalled first and foremost the appeals launched in recent months, lifting his voice to repeat that "peace is the only answer."

"The useless killing after these years of people on both sides - in that particular conflict, but in other conflicts - I think people have to somehow be wakened up to say, there's another way to do this."

Concerning the Vatican's offers to act as a mediator in conflicts, including the possibility of hosting negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, Pope Leo stressed that "the Holy See, since the war began, has made great efforts to maintain a position that … [is] truly neutral."

For the Pope, the priority today is for "a number of different actors … to push hard enough to make the parties that at war say, 'Enough is enough', and let's look for another way to solve our differences."

"We keep hoping. I believe strongly that we cannot give up hope, ever." While acknowledging the reality of "bad actors" and "temptations," Pope Leo says it is nonetheless possible "to encourage people to look at higher values, the real values, that make a difference."

And, he says, "You can have hope, and you keep trying to push and say to people, 'Let's do this in a different way.'"

Pope Leo, therefore, calls for "dialogue" and promotes it through meetings with world leaders and multinational organizations.

"In theory, the United Nations should be the place where many of these issues are dealt with," he says. "Unfortunately, it seems to be generally recognized that the United Nations, at least at this moment in time, has lost its ability to bring people together on multilateral issues.

For Pope Leo, it is important "to continue to remind ourselves of the potential that humanity has to overcome the violence and the hatred that is just dividing us more and more."

Recognizing that we live in times of polarization - especially after the crisis of 2020, and also in times of lost values - Pope Leo said: "The value of human life, of the family, and the value of society. If we lose the sense of those values, what matters anymore?"

He also pointed to "the continuously wider gap between the income levels of the working class and the money that the wealthiest receive."

The Pope notes that "CEOs that 60 years ago might have been making four to six times more than what the workers are receiving, the last figure I saw, it's 6,600 times more than what average workers are receiving."

On this point, the Pope says he also read that Elon Musk, American entrepreneur and founder of Tesla and SpaceX, will be the world's first trillionaire: "What does that mean and what's that about? If that is the only thing that has value anymore, then we're in big trouble…"

Pope Leo XIV devotes considerable time to answering a question about the concept of synodality, which he says "means each and every member of the Church has a voice and a role to play through prayer, reflection… through a process."

"Some people have felt threatened by that," the Pope says. "Sometimes bishops or priests might feel, 'synodality is going to take away my authority.'"

However, he explains, "That's not what synodality is about, and maybe your idea of what your authority is is somewhat out of focus, mistaken."

Instead, Pope Leo says, "I think that synodality is a way of describing how we can come together and be a community and seek communion as a church, so that it's a church whose primary focus is not on an institutional hierarchy, but rather on a sense of 'we together', 'our church'."

According to Pope Leo, this is an attitude that can "teach a lot to the world today." He says it is not about trying to transform the Church into some kind of democratic government, which, if we look at many countries around the world today, democracy is not necessarily a perfect solution to everything."

Instead, he says, it is about "respecting, understanding the life of the Church for what it is and saying, 'We have to do this together.'"

The interview also touched on the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with Allen asking who he will be rooting for when the United States plays Peru.

"Good question," Leo replied: "Probably Peru and just because of affective bonds, if you will. I'm also a big fan of Italy…"

Then, referring to his well-known support for his local professional baseball team, Pope Leo explains, "People know I'm a White Sox fan, but as pope, I'm a fan of all the teams."

Read the excerpts from the interview with Pope Leo XIV on Crux: https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2025/09/in-interview-with-crux-correspondent-pope-talks-ukraine-synodality-polarization-world-cup?