What can we learn from the new pope's social media posts?

Pope Leo XIV, born in Chicago as Robert Francis Prevost, has been elected the newest pope, becoming the first American to lead the Roman Catholic Church.

Like several of his predecessors, Prevost had a presence on social media — which may give some clues to his beliefs and priorities as pope. He is known for sharing many of former Pope Francis’ views, including on immigration.

While he didn't post many of his own messages, Prevost maintained a fairly active account on X and regularly reposted messages from other members of the clergy, lawmakers and news organizations.

Those messages have condemned the domestic terror attack in Charlottesville in 2017, the policy of family separation at the border that was in place during President Trump's first term in 2018 and the death of George Floyd in 2020.

Some of the reposted messages have conveyed concerns over lagging carbon emission goals, encouraged then-President Trump to read Pope Francis' missives on climate change or reminded the faithful to balance observation of Holy Week with the simultaneous NCAA basketball playoffs.

In one post in 2025, then-Cardinal Prevost directly fact-checked Vice President JD Vance on matters of Jesus' teachings.

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The first pope on social media was Pope Benedict XVI, who sent messages via the official papal account on what was then Twitter starting in 2012.

Benedict's successor Pope Francis drove a significant expansion online, approving thousands of messages not just for Twitter but also on platforms including Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

The papal X account is still active, but for the moment it is in a period of transition. Early on May 8, the day Pope Leo XIV was elected, the account was still marked "Apostolica Sedes Vacans," or "The Apostolic See is vacant," in anticipation of eventual succession.