How Pope Leo XIV chooses to tackle critical topics from same-sex marriage to women in the church remains to be seen, but those who know him say he’ll likely continue his predecessor’s path in his own image.

Pope Leo XIV indicated on Saturday that his papacy will follow closely in the footsteps of the late Pope Francis, telling church cardinals that they should take up that "precious legacy" and identifying artificial intelligence as a main challenge for working people and "human dignity",