SCHIAVON, Italy (AP) — Pope Leo XIV 's choice of name signals a commitment to social justice that is very much in line with the late Pope Francis ' global ministry.
“I think a lot us had a question mark when they elected an American, and then he selected the name Pope Leo XIV,” said Natalia Imperatori-Lee, the chair of religious studies at Manhattan University. “It really means to me he will continue the work of Leo XIII.”
Pope Leo XIII, who was head of the Catholic Church from 1878 to 1903, laid the foundation for modern Catholic social thought, most famously with his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, which addressed workers’ rights and capitalism at the dawn of the industrial age. He criticized both laissez-faire capitalism and state-centric socialism, giving shape to a distinctly Catholic vein of economic teaching.
The name “is a deep sign of commitment to social issues," said Imperatori-Lee. “I think this (new) pope is saying something about social justice, by choosing this name, that it is going to be a priority. He is continuing a lot of Francis’ ministry.”
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni confirmed that choice of the name Leo was a reference to Leo XIII and the social doctrine of the church, in particular the Rerum Novarum encyclical, considered the Catholic Church's first social encyclical.
Another predecessor, Pope Leo I, was known for repelling the barbarian invasion of Attila the Hun in 452 A.D. and dissuading him from sacking Rome through diplomacy, Italian Cardinal Mauro Piacenza told RAI Italian state TV. He also noted that Pope Leo XIII elevated the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii to a papal basilica in 1901.
Leo could also refer to Brother Leo, the 13th century friar who was a great companion of St. Francis of Assisi. By choosing such a name, the new pope could be signaling also a very strong continuity with Francis, who named himself after the saint.
For most of the Catholic Church’s first millennium, popes used their given names. The first exception was the 6th century Roman Mercurius, who had been named for a pagan god and chose the more appropriate name of John II.
The practice of adopting a new name became ingrained during the 11th century, a period of German popes who chose names of early church bishops out of “a desire to signify continuity,” according to Rev. Roberto Regoli, a historian at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University.
For many centuries, new popes tended to choose the name of the pope who had elevated them to cardinal. John was the most popular, chosen by 23 popes, followed by Benedict and Gregory, each with 16.
It was from the mid-20th century that new popes began to choose names signaling the aim of their papacy, Regoli said.
AP writers Nicole Winfield and Vanessa Gera contributed from Rome.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Newly elected Pope Leo XIV appears at the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Thursday, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Newly elected Pope Leo XIV appears at the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Thursday, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina achieved a goal more than a century in the making on Wednesday when it secured federal recognition as a tribal nation through the passage of a defense bill in Congress.
The state-recognized tribe, whose historic and genealogical claims have been called into question by several tribal leaders, has been seeking federal acknowledgement for generations. Congress has considered the issue for more than 30 years, but the effort gained momentum after President Donald Trump endorsed the state-recognized tribe on the campaign trail last year.
Legislation to recognize the Lumbee Tribe had struggled to pass through Congress in recent years, but it was attached to the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, which was passed by the Senate on Wednesday afternoon. It was unclear when the president would sign it.
“It means a lot because we have been figuring out how to get here for so long,” said Lumbee Tribal Chairman John Lowery moments after celebrating the victory in the office of North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis. “We have been second-class Natives and we will never be that again, and no one can take it away from us.”
With federal recognition comes a bevy of federal resources, including access to new streams of federal dollars and grants and resources like the Indian Health Service. It also allows the tribe to put land into trust, which gives it more control over things like taxation and economic development, such as a casino.
In the 1980s, the Lumbee Tribe sought recognition through the Office of Federal Acknowledgement within the Interior Department, which evaluates the historical and genealogical claims of tribal applicants. The office declined to accept the application, citing a 1956 act of Congress that acknowledged the Lumbee Tribe but withheld the benefits of federal recognition.
That decision was reversed in 2016, allowing the Lumbee to pursue recognition through the federal administrative process. The tribe instead continued to seek recognition through an act of Congress.
There are 574 federally recognized tribal nations. Since the Office of Federal Acknowledgement was established in 1978, 18 have been approved by the agency, while about two dozen have gained recognition through congressional legislation. Nineteen applications ranging from Maine to Montana are now pending before the agency, with at least one under consideration by Congress.
Once federally recognized, the Lumbee Tribe would become one of the largest tribal nations in the country, with about 60,000 members. Congressional Budget Office estimates have found that providing the tribe with the necessary federal resources would cost hundreds of millions of dollars in the first few years alone.
“Hopefully, Congress will expand the pie in appropriations so that the other tribes, many of which are poor, don’t suffer because there’s suddenly such a larger number of Native Americans in that region," said Kevin Washburn, former assistant secretary of Indian affairs at the Interior Department and a professor at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.
Over 200 Lumbee members gathered in a gymnasium in Pembroke, North Carolina, to watch the final Senate vote on television. They celebrated with shouts, raised hands and applause as the unofficial tally indicated the bill would receive final congressional approval.
Victor Dial held his 8-month daughter Collins at the celebration. Dial’s grandfather is a late former tribal chairman.
“He told us the importance of this, and he told us this day would happen, but we didn’t know when,” Dial said. “I’m so glad my kids were here to see it.”
Not everyone in Indian Country is celebrating. The move has drawn opposition from some tribal leaders, historians and genealogists who argue that the Lumbee’s claims are unverifiable and that Congress should require the tribe to complete the formal recognition process.
“Federal recognition does not create us — it acknowledges us,” Shawnee Tribe Chief Ben Barnes, an opponent of Lumbee recognition, testified before the Senate last month. He warned against replacing historical documentation with political considerations.
Critics have noted that the Lumbee have a history of shifting claims and previously used different names, including Cherokee Indians of Robeson County, and say the tribe lacks a documented historical language.
“If identity becomes a matter of assertion rather than continuity, then this body will not be recognizing tribes, it will be manufacturing them,” Barnes told lawmakers.
The Lumbee Tribe counters that it descends from a mixture of ancestors “from the Algonquian, Iroquoian and Siouan language families,” according to its website, and notes it has been recognized by North Carolina since 1885.
While the Lumbee Tribe has received bipartisan support over the years, federal recognition became a campaign promise in 2024 for both Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
“He kept that promise and showed extraordinary leadership," said Tillis, the Republican senator who introduced a bill to recognize the Lumbee Tribe.
Robeson County, where most Lumbee members live, has shifted politically in recent years. Once dominated by Democrats, the socially conservative area has trended Republican. The Lumbee Tribe's members in North Carolina are an important voting block in the swing state, which Trump won by more than three points.
In January, Trump issued an executive order directing the Interior Department to develop a plan for Lumbee recognition. That plan was submitted to the White House in April, and a department spokesperson said the tribe was advised to pursue recognition through Congress.
Since then, Lowery, the tribal chairman, has worked closely with members of Congress, particularly Tillis, and appealed directly to Trump. In September, Lowery wrote to Trump announcing ancestral ties between the Lumbee Tribe and the president's daughter Tiffany Trump, according to Bloomberg, which first reported on the letter.
Associated Press writers Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, Allen G. Breed in Pembroke, North Carolina, and Jacquelyn Martin in Washington, D.C., contributed.
John Lowery, N.C. State Rep. and Chairman of the Lumbee Tribe of N.C., center, leads a toast to Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., center, front right, as members of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, celebrate the passage of a bill granting their people federal recognition, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Austin Curt Thomas, 11, gets a celebratory fist bump from Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., as he and his father Aaron Thomas, of Pembroke, N.C., join fellow members of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, to celebrate after the passage of a bill granting their people federal recognition, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
People celebrate after passage of the National Defense Authorization Act by the U.S. Senate during a watch party hosted by the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025, in Pembroke, N.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
People celebrate after passage of the National Defense Authorization Act by the U.S. Senate, during a watch party hosted by the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025, in Pembroke, N.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
FILE - Members of the Lumbee Tribe bow their heads in prayer during the BraveNation Powwow and Gather at UNC Pembroke, March 22, 2025, in Pembroke, N.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce, file)
People sing while playing drums during a watch party hosted by the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025, in Pembroke, N.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
People celebrate after passage of the National Defense Authorization Act by the U.S. Senate during a watch party hosted by the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025, in Pembroke, N.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
People celebrate after passage of the National Defense Authorization Act by the U.S. Senate during a watch party hosted by the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025, in Pembroke, N.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
People celebrate after passage of the National Defense Authorization Act by the U.S. Senate, during a watch party hosted by the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025, in Pembroke, N.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
