Pope Leo XIV's fashion choices make waves, and many wonder what they mean

VATICAN CITY (AP) — When Pope Leo XIV stepped out on the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica to greet the crowd for the first time after his May 8 election, liturgical fashion aficionados around the globe took note: Gone was the simple white cassock and silver cross favored by Pope Francis. Back was the red satin mozzetta shoulder cape, the burgundy stola with gold embroidery and a gold cross held by a double-stranded silken gold cord.

Over Leo’s first few weeks, the excitement grew among liturgical fashion-conscious Catholics as they noticed new additions to the wardrobe, or rather a return to the old additions of the papal wardrobe: cufflinks, white pants, lace.

After Francis' revolutionary papacy, Vatican watchers are now wondering if Leo's return to the past sartorial look means a return to the past on other things too, including more substantial policy issues. But for tailors at the elite handful of liturgical tailoring shops in Rome, there is hope that Leo's return to the fancier garb of popes past will mean a boon to business if Leo's traditional look has a trickle-down effect from the pope to priests and all those in between.

According to the Rev. John Wauck, professor of church communication at the Pontifical Holy Cross University in Rome, Leo's clothing choices are a “return to form,” and his attire similar to that worn by Pope Benedict XVI, Pope John Paul II and other popes going back to the middle ages.

They show “a respect for tradition,” he said.

Such respect for the papal office is important for many conservative Catholics. Many conservatives and traditionalists soured on Francis' informal style and disdain for tradition, which reached its pinnacle with his his crackdown on the old Latin Mass. The old liturgy was celebrated before the modernizing reforms of the 1960s Second Vatican Council; Francis greatly restricted access to the old liturgy, saying it had become a source of division in parishes.

Leo has shown strong familiarity with Latin, and has taken to singing the Sunday noontime prayer in Latin. Some traditionalist Catholics are hoping Leo will take the pro-Latin path even further and reverse Francis to allow greater use of the traditional Latin Mass.

Massimo Faggioli, professor of theology at Villanova University, where Leo went to college, said it's too early to tell if Leo will reverse Francis' reform.

“It remains to be seen if Leo’s more traditional attire and liturgical style means that he will change Francis’ strong decisions limiting the so-called ‘Latin Mass,’" he said.

That said, Faggioli said U.S. conservatives seems particularly happy with Leo’s traditional attire, given Francis’ disdain for the fashion pomp of the papacy.

“In this sense, Francis might have been a parenthesis or an interlude, more than a changer of the tradition in ‘papal style,’” he said in an email.

At his inaugural Mass on May 18, 2025, Pope Leo XIV reached out his arm to sprinkle holy water and revealed a shirt with cufflinks, which Francis had largely avoided. He was also wearing an amitto, and an alb held in place by a cingulum. For the non-experts, the amitto is a lacy linen cloth that goes around the neck, the alb is the white tunic worn under the ceremonial vestment, and the cingulum is a braided rope with tassels that serves as a belt.

If it weren’t for photographers’ long lenses relentlessly trained on the pope’s every gesture, Leo’s switch from Francis’s standard black pants to more traditional white papal trousers would have gone completely unnoticed.

In addition to the clothing changes, Leo has returned to some other traditions of the Vatican that Francis eschewed.

He has shown himself willing to accept the traditional “baciamano” or kissing of his ring. Francis disliked having his ring kissed and often pulled his hand away if someone tried to kiss it.

“I think that what we see with Pope Leo is a willingness to embrace tradition, even if it risks seeming perhaps more formal than Pope Francis,” Wauck said. The idea is that “seeing that tradition as a treasure to be conserved and embraced as opposed to something that makes one feel perhaps a little bit standoffish.”

It remains to be seen whether Leo will move into the papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace, which stood empty during the 12-year Francis papacy. Francis shocked the world by choosing to live in a small room at the Santa Marta residence at the Vatican, eating his meals in the common dining room.

For the Rev. Castro Prudencio, this is all much ado about nothing. "For Pope Francis it was simplicity. Always. And Pope Leo has taken up what Pope Benedict had and many others. That is what the church is like,” he said.

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.

FILE - Newly elected Pope Leo XIV leaves after appearing on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)

FILE - Italian tailor Raniero Mancinelli, 87, prepares the white fabric to create suits, in three different sizes, to be taken to the Vatican in the hope that it might be worn by the new pope, at his shop in Rome, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)

FILE - Pope Leo XIV spreads holy water as he celebrates a Mass for the Jubilee of New Religious Associations on Pentecost Day in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)

FILE - Pope Leo XIV celebrates a Mass for the formal inauguration of his pontificate, in St. Peter's Square attended by heads of state, royalty and ordinary faithful, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

FILE - Newly elected Pope Leo XIV appears at the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)

The economy, inflation and how those forces could impact the lives of Americans were front and center over the past week. Trips to the grocery store or gas station are more painful than they were last year, and that is impacting the decisions of both households and businesses.

Here’s a snapshot of prominent economic data and news that occurred over the past week and what it potentially means for you.

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate climbed this week to its highest level in nearly nine months, driving up borrowing costs for homebuyers during what’s traditionally the housing market’s busiest time of the year.

The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate rose to 6.51% from 6.36% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. Despite the sharp increase, the average rate remains below 6.86%, where it was a year ago.

Rates have been mostly trending higher since the war with Iran began. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has roiled energy markets, sending crude oil prices sharply higher — a key driver of inflation.

Expectations of higher oil prices and worries about big and growing debts for the U.S. government and others have pushed up long-term bond yields, causing mortgage rates to head higher.

U.S. retailers have spent months navigating an uncertain economic environment, from President Donald Trump’s tariffs to the impact of soaring gasoline prices due to the Iran war. The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline rose again this week, ending at about $4.55 per gallon on Friday, according to AAA. Gasoline prices are about 45% above where they were at this time last year.

Based on quarterly financial reports from Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Lowe’s and TJX, shoppers are cautious but still spending, helped by more generous tax refunds. Yet there is a widespread belief among economists that once those refunds dry up, shoppers will pull back on spending. Consumer spending is the dominant economic engine for the U.S., and retreat would have broad implications for the U.S.

Walmart issued a forecast for the current quarter on Thursday that was weaker than what Wall Street had been expecting. Target raised its annual revenue outlook on Wednesday, saying it expected momentum to continue the rest of the year. Yet the upgraded sales expectations were still below the pace of the first quarter.

Fewer Americans filed for jobless aid last week as layoffs remain low despite a number of uncertainties that continue to cloud the economy.

U.S. applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending May 16 fell by 3,000 to 209,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s fewer than the 213,000 new applications analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet had forecast.

Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.

Despite historically low layoffs, the labor market appears to be stuck in what economists call a “low-hire, low-fire” state. That’s kept the unemployment rate low at 4.3%, but left many of those out of work struggling to find new employment.

The split between Wall Street and most U.S. households grew even wider Friday, as U.S. stocks rose toward the finish of an eighth straight winning week, their longest such streak since 2023. That’s even though a survey showed on the same day that U.S. consumers are feeling worse about the economy.

Shares of Workday and Zoom Communications rose after both delivered better profit reports for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

They’re the latest companies to top analysts’ expectations for profits for the start of 2026. And the cavalcade of such reports has helped U.S. stocks remain near their records. Stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits over the long term.

A hiring sign is displayed at a restaurant in Niles, Ill., Thursday, May 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Drones operated by Zipline leave base to make deliveries from a Walmart store in Pea Ridge, Ark., Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Options trader Anthony Spina works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Robert Arciero works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)