At the 6-months mark, Pope Leo finds his footing and starts charting his own path and style

VATICAN CITY (AP) — “You get used to it.”

That was Pope Leo XIV 's matter-of-fact response when King Charles III asked about the swarms of televisions cameras documenting his historic visit to the Vatican last month.

Charles is no stranger to paparazzi, so Leo wasn’t telling the monarch anything he didn’t already know. But Leo’s blasé comment seemed to confirm what Vatican observers have noticed recently: that Leo has indeed gotten used to being pope, and is finding his footing six months into the job.

After his shock election in May and sharp learning curve over the summer, Leo’s key priorities are coming into focus, especially where he dovetails with his predecessor, Pope Francis, and where he diverges.

As his pontificate’s six-month mark arrives on Nov. 8, here’s a rundown of what we’ve learned about the first American pope, his style, substance and where he might take the Catholic Church.

Leo showed himself in perfect lockstep with Francis when he published his first major teaching document last month, on the church’s non-negotiable “preferential option for the poor.” Francis began writing the text before he died; Leo took it over and made it his own.

In it, Leo criticized how the wealthy live in a “bubble of comfort and luxury” while poor people suffer on the margins. He urged a renewed commitment to fixing the structural causes of poverty.

Leo has also embraced Francis’ ecological legacy, presiding over the first Mass using a new prayer formula “for the care of creation.” He has given the go-ahead to Francis’ ambitious plan to turn a Vatican-owned property north of Rome into a massive solar farm that could make Vatican City the world’s first carbon-neutral state.

Perhaps nowhere was Leo more Francis-like than on Oct. 23, when he met at the Vatican with Indigenous groups and representatives of popular movements who had been championed by the Argentine Jesuit.

Francis had prioritized people on the margins, and exhorted the church to accompany them as they demanded the basic human necessities of “tierra, techo, trabajo,” – land, housing and work.

Leo repeated Francis’ mantra during his audience and put his own spin on it, noting that his namesake, Pope Leo XIII, took up the issue of workers rights at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution.

“Echoing Francis’ words, I say today: land, housing and work are sacred rights. It is worthwhile to fight for them, and I would like you to hear me say, ‘I am here, I am with you!’” Leo said.

Cardinal Michael Czerny, a top adviser to both popes, said Leo is in perfect continuity with Francis, implementing processes that Francis set in motion.

“The transition from one Holy Father to another is not primarily a transition in policies,” Czerny said in an interview. While a change in governments from one party to the next can signal a break, “here it would be a mistake to look for that.”

“The stylistic differences are in the person, not in the teaching,” he said.

On style, it's now clear that Leo is happy to pope the old fashioned way, wearing the red mozzetta cape and embroidered stole for all but the most mundane occasions.

He sticks to the script of his prepared texts, shows discipline in his liturgical observance and doesn’t ad-lib with wisecracks the way Francis sometimes did.

That has endeared him to many of the Catholic conservatives who bristled at Francis’ informality. Even though Leo is echoing many of Francis’ Gospel-mandated social justice preaching points, his style and gestures have generally won them over so far.

“What I’m hearing and sensing is a real joy in the maturity, the discipline and the tradition that he brings back to the papacy,” said Patrick Reilly, founder and head of the conservative Cardinal Newman Society, which ranks Catholic colleges in the U.S. on upholding traditional doctrine.

“I don’t know of anyone who has any concerns or is disturbed or anything like we saw,” with Francis, he said.

Many credit Leo for allowing a traditional Latin Mass to be celebrated at the back altar of St. Peter’s Basilica, presided over by none other than the figurehead of the American Catholic right, Cardinal Raymond Burke.

Francis in 2021 cracked down on the spread of the ancient liturgy, saying it had become a source of division in dioceses. The crackdown fueled conservative and traditionalist opposition to Francis, leading to a new impasse in the age-old liturgical wars.

But Leo has expressed a willingness to engage in dialogue with traditionalists, suggesting a detente is possible.

“We love our pope, we pray for him,” said Christina Tignot, who attended the Latin Mass service during the traditionalists' annual pilgrimage. With her was her husband and homeschooled daughter, who joined her mother in wearing a lace veil over her head.

For all his continuity with Francis, Leo has charted his own path and even corrected Francis when necessary.

In one case of a reversal, Leo abrogated a 2022 law issued by Francis that concentrated financial power in the Vatican bank. Leo issued his own law allowing the Holy See's investment committee to use other banks, outside the Vatican, if it made better financial sense.

Leo has also met with a group of activist survivors of clergy sexual abuse, who said he promised to engage in dialogue as they press the Vatican to adopt a zero-tolerance for abuse policy worldwide. Francis had met regularly with individual abuse survivors, but kept advocacy and activist groups at an arm's length.

At the six-month mark, Leo’s personal routine is also showing a break from that of the workaholic homebody Francis.

Leo has taken to spending Monday afternoons and Tuesdays at the papal country house in Castel Gandolfo, where he can take time off and get in a tennis game in the estate’s court. (He plays with his secretary).

To the news media's delight, Leo has agreed to field some questions each Tuesday evening as he leaves from a gaggle of reporters gathered outside, weighing in on everything from the Gaza ceasefire to immigration enforcement raids in Chicago. his hometown.

His initially timid responses were noticed. They led to a biting television skit by Italian political satirist Maurizio Crozza, who suggested that the name “Leo” was perhaps a mismatch for a pope seemingly afraid of his own shadow.

But with the passage of time, Leo seems to be getting into his groove. He sparked a brief but seemingly temporary alarm in conservative circles when, during one recent Tuesday evening Q&A, he chimed in on the U.S. abortion debate by challenging abortion opponents about what it really means to be pro-life.

In a more formal setting, he also showed some chutzpah when Queen Rania of Jordan asked him if it was really safe to travel to Lebanon. Leo plans to visit Lebanon and Turkey on his first foreign trip at the end of the month.

They were posing for a formal photo in Leo’s library after an official state audience. Rania's question was picked up by the Vatican camera's hot mic, as was Leo's response.

“Well, we’re going,” Leo said matter-of-factly, while smiling for the cameras.

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 - Pope Leo XIV greets faithful during the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

FILE - Pope Leo XIV attends an inter-religious meeting to pray for peace inside the Colosseum in Rome, Oct. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

FILE - Pope Leo XIV, center, is flanked by Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla in the St. Damasus Courtyard at the Vatican after a state visit and a pray with him in the Sistine Chapel, Oct. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File )

FILE - Pope Leo XIV presides over a Rosary vigil for peace in St. Peter's Square on the 63rd anniversary of the start of the Second Vatican Council, at the Vatican, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

FILE - Pope Leo XIV, left, arrives at the Marina of Ostia, near Rome, for a visit to the "Med 25 - Bel Espoir" Peace Training Ship, Oct. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

FILE - Pope Leo XIV blesses a child at the end of a Mass for the Jubilee of Migrants and Missionaries in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)

FILE - Pope Leo XIV arrives for his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

FILE - Pope Leo XIV holds prayer vigil with young people participating in the Youths Jubilee at the Tor Vergata field in Rome, Aug. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)

FILE - Pope Leo XIV is greeted by faithful as he arrives at the St. Thomas of Villanova Church to celebrate a mass, in Castel Gandolfo, on the outskirts of Rome, Aug.15, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

FILE - People wave a flag prior to the arrival of Pope Leo XIV for his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)

FILE - Pope Leo XIV blesses the faithful gathered in the square in front of the Apostolic Palace for the noon Angelus prayer in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, July 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

FILE - Pope Leo XIV on his popemobile tours St. Peter's Square at the Vatican prior to the inaugural Mass of his pontificate, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)

FILE - Newly elected Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, right, receives his biretta from Pope Francis as he is elevated in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Sept. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca, 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)

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)

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is rising toward records Tuesday after an easing of oil prices let Wall Street turn its focus back to the big profits that companies keep producing.

The S&P 500 rose 0.6% and was on track to top its all-time high set at the end of last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 248 points, or 0.5%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was heading toward its own record after climbing 0.7%.

Stocks got a boost after oil prices gave back some of their big jumps from Monday. The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 3.3% to $110.70 after briefly topping $115 on Monday, though it’s still well above its roughly $70 price from before the war with Iran.

A ceasefire in the war appears to be holding, even after the United Arab Emirates said Monday that Iran fired missiles and drones at it. The U.S. military is trying to force open a path in the Strait of Hormuz, which would allow oil tankers to resume shipments from the Persian Gulf and hopefully bring down the price of crude.

Iran’s powerful parliamentary speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, accused the United States of undermining regional security with the effort to end Iran’s stranglehold on the strait and warned that Tehran will respond.

Even with the war ongoing, the U.S. stock market has remained remarkably resilient on its record-setting run. That’s in large part due to the strong profits that U.S. companies have reported for the start of 2026 despite the rise in oil prices since the end of February.

“This has been a ‘why ask why’ market,'” according to Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. “You just have to go with it.”

Even though many risks are still weighing on the market, “investors are looking at earnings” and how much companies are spending on AI data centers and other investments, he said.

DuPont’s stock rallied 8.7% Tuesday after the chemical giant led another cavalcade of companies reporting better-than-expected profits for the latest quarter.

DuPont said its water technologies business felt some impact because of the war with Iran due to logistics disruptions in the Middle East. But it nevertheless raised its forecasts for financial results over the full year due in part to its strong start to 2026.

Other winners included American Electric Power Co., which rose 1.8%, and Cummins, which added 1.7%, after they likewise made more money during the first three months of the year than analysts expected.

Pinterest soared 14% after the online bulletin board topped Wall Street’s first-quarter sales and profit targets as its number of active monthly users jumped 11% to 631 million.

AB InBev likewise topped analysts’ profit forecasts, and it credited growth for its Corona, Stella Artois and Michelob Ultra brands outside of their home markets. “Cheers to beer,” CEO Michel Doukeris said, as the company’s stock that trades in the United States jumped 9.2%.

They helped offset a drop for Palantir Technologies, which fell 4.3% even though it reported stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its stock has struggled this year with worries about increased competition, like many software companies have. Its stock is also coming off a huge run where it more than doubled in each of the last three years.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe. The CAC 40 rose 0.6% in Paris, but the FTSE 100 fell 1.7% in London. Many Asian markets were closed for holidays, as Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.8%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2% after the central bank raised its benchmark interest rate to 4.35%, saying conflict in the Middle East had sharply increased fuel and commodity prices that were already adding to inflation.

In the U.S. bond market, Treasury yields eased after oil prices gave back some of Monday’s gains and reports on the U.S. economy came in mixed.

One report said growth for U.S. services businesses unexpectedly decelerated last month, with some companies saying the war is slowing spending. A separate report said U.S. employers were advertising slightly more job openings at the end of March than economists expected, an encouraging signal for the job market.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.42% from 4.45% late Monday.

That’s still well above its 3.97% level from just before the war began. That rise has made mortgages and other kinds of loans for U.S. households and businesses more expensive.

AP Writers Chan Ho-him, Matt Ott and Rod McGuirk contributed.

Specialist Patrick King works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Options trader Anthony Spina, foreground, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A board above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange displays the closing number for the Dow Jones industrial average, Thursday, April 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

FILE - A train arrives at a Wall Street subway station in New York's Financial District on Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)