From Francis to Leo XIV: A New Pope and the Priorities of the Catholic Church examines a 2020–2025 question through a documented timeline, competing explanations, and distributional effects. It keeps the dated record “Robert Prevost was elected Pope and took the name Leo XIV” separate from the continuing Driver Trust in Public Institutions, then uses Having a say in government as a bounded welfare lens. The analysis states what the sources establish, what remains interpretive, and which observations would change the conclusion.