Leaders emphasize peace, compassion and spiritual steadiness
Two major global faiths entered new eras in 2025 with the rise of new leaders known for their service. Pope Leo XIV, born in Chicago and elected May 8 as the first American pontiff, brings decades of Augustinian missionary work and pastoral emphasis on dialogue, social justice and bridge-building to the Roman Catholic Church. Meanwhile, President Dallin H.Oaks, a former educator and longtime apostle, assumed leadership in October, continuing a lifetime marked by disciplined service and spiritual consistency known for their service, says new sites.
- Born Aug. 12, 1932, in Provo, Utah
- Became President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Oct. 14, 2025
- Served as Supreme Court clerk, legal practitioner, law professor, president of Brigham Young University, Utah Supreme Court justice, and apostle for 41 years
- Known for personal motto, “Work first, play later” and a lifetime commitment to faithful service.
Dallin H. Oaks was set apart in Oct. 14, 2025 as the 18th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. According to the church’s official website, Oaks had served faithfully for 41 years as an apostle, after a distinguished career in law, academia and public service.
Born in Provo, Utah, in 1932, Oaks built his early careers as law clerk at the U.S. Supreme Court, a private attorney in Chicago, then as professor and associate dean at the University of Chicago Law School, says Deseret News.
Further, the church’s official website says Oaks later served as president of Brigham Young University and as justice on the Utah Supreme Court. President Jeffrey R. Holland tells Deseret News that Oaks is one of the great leaders he has ever known, describing him as steady, calm and reassuring and highlighting his faithful devotion to the Lord recalling their first encounter in 1947. “He is a complete man of God, and I love him,” he added.
- Born Sep. 14. 1955 in Chicago, Illinois
- First American Pope, elected on May 8, 2025
- Member of the Augustinian order- decades of missionary work in Peru
- Knows as a moderate, pastoral leader who values dialogue and social justice
- Chose the name “Leo,” evoking continuity with the reformist tradition
According to AP News, Chicago-born Robert Prevost was elected the 267th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church on May 8, 2025, making him the first American that ascended to papacy. Britannica identifies Prevost as a longtime Augustinian priest whose work has spanned in Peru, the U.S. and parts of Europe, building his reputation as a quiet but effective administrator with a pastoral approach to conflict.
Appearing in the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Leo XIV greeted thousands of cheering pilgrims with a simple message in Italian, said Brittanica. “Together, we must try to find out how to be a missionary church, a church that builds bridges, establishes dialogue, that’s always open to receive,” Brittanica reports. “To receive everybody that needs our charity, our presence, dialogue and love. ”Natalia Imperatori-Lee, the chair of religious studies at Manhattan University in the Bronx, said Prevost is continuing the late pope’s ministry.
“I think it is going to a different kind of American Catholicism inRome,” Imperatori-Lee said. According to Brittanica, John Prevost, the pope’s brother, told The New York Times in an interview on his brother’s views on the environment and migrants.“I know he is not happy with what’s going on with immigration,” Prevost said. “He won’t just sit back. I don’t think he’ll be the silent one.”