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.

Holy pop! According to a new deep dive published by The New York Times, the newly named Pope Leo XIV is related to two of pop music's biggest names: Madonna and Justin Bieber. In assembling a detailed family tree for the Chicago-born religious leader - who was elected the new head of the Catholic Church in May following the death of Pope Francis - the publication found that Leo is distantly linked to the two singers through a shared ancestor born about six generations back.

Pope Leo XIV celebrated his Chicago roots when arriving to the Vatican for his weekly general audience on Wednesday.