LONDON – From the moment Pope Francis passed away, it was evident that the battle to pick his successor as leader of the world’s Catholics would be between reformers determined to continue the late Pope’s modernising efforts and traditionalists eager to prevent the Catholic Church from going down the road of what they dismiss as heresy.

Most observers predicted a long-drawn-out battle between well-known candidates, made even more complex because the conclave – the Pope’s electoral body – was the largest ever, with no fewer than 133 cardinals from every far-flung corner of the world entitled to vote.

In the event, the conclave lived up to its history of producing surprises.

Far from being locked in interminable disputes, the cardinals needed fewer than two days of deliberations and only four rounds of voting to agree on a successor – a shorter process than the election of Pope Francis back in 2013, which came after five voting rounds.

But the bigger surprise is that none of those considered initially front runners made it; instead, and for the first time, the new pope is a United States-born prelate, the 69-year-old Robert Prevost, who will reign as Pope Leo XIV.

The choice is clearly a compromise. Pope Leo is regarded as a reformer, very much in the mould of his predecessor.

Yet he is also likely to take a less abrasive and confrontational line than the late Pope Francis, and seek reconciliation with the traditionalist wing of the Church.

Interpreting the politics of the Vatican is an art, not a science; much depends on deciphering trends by piecing together bits of seemingly unrelated information.

However, in the case of the new pope, his reforming tendencies are pretty evident.

The Chicago native spent most of his adult life as a missionary in Latin America.

He was clearly a favourite of Pope Francis, who swiftly elevated him to the rank of bishop, and then continued conferring on him top p...