Pope Leo XIV indicated on Saturday that his papacy will follow closely in the footsteps of the late Pope Francis, telling church cardinals that they should take up that “precious legacy” and identifying artificial intelligence as a main challenge for working people and “human dignity.

Then he did something notably uncharacteristic of Pope Francis. He sang. “Hallelujah,” he intoned reverently, in Latin. The moment spoke to an evolving truth. As much as Leo has echoed Francis since his dramatic debut on the central balcony Thursday,