Pope Leo XIV Ignored One Piece of Advice Before the Conclave—and It May Have Foretold Everything

As white smoke billowed above the Sistine Chapel and bells rang across Rome, signaling the election of a new pope, few knew that Pope Leo XIV had already made a subtle hint that his selection was not just a possibility—it was a near certainty.

Just hours before the historic conclave, a close confidant of Cardinal Leo, whose given name was Father Giacomo Leoni, recalled receiving a peculiar phone call. It wasn’t unusual for them to speak, but the tone this time was different—reserved, reflective, and tinged with a quiet tension. During the call, Cardinal Leoni mentioned the possibility of his name being raised during the conclave. Then, he said something unexpected.

“They’ve been whispering,” he said, “but I’m not to lean into it. I was told—‘stay still, say little, and let God move.’”

The advice, offered to him weeks prior by an elder archbishop and trusted spiritual mentor, was meant to guide him away from ambition, away from speaking too confidently about the outcome of the conclave. It was a warning rooted in tradition: that no man should presume to know the will of the Holy Spirit.

And yet, Leoni did not heed the advice completely.

In that pre-conclave call, he allowed himself to say, softly but unmistakably: “If they choose me… I will accept.” It wasn’t a boast. It was a surrender. But it was also, in some eyes, a break from the silence expected of a man about to possibly become pope.

For the inner circle of the Vatican, moments like these—small words said at significant times—take on almost prophetic weight.

What makes this moment more mysterious is what followed.

Hours after the conclave began, observers noted a shift in tone among the cardinals. Discussions that were initially focused on traditional candidates began to lean toward a quieter name, a man seen as both the bridge between the conservative and progressive factions, and someone with a reputation for humility and theological depth. That man was Leoni.

Despite being among the younger members of the College of Cardinals, his track record was one of subtle influence. He had served in both Europe and Latin America, fluent in five languages, and respected for his role in healing rifts between clergy in polarized dioceses. But he was never considered a front-runner—not until the final hours.

When the final vote was taken, the choice was made: Cardinal Leoni had become Pope Leo XIV.

The decision shocked the world but seemed inevitable to those who had followed the quiet trajectory of his service. That phone call before the conclave, it now seems, was less a prediction and more a moment of discernment—a subtle acceptance that history was about to shift.

The ignored advice, though well-meant, may have been the final test. In speaking the truth that he felt approaching, Pope Leo XIV did not demonstrate ambition, but readiness. Perhaps that’s why, in the end, he was chosen.

Since his election, Pope Leo XIV has chosen a papal motto that adds another layer to the mystery: In Silentio Veritas — “In silence, truth.” It’s both ironic and poetic, considering that his path to the papacy may have included one final word spoken when silence was advised.

Observers have already begun speculating whether this decision to break tradition—mild as it may seem—signals a broader willingness by Pope Leo XIV to reshape expectations within the Vatican. His first public address hinted at reform, unity, and a return to spiritual fundamentals, rather than political debates. But he also reminded the Church that “truth sometimes arrives softly, not with thunder, but with a whisper.”

That whisper, in the form of a phone call, now lingers in the background of one of the most mysterious papal elections in modern memory.

As the Church begins a new chapter under Leo XIV, his first quiet step toward the throne may be remembered not as a defiance of tradition—but as a moment of clarity, honesty, and perhaps even divine foreshadowing.