VATICAN CITY, Holy See — Recently elected pontiff Pope Leo XIV says one factor contributing to the increasing polarisation globally is the gap between the rich and the poor.

Speaking in his first interview since taking up the position as head of the Roman Catholic Church with catholic magazine Crux, the pope said it was important deeply reflect on issues driving the sharpening divide in beliefs globally.

“A couple of other factors, one which I think is very significant, is the continuously wider gap between the income levels of the working class and the money that the wealthiest receive. For example, CEOs [who], 60 years ago, might have been making four to six times more than what the workers are receiving; the last figure I saw, it’s 600 times more than what average workers are receiving,” the pope explained.

Added Leo XIV, “Add on top of that. Yesterday, the news that Elon Musk is going to be the first trillionaire in the world. What does that mean, and what’s that about? If that is the only thing that has value anymore, then we’re in big trouble…”

The pope also pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic as another potential factor.

“I think it’s very important to start a deeper reflection, of trying to figure out: why is the world so polarised? What’s going on? I think there are a lot of elements that have led to this. I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but I certainly see the reality in some of the results. The crisis of 2020 and the pandemic certainly had an effect on all of this, but I think it began further back…Perhaps in some places, the loss of a higher sense of what human life is about would have something to do with that, which has affected people on many levels. The value of human life, of the family, and the value of society. If we lose the sense of those values, what matters anymore?”

The interview, released on Sunday, comes ahead of the launch of a new biography of the pope, to be released in Spanish on September 18.