Pope Leo XIV surprised American Catholic young people during a virtual meeting on Friday by divulging a previously undisclosed pontifical secret: his unique Wordle strategy involves using a different starting word each day.
The Chicago-born pontiff shared his approach to the popular New York Times online game before engaging in a videoconference Q&A session.
The discussion, which was otherwise described as “somewhat scripted,” covered topics ranging from artificial intelligence and social media to the future of the Catholic Church.
Connected remotely from the Vatican, Pope Leo addressed the National Catholic Youth Conference, an annual gathering held this year in Indianapolis. The feed was broadcast via US Catholic network EWTN.
Following his election in May, his brother, John Prevost, had previously revealed the Pope’s daily Wordle habit and their shared tradition of comparing scores.
Leo was asked about his strategy at the start of Friday’s Q&A, which was otherwise somewhat scripted. Playing along, Leo revealed, “I use a different word for Wordle every day, so there’s no set starting word.”
The simple, free online puzzle lets players guess a five-letter word in six tries with no hints and has millions of daily players around the world.
After the big reveal, Leo spent the hour-long encounter fielding prepared questions from a handful of the conference participants, who asked him specifically about technology’s hold on young people.
Leo, who himself was a Twitter user before his election, said social media was a great way to stay connected and to even deepen one’s faith.
But he warned that it can never replace real human relationships.
He urged young people to follow the example of St. Carlo Acutis, a teen-age Catholic influencer canonised earlier this year who set limits on his screen time to make sure video games didn’t monopolise his free time.
“I encourage you to follow the example of Carlo Acutis,” Leo said. “Be intentional with your screen time. Make sure technology serves your life and not the other way around.”
Leo also applied that lesson to artificial intelligence, a topic he has said is a priority concern for him.
He told the young people it was a powerful tool but that they must learn to use it responsibly, and not let it interfere with their maturing into adults capable of making choices.
