Habemus Papam: Pope Leo XIV

Ahead of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Cardinals of the Catholic Church gave a nod and a challenge to the Church in the United States of America, selecting Robert Francis Cardinal Prevost to be the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church. He is the first American Pope in history! Disappointment! Shock! Jubilation are some of the common reactions from many. He is a gift of the world to the American Church, and a gift from the American Church to the world.

One question that I have been toying and toiling with is, what mark of the American Catholic Church would he bring to the world? Of course, it is Jesus Christ he is bringing, and there is not an American Jesus, or a Latin American Jesus. But just as there is the scandal of particularity that Jesus had to be born in a certain country and into a particular family, geography is important. It would be pretentious on my part to claim any in-depth knowledge of the Catholic Church in the United States of America. There is a lot to celebrate about American Catholicism, yes. Its exceedingly rich intellectual legacy is there to see. One thing the Catholic Church in America is gifted in for is its charity and benevolence. Every year, the Catholic Church in America has three special collections, among others, to support programs in Catholic dioceses overseas, namely: Solidarity with Africa, Collection for the Church in Latin America, Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe. This is in addition to the Catholic Relief Services which is the oversees arm of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. There is also the papal foundation US-based charity that funds the Pope’s initiatives in Catholic dioceses of developing countries. In acknowledgement then of the contribution of the American Church to evangelization through her charity, American Cardinal Prevost’s selection is an acknowledgement of the gift that keeps giving. In the words of Archbishop Broglio, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, “Certainly, we rejoice that a son of this Nation has been chosen by the Cardinals, but we recognize that he now belongs to all Catholics and to all people of good will.”

Yet, this selection also challenges the Catholic Church in the United States to wake up: to become missionary. Pope Leo XIV’s missionary work among the people of Peru in South America is an example set before American Catholics. In welcoming the growing Hispanic population within the Catholic Church in America, which is quite huge, America is also becoming the new frontier for Catholic Evangelization. In the selection of the first American to be Pope, there is both a going out and also growing up. “I rejoice in the international experience of the new Bishop of Rome who has been a student and superior in Rome, a Bishop of Peru, and charged with the Dicastery for Bishops,” said Archbishop Broglio of the Archdiocese of Military Services and President of United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Born and bred in Chicago, Cardinal Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, checked most of the boxes for the kind of leader the Church in the modern world needs. He is an Augustinian, a Religious order after the great St. Augustine of Hippo. It is important to note in passing that Pope Benedict XVI was Augustinian in thought. https://firstthings.com/benedict-xvi-the-great-augustinian/. What are the Cardinals looking for in these Religious Orders, one might ask? From the Jesuit Francis to the Augustinian Leo, there seems to be an appetite, a huge craving for the reform which religious orders have a reputation for masterminding. Even though not a very prominent religious order compared to the Jesuits, Dominicans, Carmelites, Benedictines and Franciscans, the religious fervor and flavor of St. Augustine is something one would expect to relish during this papacy. He already hinted at it by quoting St. Augustine: “With you I am a Christian and for you, I am a Bishop”. One could pick up the Augustinian when he proclaimed: “Evil shall not triumph. It is time to read The Confessions of St Augustine and The City of God.”

The fact of being Augustinian is consoling in one sense, given the hype of an African Pope; though kicked down the road, we can find solace in the fact that the new Pope has African roots, given the fact that St. Augustine was born in Tagaste in the Roman Province of Numidia, Africa and became Bishop of Hippo which is today Annaba on the modern Coast of Algeria. As Prior of the Augustinians, Prevost visited Augustinians across the world. In Africa, they are found in Congo, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania; and across Europe, Asia and the Americas. He is therefore in tune with the tempo, tests and tastes of the world.

Pope Benedict XVI described St. Augustine as “the greatest Father of the Latin Church…This man of passion and faith, of the highest intelligence and tireless in his pastoral care, a great Saint and Doctor of the Church is often known, at least by hearsay, even by those who ignore Christianity or who are not familiar with it, because he left a very deep mark on the cultural life of the West and on the whole world. Because of his special importance St Augustine's influence was widespread.” One can begin to decipher the kind of Pope Leo XIV will be: passionate man of faith, highly intelligent, and a tireless pastor with worldwide influence. 

One other interesting fact is that the new Pope is an insider given he is from the Roman Curia and is a Canon Lawyer. This is crucial, given the reforms badly needed at the Vatican. Where Pope Francis “failed” as an “outsider” to reform the Church, especially its administrative apparatus, Pope Leo XIV, as one with two years-experience, working in the curia in one of the most important departments, the Dicastery for Bishops, will hit the ground running. How he “elbowed” out the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, seen as one of the greatest contenders and front runners is a mystery. Add to that the fact that he is a Canon Lawyer. This will help to burnish the rough edges of Pope Francis’ reform. A Canon Lawyer will surely be more circumspect. 

The greatest clue to the ministry of the new Pope is with the name he chose, Pope Leo XIV. He is not Francis II – and I wonder what stopped him from taking that name. Leo is a very prominent papal name after John, Benedict, Gregory and Clement. A Dominican Priest in Washington D.C Fr. Thomas Petri, was spot on in his prediction that the next Pope will take on the name Leo XIV. He gives a brief excursus on some of the highlights of Pope Leo XIII on whose heels the new Pontiff wants to follow. He wrote on: “Leo XIII ascended to the papal throne at a time of confusion and despair in the Church. It was also a time of political upheaval throughout Europe. In the face of modern skepticism, his pontificate was one of the most theologically rich and evangelical for centuries. His landmark 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum articulated the social doctrine of the Church relative to the modern issues the world was facing. He was a patron for the Dominican-run Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in Rome, and was responsible for the establishment of the school of canon law there (where Pope Leo XIV himself earned a doctorate in canon law)”. I can only pray and hope there are new things (rerum novarum) coming. 

In an article posted on his Facebook profile two days before the election of Pope Leo XIV, Fr. Dufe Joseph, a Capuchin blogger and professor of Moral Theology – which includes the Catholic Social Teaching – gave a rundown of the importance of Pope Leo XIII and his Encyclical “Rerum novarum”. In the conclusion he prophesied: “Listening to the definition of the type of Pope that the Church needs today, it would not be surprising that Pope Leo XIII would again be resurrected, either in thought or in name” https://www.facebook.com/reel/1225829142212784. And has come to be! And if you have not already figured out, one thing is clear: The social doctrine of the Church is going to be a prominent part of this papacy, just like with Pope Francis. There is going to be radical continuity there. As a lawyer, we can be certain he would be more careful with his choice of words. Synodality is not going anywhere. He will be a steady and sturdy hand to rein in the seeming chaos at the Vatican. Elected in the month of May, a Marian month during which we pray the rosary daily, on a Thursday when the Church prays the luminous mysteries and taking on the name of Leo XIII - one of the greatest Marian Popes who also approved the prayer of St Michael the archangel and Friday Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, let us commend our new Holy Father to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, St Michael the archangel and St Augustine of Hippo. The peace of the Risen Christ are the first words of Pope Leo XIV. May this peace reign in the world.