Some might object to the title of this column. After all, what really matters is what God wants from the Chicagoan Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV—just as what really matters is what God wants from you and me.
However, just as there is nothing wrong with praying for what we want, secure in the knowledge that God knows what we need, so too is it appropriate to think about what we hope for from God’s ministers. In fact, the Code of Canon Law for the Catholic Church says this explicitly in Canon 212: “The Christian faithful are free to make known to the pastors of the Church their needs, especially spiritual ones, and their desires.”
Now is a particularly good day to do so. Though Pope Leo XIV took office immediately upon election, today in Rome he celebrated “The Holy Mass for the Beginning of the Pontificate” (or, more literally, “The Mass for the Beginning of the Petrine Ministry of the Bishop of Rome”) at 10 AM (4 AM Eastern Time).
During this service, Pope Leo received at least two symbols related to the task that Catholics believe the Lord has given to those who are bishop of Rome. The pallium, a circular woolen band put on the shoulders, symbolizes the authority (a burden to be carried, to be sure) for caring for Christ’s flock as the head of the college of bishops. He carries the wool on his shoulders, remembering that his authority is in service of the task of a pastor—a shepherd—who is caring for the sheep of Christ’s flock.
Pope Leo also received the Fisherman’s Ring, a gold signet ring that signifies that of the first pope, the big fisherman Simon. Jesus renamed Simon “Cephas” or “Peter,” meaning “Rock,” for his confession of faith. The Lord had asked who people said He was. They answered with the names of various prophets—John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, and others. When the Lord asked who they—His own disciples—thought He was, Simon answered bluntly, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The Lord’s response in Matthew 16 is worth quoting:
“Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Catholics believe that what Christ was doing here was not mere enthusiastic praise of one who was paying attention to the Father, but bestowing an office that would continue throughout time, just as the office of the other disciples would continue in the bishops (episkopoi or “overseers”) who were appointed after them.
Many Christians, even those who aren’t Roman Catholics, look to the pope as a defender of moral and spiritual witness to the eternal moral law and the basic truths of Christian belief set out in the great Christian creeds such as the Apostles’ Creed and the Creed of Nicaea. At the very least, the pope is the most high-profile Christian leader in the world. It is not an exaggeration to say his cultural largesse affects every American, Christian or not – so it follows that we all have a stake in his papacy.
The late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus liked to recount a Southern Baptist friend who told him, concerning Pope John Paul II, “You guys have a pope who sure knows how to pope.” This writer remembers receiving a call from a Presbyterian friend in 2005 after Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope Benedict XVI. “Did we,” the friend asked, “get a good pope?” After some good-natured teasing about who this “we” he was asking about was, I responded, “Yes, a very good one.”
So, to return to the question of this essay, we—and that includes all Christians—have a right to say what we want from this new pope in his ministry of care for all Christians. I can’t begin to speak for all Catholics, much less all Christians or Americans, but as a lifetime believer, here are a few guideposts that I’d like to see Pope Leo XIV follow.
Clear, Forthright Proclamation of Truth
While Pope Francis had many good statements of the truth about Christ and the truths of Christian faith, he had a propensity for making other statements that were difficult for devout Catholics to defend. His words often sounded, as the Catholic political philosopher Daniel J. Mahoney noted, a bit too much like the secular humanitarians we hear around us.
Pope Leo would do well to speak to us directly of the hard truths of the moral law and, even more important, of the One who gives His Spirit to Christians to fulfill it. Thus far, the pope has fulfilled this, speaking, as Fr. Robert Imbelli has noted, not merely of “peace” but “the peace of Christ.”
A Vigorous But Fair Use of the Shepherd’s Crook
Even some fans of Pope Francis accused him of protecting known abusers – even as other bishops who displeased him were treated badly for no reason. And those Catholics who favor the older form of the Mass were treated as lepers in his legislation. Many got the impression that Francis’s sense of discipline was all based on personal spite and not wise governance. Pope Leo has many messes to clean up in the Vatican itself and among the bishops. It seems safe to say that many Catholics are eager for a kind and fair spiritual father and judge.
Pursuing Christ’s Desire That “They May All Be One”
John Paul II and Benedict XVI were both pontiffs who inspired curious Protestants to comment on them knowing “how to pope.” That was in part because of their clarity about doctrine and an accompanying wisdom about appropriate forms of collaboration with other Christians.
Pope Leo should pursue that authentic and rooted understanding that true unity can only be pursued with a firm commitment to the truth. His own devotion to and knowledge of St. Augustine (Leo is a member of the Augustinian order) will be a great help since that great Father of the Church is revered and loved by many Protestants.
Guidance for Those Who Work in the World
When the Catholic Church claims that she is “an expert in humanity,” many assume this means there are divinely inspired answers to every technical problem in the world. The truth is, however, that Catholic Social Teaching is about principles and not procedures and details, yet some Catholics insist that every issue has a specific answer.
It is a good thing that Pope Leo seems to be aware of this. In an address to a group in Rome this weekend, Pope Leo said this:
You have the opportunity to show that the Church’s social doctrine, with its specific anthropological approach, seeks to encourage genuine engagement with social issues. It does not claim to possess a monopoly on truth, either in its analysis of problems or its proposal of concrete solutions. Where social questions are concerned, knowing how best to approach them is more important than providing immediate responses to why things happen or how to deal with them.
While all of these hopes are good and true, it would be a mistake to neglect to mention an important corollary: what Pope Leo XIV wants from all Christians.
We know that what he wants is our prayers. The burdens and the temptations of authority for one who takes on pastoral ministry are great. Those on whom high position are bestowed are in special need of prayer. We could all stand to pray that Pope Leo would be supported by the Lord as he works to do what the Lord told Peter in John’s Gospel: feed and tend the sheep of the Lord’s pasture.
David P. Deavel teaches at the University of St. Thomas in Houston. A past Lincoln Fellow at the Claremont Institute, he is a Senior Contributor at The Imaginative Conservative. Follow him on X (Twitter) @davidpdeavel.
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