Pope Leo XIV: A Unifying Figure 

Editors’ Note: This essay is the second in a three-part symposium on Pope Leo XIV.

Habemus papam!  

When those words were spoken from the façade of Saint Peter’s just a few weeks ago, I was reminded of how I felt every time I stepped into my Latin class with Fr. Reggie Foster, the former chief Latinist for the Vatican: so much anticipation combined with so much fear. 

It was time for a new pope, and I am willing to admit that I felt that way for quite a while before the time actually came. I prayed for Pope Francis, but his management of the Vatican and failure to teach clearly had done much harm to the faith. So I prayed that the Holy Spirit would provide a new Holy Father who might address the theological ambiguity, legal arbitrariness, financial instability, and ecclesial disunity left in the wake of twelve years of the Francis pontificate. The election of a new pope was an opportunity to address these concerns. 

Did the cardinals elect a man who could bring needed stability to the Vatican? Time will tell, but there are signs that the man from Chicago, whose pastoral, theological, and ecclesial experience is well beyond your “average” pope’s, might just be up to the gigantic task in front of him. All of us must pray for his success. Of his many priorities, perhaps there is none larger than recovering the unity among bishops and the faithful that was lost under Francis.

Healing in the Wake of Disunity 

Vatican II teaches, “The Roman Pontiff, as the successor of Peter, is the perpetual and visible principle and foundation of unity of both the bishops and the faithful” (Lumen Gentium, 23). Unfortunately, that unity was severely challenged under Pope Francis. As one example, synodality, Pope Francis’s signature project, became a source of significant division within the Church. The German bishops are using it as a Trojan horse for all sorts of mischief, but we also see how it has been used elsewhere as a path to confusion and division. Questions about the ordination of women to the clerical state, or the sacramental recognition of couples in irregular relationships (heterosexual and homosexual), were frequently discussed in the context of the synodal process. The ill-fated promulgation of Fiducia Supplicans came just weeks after the conclusion of one of the Synod on Synodality sessions where the issue of blessings for same-sex couples was not addressed, which suggests the call for dialogue was selective at best. These are issues that have been doctrinally addressed in the past but are now given new life with a nod toward a change in Church teaching. 

Another example of Francis’s legacy is the climate of fear that pervaded ecclesial life under his leadership. The autocratic nature of the Francis pontificate left many bishops afraid to govern according to their best judgment regarding the spiritual needs of the local church. Rather, they self-censored with the hope of not suffering reprisal or being perceived as anti-Francis. 

With the election of the new pope there is so much hope. My concern when the white smoke rose was whether we would get another pope who played into the ecclesial divisions or a pope who renewed the Vatican’s work towards unity in faith. (Of course, my anxiety revealed a lack of proper faith in the workings of the Holy Spirit, but it was not without natural reason.) 

The divisions in the Church reflect a theological and ecclesiastical polarization that has existed for a very long time. What was new was that those divisions were aggravated, if not encouraged, during the Francis pontificate by the Holy Father himself. A polarization of the faith, not completely dissimilar from what we see in the political realm, now colors so many of the discussions about matters of faith and morals. Do you affirm LGBT Catholics? Then you are a Francis Catholic. Do you affirm John Paul II’s teachings? Then you are a traditionalist. Obviously, this is an oversimplification, but the point is that we now have two dominant categories from which to understand the Church. One might say it is a hermeneutic of polarization. 

While some of this existed pre-Francis, it was not so pronounced, and certainly did not create the climate of fear that existed for the past decade. A priority task of Pope Leo XIV, it seems to me, is to address this polarization. The faith is one, and to promote divisions in the Church through doctrinal ambiguity is a failure of one of the Holy See’s core missions, which is to advance the visible unity of the faith. 

An early test for Pope Leo will be how he addresses the German bishops and their promotion of the Synodal Way. For more than four years the German bishops have been advancing an approach to their teaching authority that separates them and their local Church from Rome. Bishop Bätzing, the chairman of the German bishops’ conference, continues to push forward with the kind of synodal council that the Vatican has forbidden. This seems to suggest his desire, with the support of most of his brother bishops, to reject Vatican II’s requirement that bishops be in unity with the Holy Father. As affirmed in Lumen Gentium, “This college, insofar as it is composed of many, expresses the variety and universality of the People of God, but insofar as it is assembled under one head, it expresses the unity of the flock of Christ.”  

In 2022, 103 cardinals and bishops signed an open letter to the German bishops raising specific concerns about the dangers to Church unity posed by the German Synodal Way. This cri de coeur has gone largely unheeded. Pope Francis did speak to the dangers of what the German bishops are doing, but he also allowed them to continue on their way. Plenty of other examples of undermining Church unity exist from the theological left, such as the dismantling of the John Paul II Institute, or of the Pontifical Academy for Life under Archbishop Paglia, recently retired, or the promotion to key Vatican posts of prelates, like Cardinal Fernandez, who hold questionable theological positions. 

Other examples of fractured unity come from fringe voices on the right, usually self-appointed authorities who find a platform on the internet. It is important not to equate division coming from bishops with those chattering on the internet, but it is necessary to note that divisions from both poles exist. How our new Holy Father navigates these divisions will be one of his greatest tests, but one he will need to face early in his pontificate.

Pope Leo’s Path Forward 

There is room for various emphases of ecclesiology, and these should be celebrated; but authentic diversity unites under one faith in Jesus Christ as expressed in the Creed and the authoritative teachings of the Church. Unity under Christ is a hallmark of the faith, perhaps the hallmark of the faith. This is expressed in our worship (liturgy) and sacramental life, our moral theology, our Catholic Social Teaching, our pastoral outreach, and so much more. To suggest these things are changeable undermines the integrity of the Catholic faith. 

With renewed hope, there is an expectation that Pope Leo will reaffirm this unity through clarity in the exercise of his office. As Pope St. John Paul II proclaimed in Pastores Gregis: 

The principle and foundation of this unity, be it that of the Church or of the Bishops, is the Roman Pontiff. Indeed, as the Second Vatican Council teaches, the College, “insofar as it is composed of many, expresses the variety and universality of the People of God, but insofar as it is assembled under one head, it expresses the unity of the flock of Christ.” For this reason, “the unity of the episcopate is one of the constitutive elements of the unity of the Church.”  

Needless to say, Pope Leo has countless opportunities to pursue renewed unity at the global level and at the Vatican. Governing within the firm confines of the Code of Canon Law is perhaps the first significant step, but there are others. 

With respect to the United States, it would be very well received if he appointed an Apostolic Nuncio who expresses respect for the local Church. The outgoing (he turns eighty in January) nuncio, Christoph Pierre, expressed contempt for the US Church. This unnecessarily created a strained relationship between American bishops and the Holy See. The Church in the United States is far from perfect, but it also has many good things going for it. Perhaps the Holy Father can invite the president of the USCCB, Archbishop Broglio, for an audience and speak well of the Church that fostered the Holy Father’s vocation. This address could be made public, which would reset the tense relationship between the Vatican and the US Church that has existed for far too long. 

Of course much will be determined based on episcopal appointments. New York, Chicago, and Denver are three key sees that are soon due for new leadership. Bishops who reflect the mind and qualities of the USCCB episcopal leadership, and those bishops who are attracting vocations (as one obvious measurement) would be welcomed. There is a strong bench of faithful rank-and-file bishops who could step into greater leadership roles. 

Recognizing the good work of the countless Christocentric apostolates, like FOCUS or Courage, or the handful of small, dynamic, and orthodox Catholic colleges is one more thing that the Holy Father can do to reorient the Vatican–US Church relationship, not to mention relaxing the intensity of the liturgy wars by permitting more freedom for the local Ordinary to make prudential judgments about the use of the various liturgical forms. 

The Church is in the middle of a jubilee year. The United States, celebrating its 250th anniversary soon, has its own jubilee of sorts. Perhaps the Holy See could commemorate this happy convergence with a statement about the contributions of the United States to the global community, with obvious qualifications that recognize challenges from the past and present. Perhaps even a papal visit? 

All of this would be movement toward greater unity under Christ’s Church. The moment is ripe for a reconsideration of so much of the Church’s life with an eye toward a fundamental unity in faith that celebrates a diversity in how it is expressed. The Holy Father, with the help of the Holy Spirit, can be a source of that unity. Let us pray that it is so. 

Public domain image licensed via Wikimedia Commons and resized.