VATICAN CITY — What exactly will Pope Leo XIV’s papacy look like? The American Pope has given signs of his personal priorities, citing Vatican II and synodality alongside missionary activity and resistance to atheistic industrial developments.
Offering his inaugural address to the College of Cardinals on Saturday, Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate was presented to them in sum. He may have been less than 48 hours into wearing the white cassock, but Leo already had his priorities laid out in mind.
Key themes of the new pontificate
Not unsurprisingly, given the focus of all recent pontificates and the focus of the cardinals, Leo highlighted the future as being approached in light of the Second Vatican Council:
In this regard, I would like us to renew together today our complete commitment to the path that the universal Church has now followed for decades in the wake of the Second Vatican Council.
“Practically, such an action plan would follow that as set forth in Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium,” said Leo, as he pointed to seven “fundamental points” of the text.
Vatican Media video of Pope Leo XIV explaining his name choice to cardinals at the Vatican today. https://t.co/nykBBIuCPE pic.twitter.com/wCkyhbUx8y
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These priorities seem to combine aspects of Francis’ papacy – with a focus on “synodality” – with more traditional aspects of the faith such as the “primacy of Christ,” which was an aspect Francis infamously downplayed in the latter months of his pontificate.
Leo’s papal themes include:
… the return to the primacy of Christ in proclamation (cf. No. 11); the missionary conversion of the entire Christian community (cf. No. 9); growth in collegiality and synodality (cf. No. 33); attention to the sensus fidei (cf. Nos. 119-120), especially in its most authentic and inclusive forms, such as popular piety (cf. No. 123); loving care for the least and the rejected (cf. No. 53); courageous and trusting dialogue with the contemporary world in its various components and realities (cf. No. 84; Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 1-2).
Indeed this list is perhaps unsurprising. Ardent devotees of the traditional Mass will perhaps be uneasy at the high priority given to adhering to Vatican II, given the confusion and errors that have been pushed in the name of Vatican II. However, it is nevertheless to be expected that Prevost – ordained in 1982 – would echo the theme even of many more “traditional” cardinals in emphasizing the Second Vatican Council.
But it is a cause for concern for some. Bishop Athanasius Schneider suggested that rather than playing Vatican II as the cornerstone of action, a pope should remember that “our first complete commitment is to Jesus Christ’s Gospel. This is the first commitment of every pope, every bishop.”
Schneider added that Vatican II was always posited as “pastoral” and did not seek to promote “definitive teachings,” and hence should not be the principle way the Church understands Herself.
But Leo’s style, as suggested by many a seasoned Vatican commentator, looks likely to be one combing elements of Francis and Pope Benedict XVI. This was attested to by Leo’s use of quotations from Benedict’s Spe Salvi, to further evidence the primacy he is giving to Vatican II in his pontificate.
Indeed, the American Pope looks unlikely to limit himself to following the example of just two popes. Elements of Francis and Benedict are likely to appear – such as the use of Francis’ term of “synodality” along with the Benedict style of papal dignity – but alongside these it seems that Leo is attempting to emulate the charisma of John Paul II.
As priest and cardinal, Prevost met or served under all three of his predecessors – most closely, of course, with Francis as head of the Dicastery for Bishops. But his character remains his own, and though he will be informed by others, he will not be a carbon copy of his immediate predecessor.
