By Rev Dr Eamon Conway
Pope Leo intends, albeit in his own way and according to his own style, to press forward with the same priorities that Pope Francis held.
Pope Leo has called for a renewal of everyone’s commitment to Vatican II and in his first homily to the cardinals who elected him has described as “masterful” the path Pope Francis set out to be followed in The Joy of the Gospel (2013), the charter document for Francis’ pontificate.
In an interview with American Cardinal Blaise Cupich, journalist Gerard O’Connell says that the cardinals sought “somebody who was going to continue the work of Pope Francis.
There was no interest at all in diverting attention away from that or moving in a different direction.”
The Church’s centre of gravity has shifted
The decision not to elect a European cardinal, even a frontrunner like Cardinal Parolin with proven experience as a diplomat, is evidence that the Church’s centre of gravity no longer lies in Europe.
By 2050, just twenty-five years from now, it is estimated that three-quarters of the world’s Catholics will live outside the west. Within a generation, Africa is set to become the numeric centre of the Catholic Church and it has been suggested that by then, Christianity will no longer be thought of primarily as a western religion.
In the future, the majority of Catholics will be living and witnessing to their faith in countries where they are in a minority.
Being in the global south, they are likely to be living in poverty. They are also likely to be living in danger on account of their Christian faith, given that Christians are already the world’s most persecuted religious group.
This is just one aspect of the rapidly changing socio-cultural and geo-political context that confronts global Catholicism.
There are others: a world effectively at war, and if circumstances continue to deteriorate may require a wartime pope; technology, especially AI, as the dominant force shaping our lives; the increasing impact of climate change upon both planet and people; the shocking reality that despite all the technological advances, actual and possible, global poverty reduction has slowed to a near standstill, and migration as a consequence of all of the above.
Other concerns
In his meeting with media on 12 May, Pope Leo explained that as he sees it, we are living through yet another industrial revolution, driven this time by advance technologies such as AI, and he wants to bring the Church’s rich treasure of social teaching to bear on current cultural shifts just like Leo XIII tried to do.
During the pontificate of Leo XIII (1878 – 1903), technological developments threatened to destroy social cohesion and widen the gap between rich and poor.
Of concern too, of course, is the loss of the Church’s credibility because of abuses, and the reality that there are still regions where violations of human dignity within the Church have not yet been sufficiently acknowledged and confronted.
Western countries face particular challenges. In his first homily as pope, Leo XIV spoke of the lack of meaning in life that stems from a lack of faith.
For many baptised Christians, the Holy Father says, Jesus finds acceptance as “a kind of charismatic leader or superman” while they continue to live their lives “in a state of practical atheism.”
In searching for a successor to Peter, the cardinals also had to consider the precarious state of the Vatican’s finances explained to them during the pre-conclave meetings.
Fr Eamonn Conway is a Professor of Integral Human Development at the University of Notre Dame Australia