By Rev Dr Eamon Conway
The synod experience was pivotal
It should be no surprise, therefore, that the cardinals elected someone with hands-on experience of global realities, a passion for social justice who will speak truth to power and proven administrative experience.
As former Prior General of the Augustinians, a world-wide religious order, who subsequently served as a bishop in Peru and more recently as head of a key Roman dicastery, Cardinal Prevost is well equipped to lead the Catholic Church as it seeks to proclaim the Gospel in such rapidly changing circumstances.
Pundits had predicted a protracted conclave in the event that one of the leading contenders didn’t get enough votes. This was based on the misapprehension that Pope Francis’ pontificate had sown division, which wasn’t the case.
The fact that 61 of the cardinals, of whom 53 had a vote, had spent at least two months together in the synod hall during the past two years and that several more were in Rome during the Synod’s General Assemblies played a pivotal part in building unity.
The Synod was a masterclass not only in “the joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties” of God’s people but also in how these needed to be tackled and in the kind of Supreme Pastor needed to do so.
The Continental Stage of the Synod, which consisted of synodal gatherings in seven regions around the world, had as its theme, “Enlarge the space of your tent, spread out your tent cloths unsparingly, lengthen your ropes and make firm your pegs” (Is 54:2).
Whereas enlarging the tent was Pope Francis’ forte, we can envisage that, as a trained mathematician and canonist, Pope Leo’s particular strength will lie in making firm the pegs and in ensuring the tentpoles are strong enough to support the fabric.
Ten working groups, established by Pope Francis to deepen and clarify key dimensions of a synodal Church are due to conclude and present their work soon. The new pope was a member of two of them. Their work will be key in increasing confidence in the synodal process and ensuring its longevity.
Building confidence
Two issues in particular require resolving in order to build confidence.
The first is the relationship between collegiality and synodality.
Collegiality refers to how the bishops co-operate with one another and with the pope in the governance of the Church.
How collegiality interfaces with synods, which foresee voting rights for non-bishops, is a work in progress.
The second issue is the basis upon which lay people exercise authority in the Church.
In an effort particularly to empower women, Pope Francis introduced legislation permitting the appointment of lay people to senior positions in the Roman Curia.
This separation of church governance from ordination was criticised, however, during the pre-conclave meetings.
Some Catholics, among them perhaps today even the majority of younger priests and seminarians, resist synodality arguing that it is introspective, preoccupied with committees and structures and distracts from mission and evangelisation.
They argue for a return to a strict delineation between the roles and realms of clergy and laity, the realm of the clergy being the Church and that of the laity being the ‘world’.
These arguments, can, of course, mask underlying concerns about power and authority.
The complexity of the challenges facing both the Church and the world, however, self-evidently need the mobilisation of all the gifts of the People of God and synodality provides the means of doing so.
The ‘conversion’ of the Church’s structures is precisely so that the gifts of all the baptised can be placed at the service of the Church’s mission.
Finally, the extraordinary level of engagement of the public’s imagination, way beyond that of practising Catholics, in the death of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo needs consideration.
Amid rising global uncertainty and instability, loss of confidence in institutions, the coarsening of public discourse, the void of meaning and increasing mental health challenges, people are evidently searching for a sense of belonging and solidarity and a renewed moral compass.
Despite its many failings and betrayals of confidence in the past, people, many young people among them, are turning to the Church. It is our task to ensure that we enable them to encounter the resurrected Christ, which we will do most effectively by the sincerity of our own faith and witness. In this, we can have confidence in the leadership of Pope Leo XIV.
Father Eamonn Conway is a Professor of Integral Human Development at the University of Notre Dame Australia