Editorial | Pinning hopes on Leo XIV

When Pope Francis died last month, this newspaper signalled its hope that the new head of the Roman Catholic church would continue, and expand, the legacy of his predecessor.

With the cardinal electors’ choice on Thursday of Robert Francis Prevost, an America-born priest largely unknown outside church circles, it seems that we may be on our way to getting our wish. The Gleaner keeps its fingers crossed.

Simply put, we look for the new pope, who has adopted the name Leo XIV, to continue Francis’ progressivism in, and outside, of Catholicism, but especially outside the church.

In that regard, Pope Leo XIV, we hope, will accelerate Francis’ efforts of greater involvement of women in the mission of the church, including their ordination as priests. Hopefully, too, he will lend his support to the ordination of married men as priests, and be more expansive in allowing priests to bless same-sex couples, eschewing Francis’ tortuous parsing of that authority.

Our greater concern, however, is how Pope Leo XIV leverages his office and the issues to which he lends his office. In that regard, we hope that, in these perilous times, the Global South has a loud and supporting voice in the Vatican.

The point is that the Roman Catholic church is not merely a religious organisation, albeit with over 1.4 billion members., which, if it were a country, would mean that only India (1.464 billion) and China (1.416 billion) would have equivalent, or larger, populations.

MORAL VOICE

Critically, too, the church’s long history, and the Vatican’s role in global affairs, adds weight and prestige to the papacy, giving the pope, should he choose to exercise it, a uniquely moral voice.

Pope Francis, who was a member of the Jesuit order, utilised his. He spoke out against the climate crisis, especially the existential threat it posed to small island developing states. He was concerned about global poverty, among individuals and of countries, the debt problem of developing nations, as well as the hostilities often faced by migrants seeking to escape poverty, oppression and wars at home.

Pope Leo XIV, the first American in the job, inherits these issues. But does so when these matters are exacerbated and complicated by a global order that is in a state of flux, especially since Donald Trump’s return as president of the United States.

Mr Trump has upended international trade relations with the unilateral imposition of punitive tariffs on America’s trade partners. These actions have potentially severe consequences for the global economy, especially for poor countries.

The US president has also moved aggressively against illegal and other perceived undesirable migrants to the United States, particularly if they are from black and brown countries. Anti-immigrant sentiment is also high in Europe.

NAVIGATE

The question, therefore, is how Leo, who was appointed a cardinal by his predecessor only in 2023, will navigate these and other issues. Analysts are taking their cue from the papal name he has chosen, as well as his background.

While considered a centrist and moderate, he is believed to largely share Pope Francis’ vision of the church.

Moreover, the previous Pope Leo (1878-1903) was considered a progressive reformer. His 1891 encyclical, at the height of the new industrial revolution, on the rights of capital labour, has strongly influenced Catholic social philosophy.

Leo XIII argued in that document for the right of workers to fair wages; the obligation of governments to protect labour; and for the freedom of employees to belong to trade unions. He also defended private property against socialist collectivism.

Then there is the fact that while the new Pope Leo XIV was born in the United States, he served for 20 years in Peru, of which he has citizenship and where he was consecrated a bishop. These factors probably helped to soften what was hitherto thought to be a prevailing sentiment against electing a pope from the United States.

The previous Cardinal Prevost had also signalled his opposition to the Trump’s administration’s behaviour towards migrants, and the suggestion by Vice President J.D. Vance that these were in concert with Roman Catholic theology and Christian teachings.