The American reporting on Pope Leo XIV’s election has been parochial and narrow and most often pitched in terms of him being chosen as a counterweight to Trump.
The Pope must be a politician. A prime example of that is John Paul II and his support of Solidarity in defiance of the Polish Government and the Soviet Union, but the Pope is first and foremost, the leader of 1.4 billion Catholics who are scattered across the world. His responsibilities are universal in scope and reach. That he is American may be important as his Papacy evolves, but that he spent years in Peru and has experience as an administrator, pastor, diplomat and missionary and is fluent in 4 languages may be just as important. That millions seem to believe (me included) that he might be a countervailing force for good in the world in contrast to Trump does not mean that is why he was chosen. We cannot reason backwards from what we may desire to a cause that may not be real.
We are so used to thinking in political terms, that is secular terms, but the electorate of a Conclave is made up of men who, no matter their many failings, are believers in Divine guidance and providence. Of course, they talk to each other, and of course they evaluate candidates based on political concerns — of a global nature — but more importantly, they pray that their choice be directed by God. Even an atheist must admit that such faith is a critical factor in choosing the man who appears on the Balcony, suddenly transformed.
In the Conclave, isolated from the world, those Cardinals, part of the oldest religious institution in the world, members of a 2000-year-old system of order and belief, do not think only of an American President when they make their choice. They believe that they are stewards of an eternal set of truths, not the blip of a four-year term.
Leo is facing a world landscape beset by looming catastrophes of the natural environment and at least 22 major armed conflicts. The Church is still recovering from the self-inflicted moral and economic devastation of its sexual abuse scandals. He must deal with major issues regarding Church doctrine and governance. No Pope can be a 1 trick pony. Every Pope meets a world immersed in suffering.
What Leo does seem to be is a very kind, very smart and thoughtful man, one who has deep experience with a broad cross-section of life, and a person unconstrained by any 1 ideology of either the left or the right. He is only 69 years old. His could be a 15- or 20-year Papacy. We should wish him wisdom. We should give him our prayers.
