Pope Francis's Humble Church Legacy Lives On

"He's right out of Francis's playbook."

"He ticks off all the boxes of a future pope: a pastoral heart, managerial experience and vision."

"Given what we know about the pervasiveness of clerical sexual abuse, it is certainly plausible that abuse occurred on his watch; he was superior general of a congregation of priests that ministers in 50 countries across the globe."

"It's also entirely conceivable that he failed to act decisively in punishing perpetrators and and supporting victims but, sadly, that's true of almost all the men who occupied positions of high leadership in the Catholic Church in the second  half of the 20th century."

"The cardinal electors would be hard-pressed to find a man among their number whose record on this issue is spotless."

Kathleen Sprows Cummings, professor of history, University of Notre Dame

 

"We must seek together how to be a missionary church, a church that builds bridges, dialogue, always open to receive like this square with open arms."

"Everyone -- everyone who needs our charity, our presence, dialogue, and love."

"[I hope peace] may enter your hearts, reach your families, all people, wherever they may be, all peoples, the whole earth."

Pope Leo XIV

Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, center, leaves after concelebrating Mass with the College of Cardinals inside the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican the day after his election as 267th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, Friday, May 9, 2025. (Vatican Media via AP)

Long before Pope Francis died, he was busy discreetly and yet not so subtly taking steps to bring the cardinal who most impressed him -- Cardinal Robert Prevost -- as a successor, opportunities to be exposed to his own deliberate and and purposeful steps in carefully moving the Catholic Church slightly off base with its traditional conservatism, to open it up so it could absorb and represent the interests of a wider segment of society, including women devotionals, and a comforting place for LGBTQ+ groups -- both welcomed in ways not previously known for inclusivity. 

Pope Francis must have observed Robert Francis Prevost's embrace of Latin culture and his embrace of a mild type of liberation theology, not entirely unlike his own. The late Pope Francis appointed a larger number of cardinals than has been the tradition in the church. And of the 133 cardinals who wasted little time in selecting Cardinal Prevost to succeed Francis, 108 of their number had been appointed by Pope Francis himself. 

Two years ago, Prevost was appointed by Pope Francis as head of the Dicastery of Bishops in Rome, a position of power that enabled him to become familiar with, and to, many of the existing cardinals from around the world. All of which enhanced his reputation. In 2022, Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Prevost to preside over one of his surprise reforms: the addition of three women to the bloc whose votes decides which bishop nominations are presented to the pope.

 

Fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and French, the now-69-year-old Prevost was elected twice to the Order of St. Augustine, an international order described as "living together in harmony, being of one mind and one heart on the way to God". Pope Francis had sent Prevost to Peru where he had previously spent years of his career in the church ministering to Peruvian Catholics, and found being there to his heart's liking. He was appointed apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo in northwest Peru, and a year later named its bishop. 

Newly elected Pope Leo XIV concelebrates Mass with the College of Cardinals inside the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican the day after his election as 267th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, Friday, May 9, 2025. (Vatican Media via AP)

 

Pope Leo's father, of French and Italian ancestry, was an educator who served as a catechist in the church; his mother of Spanish ancestry, was a librarian. Clergy were drawn to his family home for community, a community that became the future pope's familiar and comforting communion. His entire education and his life's choices revolved around the church from his youth as an altar boy, parish school and a seminary high school and Catholic university.

 

Pope Leo has committed to a continuation of his predecessor's legacy, a commitment that is a natural outcome of his own inclinations welded to Pope Francis's. In his 'synodal church', lay people will again play their part. The conservative element within the church, hoping for a return to more familiar Catholic precepts and rituals will not be pleased. Pope Leo was an outlier as an American cardinal; where he eschews tradition, most American churchmen are conservative who will not support his initiatives. 

The liberal initiatives brought into play by Pope Francis will continue under his successor; such as divorced and remarried Catholics allowed to receive Holy Communion and same sex blessings, now to remain. The church conservatives must  wonder what new and diverse initiatives in reforming the church will eventually surface, with a pope who has many years before him as their shepherd.

 

A shepherd who will follow in the footsteps of the one before him, who lived simply, choosing not to adopt the more regal rituals of the church during his reign, opting for his own brand of Augustinian simplicity. Under this pope too, the marginalized and the poor will be emphasized. Pope Francis's trajectory of reshaping the venerable culture of the Catholic church will continue. And with that continuation there will be decisions made that will be replete with shock.

 

Pope Francis prays before the 'Nativity of Bethlehem 2024,' upon its inauguration in the Paul VI Hall, during the private audience with donors of the nativity scene and the lighting of the Christmas tree ceremony at St Peter's Square, in the Paul-VI hall at the Vatican on December 7, 2024. (Andreas Solaro/ AFP)

 

"Pope Francis has spoken of four types of closeness: closeness to God, to brother bishops, to priests and to all God's people. One must not give in to the temptation to live isolated, separated in a palace, satisfied with a certain social level of a certain level within the church."

"And we must not hide behind an idea of authority that no longer makes sense today. The authority we have is to serve, to accompany priests,to be pastors and teachers."

Pope Leo XIV