Habemus Papam!
As astounding the death of Pope Francis immediately after Easter — though his demise was long expected— was the swift election of Robert Cardinal Prevost as Pope Leo XIV, the first Pope from the United States. Immediately he signaled his continuity with Francis’ program, and reactions were swift. How great! How terrible! Will he ….?
And then things settled down. Brilliant pastor, linguist, and administrator, Leo brings the Church the quietude she needs after the tumultuous years of Francis’ papacy. Leo’s love of the Lord, Our Lady, and the Church run deep, and he turns immediately to the matters at hand.
Which should leave us to do the same.
In a recent homily at the Dominican Monastery, a famous Dominican priest reminded us that the hierarchical nature of the Church is meant as a protection for us all. Bishops don't criticize the Pope; priests don't criticize the bishops; deacons, religious and laity don’t criticize the Pope, bishops, and priests. Each of us in our places responding to the graces and calls the Lord sends us leads us into the peace only He can give and allows to be spread throughout the Church and world. In fact, I add, we criticize no one: our duty is for fraternal correction when it is required and to pray at all times for all people.
That’s why I have no further commentary on Pope Leo. It isn’t my place. I am glad for peace in the Church, and I pray for Leo daily, as is my duty and just as I daily pray for the repose of Francis’ soul and of the souls of all the faithful departed. I look forward to what Leo has to teach us and to how he we will lead us.
Does this mean we are silent in those cases where we see wrongdoing? In some cases, it might. In other cases, it might mean that we pursue rectification within the channels established by the Church, stopping only when they are resolved or when we have taken them as far as we can.
But this is not a regular occurrence for us. What is regular is the daily duty of prayer and worship, our ordinary work in our ordinary circumstances, and the apostolate — the spreading of the Good News in accord with the means and formation God has allowed us — to the extent we are able, all done with, in, and through the love of God and for God’s glory. If you are asking, “is that it?,” it is quite a lot if we do it right. The world needs us to live this way now more than ever before. Things are in upheaval as an old way of doing things is morphing into a new way. Confusion, fear, and anger abound. “Perfect love casts out fear.” We wonder whether we are equal to the tasks and the times. On our own, we are not; “God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.” Ordinary lives lived in ordinary ways out of that spirit of power, love, and self-control will bring peace and order to our lives, and it will transform the world, sooner or later. Our task is to accept the truth, and to live it out in the ways and with the means that God has set before us.
The rest is really none of our business.