Thoughts on Pope Leo

"And so I say to you, you are Peter"

We are all very excited and full of hope, with every bit of news that comes out about the Holy Father!

On a human level, it makes sense. The pope is, in a way, our father. Naturally, we want to know who our father is, since we are his children. He's also our chief executive, and so too, we hope his priorities align with our particular hopes for the Church. First signs of this always feel encouraging, and as far as I can tell, there are many encouraging first signs about the kind of pope Leo will be.

But let's be honest: there's a lot of confirmation bias going on! Seizing every bit of information we can find to confirm the thesis that he is the kind of pope we want. Again, a totally human reaction, if a bit naive. Don't get me wrong, I hope it's all true! It makes sense to want to be edified by him and to be led well by him — to find evidence that our hopes will not be in vain.

On a human level, we’ll need months if not years to make an assessment of the kind of pope he is — again, God willing, a great one! But we know the most important thing about this Pope already: that we have a pope, and he is him, who is the vicar of Christ the Good Shepherd.

The office is more important than the man, though it is right and fitting that the man fills the office well. But what is most important is what that office means, regardless of whether he does fill it well: by the gift of Peter's office, Christ is present to His flock in a manifest way, an extension of His Incarnation.

Christ is the Head of the Church, her Shepherd; and her ordained ministers, starting with the pope, are only His vicars. They represent Him and remind us that Christ is leading His Church and will never abandon her. So too, the pope reminds us that we have a Heavenly Father, who cares for us always.

We hope and we should pray that Pope Leo fittingly fills that role as Christ's vicar. But his authority begins and ends inasmuch as he faithfully makes present the Good Shepherd and brings our focus back to Him.

This is why the authority of the Church is fundamentally only a manifestation of the authority of God's Word. The Petrine Office, a principal part of that authority given to the apostles, cannot add to the Word or change it, even if it can and should help us accept the Word and understand it and follow it better.

Because Christ does not want us to be misled by human weakness, that office has clear limits. As Christ has promised, the specific character of the papal office, with all its limits, cannot impede or contravene (let alone surpass) the work that Christ does as the Head of the Church, even if at times we may be tempted to think so.

But it also means, with the great potential the office carries, that the pope can do great good, not by taking the place of Christ the Head, but by leading us to follow more closely the one Good Shepherd, keeping our eyes fixed on Him, how He is calling us and leading us.

So for all the understandable excitement over our new Holy Father, about the man filling the office, let us not forget to rejoice and give thanks for what Pope Leo should most remind us of, the faithfulness and care of Christ our Head and Shepherd: who has given us the Truth by His Word, who leads the Church even through her human weakness and sinful members, who through her living and incarnate ministers, and most of all in the Liturgy, comes to us as we need to encounter Him, in Flesh and Blood, Speaking and Listening, Present and Active.

Thank you Jesus for never leaving us, for always being with us in your Word and Sacraments! Thank you for the gift of the Comforter and Advocate, whose presence and power, thanks to your visible Church, above all in the Liturgy, we can hear and feel and see, all ways by which you show your love and care for us!

Heavenly Father, bless your vicar, Leo, that he may faithfully fill and carry out the precious office that your Son established in Peter. May he be for us a truly Holy Father, and lead us closer to you!