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Perhaps the most astounding fact about the election of Pope Leo XIV is not his nationality but the speed with which our New Zealand Cardinal John Dew and his brothers elected him.

It’s hard not to accept this evidence of unity as an answer to prayer and a sign of divine intervention.

In less than two days the 133 cardinals representing every geographical and theological perspective and periphery reached a two-thirds majority to elect Robert Prevost who has taken the name Pope Leo XIV.

In recent times popes have been a respected and consistent voice for the poor and marginalised, especially since the nineteenth century Pope Leo XIII after whom the new pope has chosen to be named.

From temporal to real power

The thirteenth Leo who died in office in 1903 was the first pope who was not the ruler of a large geographical territory since the Papal States had been dissolved in 1870. This marked a radical shift for the church and a necessary opportunity to move away from secular measures of success by returning the Church to the humble-pilgrim mission of Jesus Christ.

In the words of his most-quoted encyclical (on the rights of workers in 1891) Leo emphasised that “It has come to pass that working people have been surrendered, isolated and helpless, to the hardheartedness of employers and the greed of unchecked competition”.

These words, a direct criticism of the domineering political and faux-religious classes, have been echoed in our time in Pope Francis’ consistent cry for the Church to hear the voice of God speaking through every person of good will.

Synodality – listening for the Spirit in every person

The lasting legacy of Francis may be his call for a Synodal Church highlighted in the 2021-2024 Synod on Synodality. The New Zealand contribution to this dialogue collated responses from individuals and groups across Aotearoa evidencing enthusiastic participation and communicating hope. The final New Zealand document celebrated: “The diversity in the Church has become more evident to many through the synodal process, and people have become more comfortable with diversity, because we are journeying in the beauty of the diversity of our Church, which creates a unity in our focus on Jesus.”

This synodal approach is not new for the Church but across the centuries has too often been reduced and even abandoned when priests, bishops and popes model their leadership after earthly kings and presidents instead of imitating the ministry and method of Jesus Christ who preferred to eat with outcasts and socialise with those who knew their sinfulness.

Such Christ-centred leadership is never a silent abandonment of responsibility but instead a visible and audible preferential option for those who express their human and spiritual need.

a new listening ear and courageous voice

A search through the social media accounts of the new Pope Leo show him to be another listening ear and courageous voice for those who are most vulnerable.

Leo XIV began his first homily yesterday, the day after his election, by proclaiming Jesus Christ as the centre: “You are the Christ the Son of the Living God”. Note that he is not speaking about Jesus but to and with Jesus quoting Peter the first pope who gave this answer in response to Jesus’ question to him: “who do you say I am?”

This is the ever-old and ever-new offering of Christian faith: God is not distant but present, accessible and available whenever we ask. As the new pope put it yesterday “In him, God, in order to make himself close and accessible to men and women, revealed himself to us in the trusting eyes of a child, in the lively mind of a young person and in the mature features of a human”.

The Church is called to be the community of those who live in this divine relationship as (Leo continues) “a beacon that illumines the dark nights of this world. And this, not so much through the magnificence of her structures or the grandeur of her buildings – like the monuments among which we find ourselves – but rather through the holiness of her members”.

the body of Christ

Perhaps in recent days with focus on Rome the institutional dimension of the Church has been disproportionately emphasised. Yes, the Catholic Church has a structural dimension, but its prime mission is not to thrive as an organisation but to mature as a living organism – the body of Christ visible and audible as much in Aotearoa as in Rome. – finding fulfilment not in rules and regulations but in personal and communal relationship with God.

This is the heart of Christian faith.

the bridge in an A.I. age

Pope Leo continued yesterday’s homily acknowledging that “there are many settings today in which the Christian faith is considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent. Settings where other securities are preferred, like technology, money, success, power, or pleasure…however lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society”.

To give the new pope the last word by quoting his first words after his election: “Humanity needs Christ as the bridge”

Around the world this week we share the prayer of Pope Leo XIV, that we might “help each other to build bridges, with dialogue, with meetings, uniting us all to be one people, always in peace.”