POPE LEO XIV: THE DEEP DISH

Yes, that's right, the new Pope is from Chicago.

After the shocking elections of Pope Benedict and Pope Francis, I’ve come to the belief that when trying to figure out who will be elected next, you should consider what is the most unlikely option, and start there.

Cardinal Ratzinger had been one of the most divisive figures in the Church. Francis was a Jesuit. And now we get Robert Prevost, an American Augustinian from the south suburbs of Chicago, at a time when the U.S. is even more than usual at the center of everything going on in the world, and not in a good way.

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

The story of how a group of 135 cardinals from all over the world, most of whom I have to believe absolutely detest the policies of the current U.S. government and its leader/human-sized mouth, agreed to elect an American, is something we’re going to hear unfold in a million accounts over the next few weeks, months, and years.

But here are three things we know already. He was in charge of the congregation that picks bishops. That’s not to say he was the one picking all the bishops around the world, but he oversaw the committee that received all the recommendations about new bishops, and then decided.

Which means, like Ratzinger, he was someone that everyone coming to the conclave would have known, and probably known pretty well. And, given the fact that they elected him, I’m also going to assume they thought he did his job well. They liked the bishops he and the committee gave them.

Also, while he is from Chicago and went to Villanova (if you’re not Catholic and/or into it, good luck living in the Windy City or Philadelphia for the next few years), he spent a lot of time in Peru and in Rome. He’s actually a Peruvian citizen, and the Latin American bishops really think of him as one of their own.

So sure, he is an American—but he’s an American in the actual sense of the word, i.e. a person of the land mass that goes from the northernmost reaches of Canada to the southern tip of Chile.

Lastly, he’s 69. So someone with hopefully a good number of years of energy left, but not someone who the church is likely to be trapped with for 20, 30 years.

THE SECRET SAUCE: RELIGIOUS LIFE?

33 of the 135 Cardinals who were eligible to vote this week were members of religous congregations, like the Jesuits, the Franciscans, or Prevost’s own order, the Augustinians.

That’s not to say they would ever vote as a bloc (although who knows). But they might have some things in common that might have helped propel Prevost forward. When your life is built around a community, you have to think in terms of consensus-building and fitting in. Big personalities can be entertaining, even an asset, but careerism and self-promotion often are looked at with skepticism and distrust.

From what I’ve heard, Prevost is soft-spoken, a behind the scenes guy generally. Along with everything else, that might have made him more compelling to those cardinals.

WHY LEO XIV?

Again, we’re no doubt going to hear lots about this in the coming days and weeks. But the most obvious thing to note is that Leo XIII (above)was that he wrote Rerum Novarum, an encyclical defending the rights of workers. That document has become the foundational document of the church’s teaching on social justice.

I would say that name is suggesting a strong continuity with Francis when it comes to speaking out on behalf of the rights of people and the needs of the poor, and the church’s mission as inherently social and political, in the streets as well as in the pews.

A WORDSMITH’S SPEECH

I could not for the life of me find a feed where they were translating the new Pope Leo’s speech. Which was okay. I got lots of “warm, gentle vibes.”

But the NY Times quickly posted the translation. It’s INTERESTING.

Consider the first four paragraphs.

Peace be with you all!

Dearest brothers and sisters, this is the first greeting of the Risen Christ, the good shepherd who laid down his life for the flock of God. I, too, would like this greeting of peace to enter your hearts, to reach your families, all people, wherever they may be, all peoples, the whole earth. Peace be with you!

This is the peace of the Risen Christ, a disarmed peace and a disarming peace, humble and persevering. It comes from God, the God who loves us all unconditionally. We still hold in our ears that weak but always courageous voice of Pope Francis blessing Rome! The Pope who blessed Rome gave his blessing to the world, to the whole world, that morning of Easter Sunday.

Allow me to follow up on that same blessing: God loves us, God loves you all, and evil will not prevail! We are all in God’s hands. Therefore, without fear, united hand in hand with God and with each other, let us move forward. We are disciples of Christ. Christ precedes us. The world needs his light. Humanity needs Him as the bridge to be reached by God and his love. Help us too, then each other, to build bridges, with dialogue, with encounter, uniting all of us to be one people always at peace. Thank you, Pope Francis!

He calls the peace of the Risen Christ “a disarmed and disarming peace”. And he suggests the mission of all Catholics is to be bridge builders and instruments of peace. “We want to be a synodal Church,” he says near the end, “a Church that walks together, a Church that always seeks peace, that always seeks charity, that always tries to be close especially to those who suffer.”

In the past when bishops and popes have talked about the evangelizing mission of the church, they’ve limited it to what I might ecclesial procreation. Catholics are supposed to go out and talk about Jesus so that there will be more Catholics. But here we’re seeing something more than that, a mission to build bridges and peace in the world.

I also love the fact that he named a pretty prominent fear in a lot of people’s lives right now, that evil is winning the day. And he called people to turn their eyes away from that and to God: “God loves us, God loves you all, and evil will not prevail! We are all in God’s hands. Therefore, without fear, united hand in hand with God and with each other, let us move forward.” That to me speaks of someone who sees the bigger picture of reality right now, and wants the church to be a source of hope and new life.

It was also very heeartening that he mentioned “that weak but always courageous voice of Pope Francis blessing Rome” that we still “hold in our ears”. Those are lovely words—he seems like someone who loves language. And once again, they suggest someone who sees beyond the moment to a bigger picture. We only just had Francis with us. His voice still echoes in our midst, and will for a while.

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THINGS TO BE READY FOR

• Lots of argument about the virtues of deep dish pizza (absolutely not kidding);

• The possibility of rioting within the city limits about whether the Pope is a Cubs or White Sox fan;

• Wisconsinites* talking about the first FIB pope, and maybe questions about how good a driver the Pope is;

• Conservatives freaking out: Prevost is definitely not what right wingers were hoping for, and sources I have say they have already been trying to spin stories about abuse coverup in Prevost’s diocese of Peru, despite victims themselves praising him as one of the few bishops that listened;

• Overall, a lot of American triumphalism, which is a bummer, but probably unavoidable. To see people waving American flags in St. Peter’s Square right now actually turns my stomach.

*Thanks to the Wisconsin friend who immediately questioned the term “Wisconsonites". The misspelling alone…

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OTHER TAKEAWAYS

• This conclave might have been even faster than the ones that elected Benedict or Francis. Everyone was wondering, how fast will a group of cardinals who largely don’t know each other be able to work? Turns out, pretty fast.

• Has there ever been a marching band segment to the papal announcement program before? I don’t remember one. It was defintely giving St. Peter’s Half Time Show vibes. I was desperate for Janet Jackson to jump out and dance “Rhythm Nation” with the Swiss Guard.

• I don’t know who this If Dr. Seuss Created a Cardinal guy is, but he was definitely living for the long pause he gave before he announced the new pope.

  

• Prevost did his M.Div. at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. It’s a wonderful school with excellent faculty. I’m thrilled that they can now brag, We trained a pope.

• Prevost’s dad was a school superintendent in Chicago Heights and his mom was a librarian; school teachers, adminstrators, and librarians, Huzzah!

• Has there ever been a pope who we got to see crying? It’s kind of wonderful.

  

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FINAL THOUGHT: DEBORAH MOVES IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS

Honestly, my head is spinning. As with Francis or Benedict, there are so many layers to unpack, so many angles to it all. I had forgotten Prevost was from Chicago when the news first hit. That alone is just mind boggling. (If you noticed, Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich was right up front on the balcony before the announcement, whch seemed weird. That’s got to be why. He was basically giving the whole thing away.)

I wonder how people in other parts of the world are taking this news. I can’t imagine many are thrilled to see an American in the job. And who knows what the current U.S. President/Angry Pumpkin will try to do as a result of it all.

I’m actually even a litle sad that this poor guy had to dispense with his actual name and take on this whole other persona. Not to get too Irish, but it’s almost like someone else also died. (This could just be me as a Chicagoan feeling like Chicagoans should never have to change their name.)

As I was looking through photos, this one really struck me. It’s kind of a trope for new popes to be shot like this at first from a distance, and with the drapes hanging above.

But it’s also an interesting choice in that it ends up making the pope seem kind of small. Yes, he’s at the center, but there’s all that empty space above him. And Prevost, unlike Bergoglio, also chose to wear something that doesn’t pop so much. He looks like part of the group. (Which probably says a lot about him.)

I think it all suggests that there’s so much more to all this, that even this new Pope Leo is just a piece of something so much bigger and still to come.

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Thanks to all those who have joined me on the wild ride of the last few weeks. Hope it’s been of help.