Leo XIV: Endings and beginnings

The Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica featured a series of symbols, all showing how Pope Leo XIV is somehow moving in great stride toward a definitive transition, one set to begin in earnest as soon as the Jubilee closes.

In particular, there are three small signs to consider.

The first: Leo XIV wanted to personally greet the people in the square before the night’s celebration and thank them.

It’s a gesture he loves to make, and one he has often done since becoming Pope. For the first time, however, the Pope wore the white sash with his episcopal coat of arms. Until now, the coat of arms had not appeared, and the circumstance had been interpreted by many as a practical sign of continuity with the Francis pontificate, and more precisely with the deconstruction of symbols that occurred under Pope Francis.

The fact that the sash with the embroidered coat of arms appeared, however, belies this narrative.

That the sash appeared on Christmas night, at the beginning of the end of the Holy Year opened by Pope Francis, is likewise telling.

The second sign lies in Leo XIV’s words.

His Christmas Eve homily had two peculiarities: it cited Benedict XVI’s last Christmas homily as pope and Pope Francis’s last Christmas homily.

In essence, Leo XIV was drawing on the legacy of both his predecessors, taking the best from both and seeking to harmonize them. But in doing so, he also signaled that he was a different pontiff, one who would not cast aside the good things of the past, but who would also have his own direction.

This is a different pontificate.

The third sign actually came occurred a few days earlier, in Leo’s Christmas greetings to the Roman Curia on December 22nd.

Pope Francis’s speeches to the Roman Curia were a long-awaited event because the Pope used them to lash out at the Curia. No one has forgotten his address on the fifteen illnesses of the Curia, followed by his address on the remedies for the Curia’s ills.

Leo XIV demonstrated from the outset, however, that he neither had nor intended to cultivate any inclination to attack those who work in the Vatican.

Indeed, he stated from the beginning that “popes come and go, the Curia remains,” demonstrating his appreciation for the work done behind the scenes by so many of them. The tone of his speech, therefore, was not accusatory.

Instead, Leo XIV highlighted a theme: communion. He concluded by asking that friendship also exist within the Roman Curia, and that enmity not be indulged in.

Leo XIV must manage a complex legacy from Pope Francis. The final part of the Francis pontificate, especially, had fueled bitterness within the Curia. At the same time, some of the Argentine Pope’s crucial insights had been lost sight of. This was nothing unusual in a pontificate that had nevertheless lasted a dozen very eventful years. Leo, therefore, found himself faced with the difficult task of rescuing those insights while avoiding the pitfalls, or rather, of healing the wounds while not condemning or repudiating his predecessor’s work wholesale..

He did so with caution, making some government decisions that overturned Francis’s decisions and at the same time, publishing the “suspended documents” left at the end of the Francis pontificate. With this caution, the Pope wanted to send a message: that he respects what came before, and that he truly has no intention of implementing a spoils system if everyone pulls in the same direction.

Leo XIV’s decision to continue talking about synodality is also a real signal in this regard: Leo makes it clear that he will listen to everyone, and that everyone will be given a voice. And, ultimately, this is precisely the purpose of the consistory of January 7-8.

On December 12, Leo XIV sent a letter to all the cardinals explaining the purpose of the consistory. The Pope listed four points in particular:

• a rereading of the apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium;
• a study of the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium, with a focus on the universal Church and the particular Church;
• synod and synodality as instruments of collaboration with the pontiff;
• an “in-depth theological, historical and pastoral reflection” on the liturgy, “to preserve the healthy tradition and yet open the way to legitimate progress,” to say it – as Leo did in his letter – with the words of the Vatican Council II’s constitution, Sacrosanctum Concilium, on the sacred liturgy.

These four themes are particularly indicative of Leo XIV’s trajectory.

The first two points concern Pope Francis’s programmatic text and the apostolic constitution that led to the Curia reform. On the one hand, Leo XIV does not want to lose the missionary impetus left by Pope Francis, even if the expression “an outgoing Church” has never yet emerged from his lips. The theme of mission, however, is central.

There is the need to harmonize the Francis-era reforms, because the structure of the Church cannot be solely missionary. There is a need for a center, and this is understood by those who, like the Pope, have been superior of a religious community with houses throughout the world.

Furthermore, Leo XIV reformulates the idea of synodality, defining it as a form of collaboration with the Pope, placing at its center the ideal communion he launched at the beginning of his pontificate.

This communion is also achieved through a pax theologica on issues such as the liturgy. This was the goal of Benedict XVI, who had liberalized the use of the ancient rite with the precise aim of fostering communion and cutting out extremist wings, namely those who viewed the liturgy as a tool to question the entire Second Vatican Council.

Leo XIV returns to the Council, but he seems fully committed to achieving pax theologica. which did not interest Pope Francis, who had restricted the use of the ancient rite, branding all those who approached it as backwardists.

Leo XIV’s approach will likely be middle-of-the-road.

Step by step, he has refocused all the symbols of his pontificate, without ever denying Francis; indeed, he has cited him more than anyone else in his speeches, allocutions, and homilies. There will likely be no major reversals in the Curia reform desired by Pope Francis: it would be complicated. But Leo has already demonstrated a willingness to make adjustments, and he is relying on the cardinals to approach the reform comprehensively.

The fact that he relies on cardinals also testifies to his synodal approach. Pope Francis had placed the Church in a state of permanent synod, but then a small council of cardinals was called to govern with him, a body that was never institutionalized but served as a means of consultation and transcended the entire college of cardinals.

Pope Francis also appreciated special occasions, such as meeting with the Jesuits in every country he visited. It’s not that Francis played favorites with groups of religious. Everyone was equal, but some were more equal than others.

Invoking synodality, Leo XIV also calls for greater participation by all. He does so according to a concept of shared responsibility, which the Pope defined as the “path of peace” in his Christmas morning homily.

The Holy Doors are beginning to close; the Holy Year promulgated by Pope Francis is coming to an end. But the doors are opening to a new pontificate, yet to be fully defined: Leo XIV’s.