An American has been chosen the new pope. The election of the Chicago-born Robert Francis Prevost as the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics signals a change in the church that is more cardinal than symbolic. The first North American pope to follow the first Latin American one underscores the church’s shifting power centre and offers hope for further diversification. A lot will depend on how Pope Leo XIV, as he will be known, chooses to lead his flock. He can build on the progressive legacy of his predecessor, or chart a new course to create a legacy of his own. He even has the option to return the church to its conservative ways, which would gladden those within the community who were not in tune with Pope Francis’s changes.
Pope Leo’s key task would be to deal with the Catholic church’s contentious legacy of sexual abuse. He needs to quickly understand the scope of the problem as well as the pain and anger of the survivors. His approach, especially towards protecting the vulnerable, will be under scrutiny. He will also be required to strengthen unity within the church, which passed through a period of intense polarisation under two successive popes who represented the opposing ends of the spectrum. In India, he has the job of maintaining the unity of the Kerala-based Syro-Malabar Church, where two factions are bitterly split over ways to conduct the holy mass.
The world will also be watching how Pope Leo approaches LGBTQ+ rights. Pope Francis was more inclusive of the community than any pontiff before him, but did not change the official doctrine. Better representation for women is another key demand that needs to be addressed adequately. The new pope would also be expected to offer a calming hand on global conflicts and direct the church on the divisive issues of migration and the climate crisis. Within the Vatican, governance issues and deteriorating finances need fixing. When he was a cardinal in the US, Pope Leo criticised the Trump administration’s immigration policy and disagreed with the vice president’s interpretation of a Christian doctrine. If that is an indication of what may follow, there is reason to hope he would continue broadly along the course Pope Francis struck through these rough seas.