From Leo XIII to Leo XIV

by Fr. Earl A. P. Valdez

file image and photos from Vatican News

Fr. Earl A. P. Valdez reflects on the inspiration and direction of our new pope.

Pope Leo XIII

The life of Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci hovered around social extremes. On one hand, as a noble-born Italian’s priestly formation prepared him for the “higher offices” in the Catholic Church, particularly on diplomacy and law. His expertise led him toward becoming the Papal Nuncio to Belgium at a young age of thirty-three.

On the other hand, this was just a small portion of what made up his priesthood. In his days as a student of the Roman College (now the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome), he assisted in overseeing hospitals and tending to the needs of the sick when cholera broke out. 

This is only the beginning of his various charitable and diplomatic works in the favor of the poor, particularly in his defense of workers against the rule of aristocrats and organizations like the Mafia in the states of Benevento and Spoleto, where he worked as Papal Administrator. As a bishop, he opened up banks and charitable institutions that favor the poor and are attentive to their social conditions.

It was not a surprise, therefore, that during his time as Pope Leo XIII, his encyclical Rerum Novarum addressed the conditions of the people with whom he worked, eventually redirecting the attention and effort of the Church to the new forms of poverty that emerged at the turn of the century. With the Gospel as her guide and inspiration, the Church responded to these changing social conditions not only by critiquing ideologies (especially the extremes of market capitalism and Marxism of its time), but also renewing the commitment toward taking care of the needs of people whose lives were greatly affected by the Industrial Revolution. 

Simply put, it is doing what Christ did in His time, which the Church faithfully follows and carries out given the conditions of this era.

Pope Leo XIV

It is this same spirit that Robert Francis Cardinal Prevost highlighted when he became Leo XIV. He clearly sees that we experience a revolution similar to that of the turn of the 20th century, and the Church needs to pay particular attention to it. And in this regard, two particular concerns are relevant. First, the emergence of artificial intelligence ushers a new way of thinking about technology, human relationships, labor, and everyday life. Second, and on a related note, the emergence of global conflicts resolved not through dialogue but armed conflicts leads to the displacement and loss of life among innocent civilians.

He highlights these two conditions within the Church’s continuing reflection on its being synodal, and in the spirit of the Tradition in which She leaves and breathes, learning lessons from the past in order to move forward with Her mission to evangelize in many different ways and forms. With this, one can say that the Church moves closer to the world and becomes more attentive to the increasingly complex realities of God’s people.

His awareness of the work that he does, however, makes me say that the Church is indeed in good hands with Leo XIV. Beneath the papa americano memes, his first months have shown us that his papacy is defined more by his experience in Peru as a bishop for and with the people, especially when he is known to visit the poorest of the poor in their shanties and dilapidated houses. His leadership is defined less by the political atmosphere of his hometown and more by his accumulated experience as a superior of the Order of St. Augustine, especially in administrative experience as General of the Order two decades ago. 

Continuing Pope Francis' Legacy

But more importantly, one can see in the Pope this desire to continue what his predecessor Francis has started, especially in our continuing work on synodality and the ongoing renewal of the clergy, consecrated persons, and the laity.

More than just these surface speculations surrounding the use of the papal mozzetta and stole, the return of his residence at the Apostolic Palace, and his decision to take his summer break at Castel Gandolfo in the midst of a heat wave in central Europe as a break from the late Pope Francis’s leadership, one must enter and understand more deeply to see that Pope Leo XIV actually remains faithful to the desires and intentions that his predecessor has publicly expressed. 

One must note that the first words of Leo XIV, after blessing the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square with the peace of Christ, concerns the need of the Church to walk together, explicitly quoting Francis. And like the previous Pontiff, his first request to the people is to pray for Him as he begins His exercise of His office as the Bishop of Rome. And in his subsequent speeches, he quotes Francis’ words next to his spiritual father and master, St. Augustine. 

That does not stop there, however, for he continued to implement the reform of the Curia following Praedicate Evangelium, the Apostolic Constitution which served as the beginning of this long reform; and related to that, he continued the series of appointing trusted and skilled people who can execute and lead other reforms. The celebration of the Jubilee year went on as Pope Francis has planned, and one can say that Pope Leo XIV celebrated it in the way that he deems fit and proper for the many groups that have come to Rome here. 

Holding on to Tradition

In other words, Pope Leo XIV continues in his own way what Pope Francis started, not breaking from what his predecessor started but continuing it with his own personal touch and creativity. And I believe that this is a genuine exercise of holding on to the Church’s Tradition (with a capital T!). It is neither holding on to an idealized past nor moving forward without any discernment; rather, it is a perspective that brings together looking back into the past in order to creatively move forward, responding to the challenges of the present by drawing from the rich treasure of teachings and experience developed in the past. 

And in this regard, one can say that Pope Leo XIV is the Pontiff that we need in our time, in the same way that we did with his predecessors. And with how he took the name Leo seriously, we believe that He can lead us and walk with us as we face the crucial issues and challenges of our times which would drastically change our everyday lives as we walk “by faith, and not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7). 

*Fr. Earl A. P. Valdez is a priest of the Archdiocese of Manila and resident-priest of the Pontificio Collegio Filippino in Rome, currently pursuing further studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University.