Hailing from the diocese furthest away from the Vatican — the Catholic Diocese of Dunedin — patriotic Kiwi representation is not something you pray for when thinking of a new pope.
But I must admit that when I saw the headline "America’s first pope", I thought "Oh dear". American representation was not something I had prayed for either.
Thankfully, Robert Prevost, or Pope Leo XIV, who chose a name rooted in social reform, is the least American out of all the Americans. This is a good thing.
We can expect a pope concerned with those on the margins, especially migrants and refugees, just like his predecessor. Prevost’s most recent post on social media shares criticism of United States President Donald Trump and his plans to deport migrants to El Salvador.
"Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?" the post says.
We can also expect a pope concerned with Jesus’ call to be peacemakers. "Peace be with you" were the first words uttered by the new Pontiff on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica.
The needs of the New Zealand church are far from the top of the agenda for any pope, and that is to be expected. We Catholics in Aotearoa make up about 0.4% of the 1.4billion baptised, and the church here does not face any issues that are unique to just New Zealand.
Tackling the sexual abuse crisis and the clericalism that allowed it to go on for so long will be a major task for Pope Leo XIV. Waves of young Catholics, including in New Zealand, are leaving the church in the 21st century, with many citing the church’s poor handling of the crisis as a major reason to leave.
Properly listening to survivors and addressing the church’s dark history is not just about reconciliation, it is also about keeping people in the pews.
For several of my friends growing up, the sexual abuse scandal in my own diocese was the final blow that caused them to lose faith in the 2000-year-old institution.
The new Chicago-born pontiff — the 266th pope after St Peter — has spent much of his priestly life in Peru, working as a teacher and missionary, and subsequently as the bishop of Chiclayo, in the Peru’s north. The new pope’s time outside of the US should be encouraging to Kiwis and those at the peripheries of the church and society.
Commentators expect Leo to continue Francis’ focus on synodality — meaning "journeying together" — which encouraged a decentralised and more democratic model of doing church. By appointing women into greater positions of power and engaging with voices from Tuvalu to Gaza, Francis shaped the Vatican into a place of global dialogue. Traditionally, it has been dominated by a select few European male voices.
The synodal path in New Zealand gave a place for regular and non-regular Sunday mass goers alike to participate in global church affairs. Despite being so far from Rome, major issues facing the Catholic church here are also being faced across the world. These include the need for deeper reflection on things like married priests, the role of women in the church and homosexuality; a greater concern for climate change and our increasingly polarised world, alongside engaging young people in the 21st century.
Trying to hold together the traditional and progressive sides of the church does not make one envious of Prevost’s new job. Before coming out on the balcony, the pope enters the Room of Tears in the Sistine Chapel to put on his new papal cassock for the first time. It is said here that popes realise the weight of being the most important religious leader in the world.
The name Leo is another thing to be optimistic about. For the past 500 years, it has been tradition that a new pope chooses a name after a previous pope or saint. The name elected typically signals what sort of papacy he would like to have — a reformer or traditionalist, someone quiet or charismatic.
The pope’s choice of name is a "direct recall of the social doctrine of the church and of the pope that initiated the modern social doctrine of the church", Matteo Bruni, the director of the Vatican press office, told reporters after the election of the new pope.
Prevost’s work in Peru not only fills me with optimism for his social concern, but also his concern for indigenous communities and the environment. Like Aotearoa and our Pacific neighbours, Peru has a turbulent past when it comes to the church’s relationship with its indigenous communities.
As Catholic services in te reo Maori become more common across New Zealand, I think we can expect to see a greater concern for indigenous voices at the top of the Catholic hierarchy with Leo XIV.
Leo is not the pope from the global south that many Kiwis would have wanted. Many Catholics, myself included, feel it would be nice to not just have old white men at the helm.
However, nor is he the traditionalist that many from the conservative camp would have liked. The appointment of Provost is undoubtedly going to upset the more conservative side of the faithful than the progressive.
If Francis is anything to go by, it is unlikely we will see Pope Leo XIV on the shores of Aotearoa anytime soon.
Francis preferred to visit nations like Myanmar, Bolivia, Iraq and South Sudan, where issues close to his heart — peace, inter-religious dialogue, refugees and climate change — were of major concern, although we can expect him to communicate well across the Catholic world — Prevost is a polyglot who speaks English, Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese and can read Latin and German.
— Timothy O’Farrell is a Catholic, writer and a communications specialist working for a Christian aid organisation.
