By Robert Moynihan
Pope Francis’s active attention to the issue of global migration is monumentally expressed in the placement of this sculptural group in St. Peter’s Square.
In recent weeks, Leo has spoken out more than in his first weeks as Pope, sometimes raising eyebrows, and sparking sharp criticism:
1) In the summer, he granted his first lengthy interview to a Vatican press corps journalist (Elise Allen of Crux, wife of John Allen, founder of Crux). In these hours of interviews, Pope Leo set forth his position on many contentious issues, sometimes taking more conservative or «traditional» positions, other times in a seemingly more «progressive» way, leaving many observers uncertain about where Leo really would take his stand.
2) More recently, Leo spoke out on the decision of Chicago Cardinal-Archbishop Blase Cupich’s controversial decision to honor Senator Richard Durbin, D.-Illinois, with a «lifetime service» award, a decision condemned by 10 US bishops (Senator Durbin decided to withdraw himself from consideration for the award).
Here is a portion of a September 30 account of this controversy by Catholic News Agency writers Valentina Di Donato and Madalaine Elhabbal:
“Several U.S. bishops condemned Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich’s plans to honor U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Illinois, with a ‘lifetime achievement award’ for his work surrounding immigration policy despite his pro-abortion voting record.
“’I am not terribly familiar with the particular case. I think it’s important to look at the overall work that a senator has done during, if I’m not mistaken, in 40 years of service in the United States Senate,’» the Pope told reporters on Tuesday in response to a question from EWTN News.
“He said: ‘I understand the difficulty and the tensions. But I think as I myself have spoken in the past, it’s important to look at many issues that are related to the teachings of the Church.’
“’Someone who says I’m against abortion but is in favor of the death penalty is not really pro-life,’ the Pope explained. ‘Someone who says I’m against abortion but I’m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States’ — I don’t know if that’s pro-life.”
3) Still more recently, on October 8, Leo spoke out on the immigration policies of U.S. President Donald Trump.
According to a Daily Beast report on the matter, citing a Reuters report:
“Pope Leo has escalated his growing feud with the Trump administration, instructing U.S. bishops to take a stronger public stand against the president’s hardline immigration policies, according to Reuters.
“Meeting a delegation of bishops and social workers from the U.S.-Mexico border at the Vatican on Wednesday [October 7], the first American-born Pope urged them to ‘speak strongly’ on behalf of migrants and refugees affected by Trump’s deportation drive.”
A Pope at the Crossroads
So, some watching Leo, both inside and outside of the Church, are applauding him… and some, both inside and outside of the Church, are criticizing, even condemning him.
Many are now saying that they finally have the measure of the man, this new Pope, Leo XIV, elected on May 8, just about six months ago, as of November 1.
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On October 9, Leo published his 1st Apostolic Exhortation, Dilexi Te, on love for the poor (see related story on page 26).
The text is actually dated October 4, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.
The first words, Dilexi te (“I have loved you”) are the words of Jesus Christ to the Church in Philadelphia in Asia Minor, in Chapter 3 of the Book of Revelation, verse 9 — the very last book of the Bible… the Book of the Apocalypse…
In the English Standard Version:
9 Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.
10 Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.)
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This is the first major document of Leo’s pontificate.
And many are saying that it makes very clear, now, who Leo is, and where he intends to lead the Church.
In issuing this text as his 1st magisterial teaching, Leo has revealed his vision for his pontificate: a vision, he says, which seeks to enter into the very heart of God, “who is always concerned for the needs of his children, especially those in greatest need” — those in poverty, misery and oppression.
Thus, Leo as Pope is and will be concerned for the poor of our world.
He writes: “On the wounded faces of the poor, we see the suffering of the innocent and, therefore, the suffering of Christ himself.”
Then, Leo notes that some sharply criticize this vision:
“The fact that some dismiss or ridicule charitable works, as if they were an obsession on the part of a few and not the burning heart of the Church’s mission, convinces me of the need to go back and re-read the Gospel, lest we risk replacing it with the wisdom of this world.”
These are sharp words.
Demanding words.
He adds:
“The poor cannot be neglected if we are to remain within the great current of the Church’s life that has its source in the Gospel and bears fruit in every time and place.”
“Leo Laid Bare”
One of the most perceptive analyses of the Pope’s text is by Gavin Ashenden of Great Britain, a convert from the Anglican Church, who for a time was the chaplain of the Queen of England, Elizabeth; he wrote on his Substack, “New English Catholic,” an October 10 article titled, “Leo Laid Bare: Progressive Head and Catholic Heart.” Here is a short excerpt:
“So, now, after Dilexit Te, we know.
”Two steps to the left when it comes to, firstly, immigration, and secondly, politics and economics; and one to the right — sex and morals; and a sort of probable semi-benign neutral hovering on the Latin Mass so far.
“People are often compartmentalized, of course. It’s sometimes described as ‘bi-lateral identity,’ but in the case of a Pope, politics and faith may be a matter of the head and the heart.
[…]
“After the appalling car-crash with reporters where he defended Cupich’s award to Durkin the Democrat senator, and made that highly offensive equivalence between immigration and abortion, it was becoming clear that Pope Leo had leftish political instincts.
“But, unlike Pope Francis, he seemed willing to own the traditional clothes of the papacy and was relaxed with Latin in the liturgy.
“I wondered if what we had was a Pope with a politically progressive head and a Catholic heart?…
“How much of a Catholic heart we still have to discover…”
Leo Issues his Call
So here we are…
Pope Leo is issuing his call… and he has set his course: to embrace and announce the “burning heart of the Church’s mission” — to care for the needs of all God’s children, but especially those children in poverty, misery, despair, and hopelessness — to give hope especially to the hopeless.
How many Catholics will follow Leo in this vision?
And how fervently will they follow, in the present political and social circumstances of our world?
This is what many are now wondering in Rome…
