Understanding Pope Leo, Bit by Bit, by Phil Lawler

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture, Jun 06, 2025

Phil Lawler has been a Catholic journalist for more than 30 years. He has edited several Catholic magazines and written eight books. Founder of Catholic World News, he is the news director and lead analyst at CatholicCulture.org

In this first month of his pontificate, Leo XIV has already provided us with many indications of what we can expect from his leadership. Those Catholics (and non-Catholics) who hoped for dramatic change will probably be disappointed. On balance, that’s a good thing.

When the conclave began, some Catholics were hoping for one sort of dramatic change: a quick reversal of the radical policies wrought by Pope Francis. Others wanted the opposite: an acceleration down that same path of radical change. To this day, a few diehards on each side are still latching onto fragments of the Pope’s talks, or details of his gestures, to claim that their wishes will now come true. But by now any objective observer knows they are wrong.

The wish-fulfillment stories that still circulate on social media are evidence of an unhealthy sort of preoccupation with the papacy: viewing it as a political office. In a democracy, if “our” man wins the election, we expect him to institute the policies that will please us. But the Church is not a democracy, and the primary responsibility of the Pope is not to please us. …

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