What Outcome Should We Want From the Papal Election? by Dr. Jeff Mirus

By Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture, May 02, 2025

Jeffrey Mirus holds a Ph.D. in intellectual history from Princeton University. A co-founder of Christendom College, he also pioneered Catholic Internet services. He is the founder of Trinity Communications and CatholicCulture.org. 

It is surprisingly hard to know what to wish for in a new pope. Mostly, I suppose, we tend to wish for a successor to St. Peter who shares our own spiritual priorities. But in view of our own weaknesses, it is fair for others to ask how well that is likely to work out. One of the larger and more important problems we face is our inability to project whether the Church is on the verge of a fresh and powerful renewal or is likely to experience many additional years of erosion—increasing restrictions on Catholic expression coupled with widespread infidelity, resulting in decreasing numbers wherever that combination holds sway.

The main thing I am convinced of is that we need a pope who does not confuse effective action with constant activity (such as constant discussion or increased turmoil). One of the great peculiarities of the last pontificate was its deliberate emphasis on what Pope Francis himself described from the first as his preference for making a mess—as if shaking things up in bizarre ways always leads to improvement. We have just lived through twelve years of this approach to governance, and the record is not positive. Consequently, I favor a pope who will understand the wisdom of the Sermon on the Mount: “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from the Evil One” (Mt 5:37). …

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