As was the case with the lead-up to the conclaves of 2005 and 2013, the lead-up to the most recent conclave saw numerous ‘celebrities’, ‘experts’ and ‘religious commentators’ pontificate (pun intended) on what the next pope should do. Invariably, their refrain was that the Catholic Church needs a leader who ‘will bring the Church in line with the times’, especially on issues such as the ordination of women, LGBT rights and climate change.

Aside from the irony of hearing these commentators, who by and large aren’t Catholic, or if they are Catholic, are lapsed, tell the Church – and by that I mean not only the organisation, but also its faithful – how it should be run and what it should believe, it demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of the Church’s mission, which is not a political, but a religious one, to preach the Gospel to all nations (St Matthew xxviii 19-20). Jesus Himself told Pilate: ‘My kingdom is not of this world’ (St John xviii 36).

Accordingly, the Church’s mission is counter-cultural. Christianity cannot be moulded to be more ‘relevant’ to the world. While the Church must be inclusive, those who come must be willing to change and jettison those things that prevent them turning towards God. As St Paul in his Letter to the Galatians (i 10) reminds us, ‘Am I now seeking the approval of men, or of God? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.’

Which brings me to the election of the 267th Vicar of Christ, Pope Leo XIV.

As has often occurred in the last two thousand years, this conclave has elected a compromise candidate.

However, what the Church needs most now is a lion, not a politician. As Tess Livingstone put it: ‘[T]he spiritual, pastoral, and practical leadership challenges awaiting the new pope will demand intellect, courage, and a huge heart.’

The Church left by Pope Francis is divided, facing a financial crisis and suffering a loss of international respect following its dreadful agreement with the Chinese Communist party.

This is where former Cardinal Robert Prevost’s choice of name is interesting when one considers previous popes who have taken the name of the lion in the Church’s history. The two most well-known faced divisions within the Church and challenges from without.

Pope St Leo I, the Great, reigned from 440 to 461 AD. During this time, the belief emerged in the Eastern Church that Christ was not both human and divine, but only divine, threatening a schism. The Council of Chalcedon was convened to settle the matter, and Leo wrote a letter setting out so authoritatively the Church’s teaching on Christ’s dual nature that the Eastern Catholic bishops accepted it with the famous statement: ‘Peter has spoken through Leo.’

In 452, Leo met Attila the Hun at the foot of the Alps and persuaded him to spare Italy. Three years later he convinced the Vandal leader Genseric not to subject Rome to fire and slaughter.

Leo XIII enjoyed one of the longest reigns in papal history (1878 to 1903). His most famous encyclical, Rerum Novarum, upheld the rights of the working classes. However, while calling out unrestrained capitalism, Leo XIII also recognised the evils of Marxism. As a defence to outside threats against the Church, he commissioned the St Michael Archangel prayer to be recited after Mass. He revived the theology of St Thomas Aquinas in not only the training of priests but also education.

So, will Leo XIV bring normality and orthodoxy back to the Catholic Church after the tumultuous Francis papacy, or continue along the catastrophic ‘Synodal path’ of his predecessor?

The signs are contradictory.

A native of Chicago who joined the Order of St Augustine, one of the Church’s greatest theologians and saints, and became its Prior General for 12 years, he spent many years as a missionary in Peru, eventually being made bishop of the diocese of Chiclayo there, before being called to Rome and in 2023 appointed to head the Dicastery of Bishops by Pope Francis.

During this time, he was instrumental in removing a much-loved conservative bishop, Joseph Strickland, from the diocese of Tyler, Texas, no doubt because of Strickland’s criticisms of Papa Bergoglio regarding ‘Synodality’, his courting of the LGBT lobby and restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass, among other things.

Cardinal Prevost, as he then was, made several statements supporting Synodality and was also very vocal on Twitter/X against President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance (himself a practising Catholic) over their crackdown on illegal immigration.

However, he once told journalists, ‘The promotion of gender ideology is confusing, because it seeks to create genders that don’t exist.’

In his first words from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, the new pope restated his support for ‘a Synodal Church’ and declared that, ‘We must seek together how to be a missionary Church, a Church that builds bridges, dialogue, always open to receive.’

While the Church must not forget its mission to the poor and the marginalised, if Pope Leo XIV wishes to build bridges, regardless of his liturgical preference, he would heal deep hurt and divisions by lifting restrictions on the 1,500-year-old Traditional Latin Mass, which has attracted a strong, counter-cultural following, especially among young people.

In fact, a recent report by the UK Bible Society showed increased turning of Gen Z Catholics towards traditional Catholicism. The US is demonstrating similar trends.

Moreover, surely Leo XIV would recall that, at the last US presidential election, Catholics overwhelmingly voted, not for the nominally Catholic but pro-abortion Joe Biden, but for Trump?

In his homily during the Mass in the Sistine Chapel for the College of Cardinals the day after his election, Leo XIV alluded to the Church’s counter-cultural mission by speaking of ‘a world that considers Jesus a completely insignificant person, at best someone with an unusual and striking way of speaking and acting. And so, once His presence becomes irksome because of His demands for honesty and His stern moral requirements, this “world” will not hesitate to reject and eliminate Him.’

Viva il Papa? Let’s wait and see what he does. In the meantime, in the words of Cardinals Robert Sarah and Raymond Burke ‘We pray fervently for Leo XIV!’