Two days ago, Gianluigi invited me to return to write a DM when the white smoke rose from the Vatican, and the world had a new pope. So here I am. First, let me thank GG for the fine contributions he is making to the DM.
Regarding the new pope, let me say first that, like many others, I am very surprised that he was elected as fast as he was, and that he is from the United States. He has only lived in the US 1/3 of his life, and is a unique blend of North and South America and of the wealthy and poorer world. The diocese where he lived and worked in Peru was particularly poor. He has taken strong stands on behalf of migrants, and in both of these matters one can expect a great continuity with Pope Francis.
Though he is also well versed in the ways and personalities of the Vatican, he has been a cardinal only for two years, so he is not overly rooted in the ways of that bureaucracy. Which is surely a blessing.
He has led the Dicastery for Bishops for two years, the group that advises the pope on bishop appointments around the world—this mean he is well known among the hierarchy. In a recent interview at Vatican News he said: “We are often worried about teaching doctrine, but we risk forgetting that our first duty is to communicate the beauty and joy of knowing Jesus.” So he clearly leans to a pastoral and not dogmatic direction, similar to the papacy of Pope Francis, whom he invoked several times in his first appearance as the new pope.
He was born in Chicago in 1955, and graduated from Villanova University in Pennsylvania (which is also the alma mater of my father who also grew up in Chicago). I have lectured there and published in their theological journal. He is a member of the Augustinian order, as Pope Francis was a member of the Jesuit order. My father was very indebted to the Augustinians: he attended their high school, Saint Rita’s, and credited them with steering him to a responsible life after growing up a very angry young man. When Dad learned I was considering entering the Dominicans ,he proposed that I consider the Augustinians. But I told him, “Dad, you owe them, but I don’t.”
Augustinians, it is said, seek a “balance of love and learning.”
Pope Leo XIV holds dual citizenship in the US and Peru. His choice of name is quite a surprise, but significant I think. Pope Leo XIII is famous for his support of unions and working people. His encyclicals in the late 19th century emphasized social justice. I think that may hold an important clue to the new pope’s priorities, just as the name choice from Pope Francis held a big clue to his papacy. This pope received his doctorate at the Angelicum in Rome, which is a Dominican theological University.
People who know this new Pope, say he is very friendly, affable, and down to earth. He went to Peru at the age of 30, taught in the diocesan seminary, and pastored a parish on the outskirts of the city of Trujillo. Elected to head the Chicago-based province of Augustinians in 1999, two years later he became prior general of the whole order, which he led until 2013. While based in Rome, he visited 50 countries where Augustinians live and work. In 2015, Francis named him bishop of Chiclayo in northern Peru, until he came to the Roman curia in 2023. He dealt with the notorious case of Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, and helped remove him in 2023.
So this pope is familiar with governing issues, but champions Francis’s priorities about the pastoral work of the church. It is interesting that in his first papal talk, he spoke of “building bridges” and of “peace,” and of how “God loves all.” At 69 years of age, he is young as recent popes go.
One wishes him well as a very visible spokesperson for values that the world at large can agree on.
See Matthew Fox, Letters to Pope Francis: Building a Church with Justice and Compassion.
And Fox, A New Reformation: Creation Spirituality and the Transformation of Christianity.
And Fox, A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice.
And Fox, Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth.
And Fox, “Searching for the Authentically Human: Images of Soul in Meister Eckhart and Teresa of Avila,” in Francis A. Eigo, OSA, ed., Dimensions of Contemporary Spirituality: Proceedings of the Theology Institute of Villanova University, Villanova University Press, 1982.
Banner Image: “Habemus papam!” White smoke arises from the Vatican, announcing that a new Pope has been selected. Photo by Rappler on Flickr.
Queries for Contemplation
What do you feel is the pope’s main job in the world at large these days? What qualities do you want to see in a pope beginning May, 2025? Did you find that Pope Francis was an ally in your spiritual life and work?
Recommended Reading
Matthew Fox challenges the new Pope to live up to the promise of his namesake St. Francis and reshape a church that has been mired in corruption and bereft of authentic spirituality and rigorous theological debate. Former Dominican priest Matthew Fox presents a series of heartfelt letters to his brother in Christ about the great challenges facing the church today, drawing from the deep spiritual and theological sources that have been suppressed since Vatican II, and implores him to restore the sensus fidelium (the sense of the faithful) and reshape a church with justice and compassion.
A New Reformation: Creation Spirituality & The Transformation of Christianity
A modern-day theologian’s call for the radical transformation of Christianity that will allow us to move once again from the hollow trappings of organized religion to genuine spirituality. A New Reformation echoes the Reformation initiated by Martin Luther in 1517 and offers a new vision of Christianity that values the Earth, honors the feminine, and respects science and deep ecumenism.
“This is a deep and forceful book….With prophetic insight, Matthew Fox reveals what has corrupted religion in the West and the therapy for its healing.” ~Bruce Chilton, author of Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice
In A Spirituality Named Compassion, Matthew Fox delivers a profound exploration of the meaning and practice of compassion. Establishing a spirituality for the future that promises personal, social, and global healing, Fox marries mysticism with social justice, leading the way toward a gentler and more ecological spirituality and an acceptance of our interdependence which is the substratum of all compassionate activity.
“Well worth our deepest consideration…Puts compassion into its proper focus after centuries of neglect.” –The Catholic Register
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth
Fox’s spirituality weds the healing and liberation found in North American Creation Spirituality and in South American Liberation Theology. Creation Spirituality challenges readers of every religious and political persuasion to unite in a new vision through which we learn to honor the earth and the people who inhabit it as the gift of a good and just Creator.
“A watershed theological work that offers a common ground for religious seekers and activists of all stripes.” — Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice.
“I am reading Liberating Gifts for the People of the Earth by Matt Fox. He is one that fills my heart and mind for new life in spite of so much that is violent in our world.” ~ Sister Dorothy Stang.
