Is It Possible For Pope Leo XIV To Make A Difference?

Eternal salvation exists in a supernatural world. Where does that leave Life on Earth? What do Augustinians believe?

"The least American of the American Cardinals."

Thank you, Jesus.

There he is, Rev. Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, meets Pope John Paul II in 1982.

If you can, recall the world in 1981 and compare it to today. Forget about the stock market, President Trump, and gadgets for a moment, and ask yourself if the world is in better shape now than it was then.

The global Catholic population has increased since 1981; however, the percentage of Catholics has decreased in some regions, particularly in the Western world. In the United States, for example, the rate of adults who identify as Catholic has declined since 2007, though it has been relatively stable since 2014.

The global Catholic population has been steadily increasing, but some regional differences exist. The international Catholic population reached nearly 1.4 billion in 2023, representing a 1.15% increase from the previous year. However, the Catholic population in Europe declined by almost half a million in 2022, though this was offset by growth in other regions.

As of recent estimates, the global population includes approximately 1.8 to 2 billion Muslims, making Islam the second-largest religion worldwide. Protestants, a major branch of Christianity, have between 600 million and 1.1 billion adherents globally. There are approximately 220 to 260 million Orthodox Christians worldwide. Hinduism, the third-largest religion, has around 1.2 billion followers, primarily concentrated in India and Nepal. Buddhism, the fourth-largest religion, has approximately 500 million followers. Estimates for atheists, those who do not believe in God or gods, vary significantly depending on the study and how "atheist" is defined. Still, recent figures suggest a range of around 450 to 750 million people worldwide. What of Scientologists, Unification Church, Animists, Pantheists, Wiccans, Satanists, Neoliberals, Communists, Socialists, etc.? We are all faithful to something.

Are Catholics any less energy blind or overshoot blind than the rest of the population? Can Catholics comprehend the limits to growth that our current socioeconomic system overlooks? Besides saving souls and maintaining the wealth and power of the Church, what else are they doing to make the world a better place and stave off the destruction of civilization and Life on Earth, or mitigate the most painful and horrific consequences of global collapse? Do Catholics have real agency and power in the Real World?

God may love us, but surely ecocide and genocide are evil things? I hope Catholics will continually educate themselves about physics and biology and imagine a socioeconomic system that is less destructive than ours. Is that even possible with 8 billion energy-hungry consumers in the world? Will Catholics fight for all Life, or remain human-centric and forget about what sustains and nourishes all of us?

I was happy that Pope Francis seemed to care about social justice, inequality, global heating, and the environment, but what did he and the Church accomplish during his Papacy?

Prayer can't hurt, but we need to do something to address the polycrisis and improve our institutional leaders' moral and ethical intelligence, not to mention their understanding of fundamental physics and biology. For this, we need a cultural transformation. Can the Church be a part of that?

Can the Church reform its business practices, address its internal contradictions and failures, and become an example of the values it purports to represent?

Pope Leo XIV is an Augustinian who favours the transcendent over the mundane. Will we let Life on Earth be destroyed while we aspire to everlasting existence in a supernatural realm?

One wonders why God chose to become human. Was "man" made in God's image, or man's Big God, made in man's image? And what about original sin and predestination?

Since the torture and death of Joshua, the world of civilized people has remained a violent place. What is the utility of the Devil, Satan, fallen Angels, demons, and the like to a Church that espouses universal love?

Can we learn anything from people outside the Church, or must they all be converted in the hierarchy of supremacies through which war, prejudice, and the seven deadly sins are made manifest in society? What is the origin of the pathology of evil if not the human heart and mind? What are the preconditions necessary to develop these pathologies? What are their roots?

I hope the U.S. Americans will stop the jingoistic USA, USA, nonsense, and pray that Pope Leo XIV is a compassionate leader with a grasp on reality.

“He’s not a showboat kind of person.”

“He is a calm person who is not a careerist, is not just seeking a promotion, but someone who’s there to serve.”

“There’s a way of thinking that’s not the same way of thinking in other parts of the world, so that’s one thing I caution Americans to think: He’s not an American pope, he’s a pope who happened to be born in the United States.”

John Prevost said he thinks his brother, Pope Leo XIV, “will be a second Pope Francis.”

“I think he’ll follow right in his footsteps working for the underprivileged.”

Dear Lord, let's hope so. No other leader in the world seems to care about such things. Our leaders worship Mammon.

But will moral and spiritual leadership be enough to stop the madness of a world without limits, where billions fantasise about terraforming Mars and eternity in heaven while watching the world burn?

He was the “least American” of the American cardinals: Prevost was born in Chicago. But inside the Vatican, where he eventually lived and worked, he was considered the “least American” of the US cardinals.

He was well regarded by Pope Francis: The late pontiff “respected him and thought of him very highly,” according to CNN’s Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb. “Clearly Pope Francis saw in him something – he saw him as a capable leader.”

He’s a member of the Augustinian order: Leo is a member of the Augustinian religious order, which is spread across the world. He led the order for more than a decade as its prior general.

He has strong leadership experience: Francis appointed Prevost to be the prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, which is in charge of assessing bishop candidates and making recommendations for new appointments. He also served as the president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

He has a missionary focus: “I still consider myself a missionary. My vocation, like that of every Christian, is to be a missionary, to proclaim the Gospel wherever one is,” Prevost said in an interview with Vatican News shortly after he moved into his leadership role in Rome.

I pray Catholics will wake up and confront reality. If God loves humans, God loves slime mold just as much. It could not be otherwise.