Thinking about Pope Leo XIV, I began thinking as well about the history of church leadership and the papacy.

In my life time so far there have been seven popes: Pius XII (1939 to 1958), John XXIII (1958 to 1963), Paul VI (1963 to 1978), John Paul I (26 August 1978 to 33 days later), John Paul II (1978 to 2005), Benedict XVI (2005 to 2013), and Francis (2013 to 2025).

Now, we are all starting to watch Robert Francis Prevost, born in U.S.A., who has begun a new papal administration as Pope Leo XIV. We do not know yet of course what impact he will have on the Catholic Church. I hope he will move it forward in a non authoritarian style, so important and necessary today, in a world disfigured by powerful but ignorant authoritarianism.

Thinking about early Christianity, the very beginning was in Jerusalem. After the death and Resurrection of Jesus, the first Christian community in Jerusalem, as Paul wrote in Galatians 1:19, was under the leadership of James, the brother of Jesus.

Within ten years after Jesus, Christianity had already begun to spread throughout the Roman Empire, northwards to Antioch, where Peter the Apostle had a leadership role among Hebrew Christians, and on to Ephesus, Corinth and Thessalonica, under the leadership of the Apostle Paul.

Paul, originally known as Saul of Tarsus, was a sophisticated Greek-speaking rabbi who, unlike Jesus’ early disciples, was himself a Roman citizen. Called the “Apostle to the Gentiles,” Paul became an enthusiastic supporter of non-Hebrew Christians. He insisted that the life and death of Jesus not only fulfilled the Hebrew Law and the Prophets but made sense of the world and offered reconciliation and peace with God for the whole human race, not just Hebrews.

The Apostle Peter and his wife certainly belonged to the group of young men and women, most in their late teens or early twenties, who were Jesus’ close disciples. Peter was the first Bishop of Antioch, Today’s city of Antakya Turkey lies in its place.

In the early development of Christianity, Antioch played a pivotal role. It was in Antioch that followers of Jesus were first called “Christians”. The city’s significant Hebrew Christian population fostered the growth of a diverse Christian community, attracting missionaries and becoming a major center for early church life

The early Christian community in Rome was governed not by a bishop but a group of elders: what today we would call a steering committee. At some point Peter may have been a member of this committee. Historians really do not know for certain. But neither Peter nor Paul brought Christianity to Rome. Before they arrived, there were already Christian elders and house churches in Rome, with close ties to James and the Jerusalem Christian community. Peter was martyred in Rome during Emperor Nero’s persecution of Christians, which started in 64 CE right after the Great Fire of Rome. Historians put Peter’s death as well as Paul’s death between 64 and 68 CE.

Some contemporary biblical scholars and historians have raised questions about Peter’s leadership in Rome. The American Catholic priests and biblical scholars, Raymond Brown (1928 –1998) and John P. Meier (1942 – 2022), for example, assert in their book Antioch and Rome: New Testament Cradles of Christianity, (Paulist Press 1983), that Peter was never a bishop of Rome. They wrote: “There is no serious proof that he (Peter) was the bishop, or local ecclesiastical officer, of the Roman church: a claim not made till the third century.”

Long after Peter’s death, the Christian community in Rome did come under the leadership of a single bishop. The bishops of Rome were strongly supported by Emperor Constantine (c.272-337), who needed Christianity to unify his empire. Thanks to Constantine and the religious devotion of his mother Helena, many legends and suppositions about Peter developed in third and fourth century Rome. Constantine built a church — now called “Old St. Peter’s Basilica” — over what was believed to be a burial site with Peter’s bones. Old St. Peter’s Basilica stood, from the 4th to 16th centuries, where St. Peter’s Basilica stands today in Vatican City.

When the Roman Empire began to clearly fall apart in 376, the Bishop of Rome, called “pope” (from the Latin word for “father” papa) began to exercise more civil authority. Then when the Western Roman Empire finally collapsed in 476, the pope took over the clothing, pomp, and ritual of the Roman Emperors. The papal title became Pontifex Maximus — “Supreme Pontiff” — a title that earlier had been held by the Roman Emperors.

The first great acclamation of “Peter as a pope,” did not come, however, until the fifth century. Pope Leo I, pope from 440 CE until 461 CE and known as “Leo the Great,” had a major impact on the development of the belief that the first pope had been Peter the Apostle. The belief was based on Pope Leo’s personal devotion and beliefs about Peter. But Pope Leo I is best known for his meeting with Attila the Hun in 452 and persuading him to turn back from his invasion of Italy.

Well, there have now been more than two hundred and sixty bishops of Rome. Some were kind and benevolent men of faith. Others were crafty, not so devoutly religious, and self-centered authoritarians.

There are, however, two medieval popes whom I particularly appreciate, because of their connection with my alma mater the Catholic University of Leuven. The first is Pope Martin V (1417 to 1431), who on December 9,1425 founded the Catholic University of Leuven. These days we are still celebrating our university’s six hundredth anniversary.

The other is Pope Adrian VI (1522-1523). Born in the Dutch city of Utrecht on March 2, 1459, as Adriaan Florensz Boeyens, he studied at our Catholic University of Leuven where he was ordained a priest and became, successively, professor of theology, chancellor, and rector of the university. Adrian was chosen pope on January 9, 1522. The only Dutchman to become pope, he was the last non-Italian pope until the Polish John Paul II, 455 years later. Being a reform-minded foreigner, Pope Adrian VI was not well-liked in Rome. His efforts at reform proved fruitless, as they were resisted by most of his contemporaries. Nor did he live long enough to see his efforts through to their conclusion.

After one year, eight months, and six days as pope, Adrian died on September 14, 1523. He had bequeathed his Leuven property to the Catholic University of Leuven. To this day it is known as the Pope’s College. A place I know very well!

And now we observe and watch the first American-born pope. I hope he will be a courageous leader, who not only says wonderful things but does wonderful things. As I wrote a couple weeks ago, I hope Pope Leo XIV will promote women’s ordination, support LGBTQIA+ people, and show a genuine openness to contemporary theological exploration and doctrinal change and development.

Jack

Dr. John A. Dick – Historical Theologian

 

PS: As I have often done this time of the year, I will be on R&R until the end of June.

I appreciate the supportive comments from readers over the past months. You keep me going.

This summer, my wife and I celebrate our 55^th wedding anniversary. In June I also hope to make progress on a new book, but more about that later.

Around the globe, contemporary authoritarian regimes have become more effective at circumventing the norms and institutions meant to support basic human liberties. Even in countries with long-established democracies, authoritarian forces are distorting national politics to promote hatred, violence, and unbridled power.

Authoritarianism uses and abuses people. It destroys human freedom to think, to act, and to live. It manipulates people and eliminates the “undesirables.”

The historical Jesus stressed that human greatness is based on compassion and service. His use of authority was to motivate people and to heal, support, and call to conversion. Jesus did not use authority to control people but to empower them.

Contemporary cultural change and human migration make some people anxious and fearful. They feel threatened. They neither hear nor understand the words of the American author Emma Lazarus (1849-1887) inscribed on the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Instead, they prefer to build their walls, to protect “us against them.” In ignorance, fear, and anxiety they surrender to the exaggerated rhetoric and growing influence of authoritarian leaders. 

Authoritarianism is becoming a contemporary leadership problem. “Leaders” who should be trusted for wisdom, intelligence, and humanitarian service are becoming hard-nosed autocrats, surrendering to the psychological and mental disorder of authoritarianism.

Honesty and integrity are being replaced by self-promoting deceit and dishonesty. Self-centered authoritarians are self-stroking and self-promoting. Life for them boils down to what one can get and what one can get away with. Life for them, is jungle warfare in a world of lazy and evil “losers.”

Creeping authoritarianism is becoming a destructive and sinister social virus that shows itself in increased racial violence, increased anti-Semitism, extreme political and social polarization, and the rise of militant Neo-Nazi groups.

Authoritarian “leaders” can only succeed because because authoritarian followers applaud and support them. 

Much more so than the average person, authoritarian followers go through life with impaired thinking. Their reasoning is often sloppy and based on prejudiced beliefs and a fierce dogmatism, that rejects evidence and logic. 

Cognitive defects in authoritarian followers enable them to follow any would-be dictator. As Hitler reportedly said, “What good fortune for those in power that people do not think.”

So, what does one do?

• Well, we must first acknowledge that authoritarian followers are extremely resistant to change. The more one learns about authoritarianism, the more one realizes how difficult it will be to reach people who are so ferociously aggressive and fiercely defensive. Polarization is now extreme and deeply rooted.
• We need to educate and, starting at home with little children, promote a balanced education: (1) handing on authentic information, (2) teaching people where to find correct information, and (3) giving people the skills to be well-informed critical thinkers.
• Our Christian communities, more than ever, must become, in the Spirit of Christ, compassionate gatherings of multicultural, multi-ethnic, and all-gender, supportive friends.
• We need to courageously speak out and we need to help other people courageously speak out.
• If something is wrong or untrue, people need to strongly and clearly say that it is wrong or untrue. 
• Those who courageously speak out need the support of friends gathered around them. Going alone is increasingly difficult if not impossible in our cyber-linked world.
• We need to be on guard, as well, that we do not become promoters of polarization and vicious partisanship. We need to learn how to work together for the common good. 
• As Jesus said in Matthew (chapter 12): “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.”

Jack

Dr. John A. Dick – Historical Theologian

 

 

According to SNOPES, the Pope Leo XIV quotation I used yesterday to conclude my Another Voice reflection about the new Pope is FALSE.

Very sorry about this

 

Jack

POPE LEO XIV

Robert Francis Prevost was born on September 14, 1955, at Mercy Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. His mother, Mildred (née Martínez) Prevost, graduated from DePaul University with a bachelor’s degree in library science in 1947, while his father, Louis Marius Prevost, was a United States Navy veteran of World War II and superintendent of Brookwood School District 167 in Glenwood, Illinois.

Robert Prevost has two older brothers, Louis and John. His father was born to immigrants from Italy and France, while his mother was the daughter of the Haitian-born mixed-race landowner Joseph Martínez and the New Orleans-born Louise Baquiet), a mixed-race Black Creole.

Raised in Dolton, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, Prevost grew up in the parish of St. Mary of the Assumption, where he went to elementary school, sang in the choir, and served as an altar boy. He was known as “Bob” or “Rob” in childhood and to friends. He completed his high school education at St. Augustine Seminary High School, a minor seminary in Holland, Michigan, in 1973. He consistently appeared on the honor roll, served as yearbook editor-in-chief, secretary of the student council, and a member of the National Honor Society.

Prevost’s brother John, who lives in the Chicago area, says that Robert aspired to the priesthood from a young age. In September 1977, Robert joined the Order of Saint Augustine as a novice, at Immaculate Conception Church in the Compton Heights neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. He took his first vows in September 1978 and solemn vows in August 1981.

Prevost earned a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in mathematics from Villanova University, an Augustinian university in Pennsylvania. He obtained a Master of Divinity (MDiv) from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago in 1982, also serving as a physics and math teacher at St. Rita of Cascia High School in Chicago during his studies.

In Rome, on June 19, 1982, Robert Prevost was ordained a priest by my friend Archbishop Jean Jadot, about whom I wrote the book Jean Jadot: Paul’s Man in Washington.

Fr. Prevost then earned a Licentiate of Canon Law in 1984, followed by a Doctor of Canon Law degree in 1987 from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome. Known as the Angelicum, the Dominican university embraces academic freedom, but its traditional Thomistic philosophy has given it a generally conservative orientation. Prevost’s doctoral thesis was titled “The Role of the Local Prior in the Order of Saint Augustine.”

In 1987, after obtaining his doctorate in church law, Robert Prevost was appointed vocation director and missions director for the Augustinian Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel in Olympia Fields, Illinois. Shortly thereafter he went to Peru in 1988.

In Peru Prevost spent a decade heading the Augustinian seminary in Trujillo, Peru, teaching canon law in the diocesan seminary, serving as prefect of studies, acting as a judge in the regional ecclesiastical court, and working in parish ministry in the city’s outskirts.

 On November 3, 2014, Pope Francis appointed Prevost to be the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru. Then on September 26, 2015, he appointed bishop of Chiclayo. Following a diplomatic treaty, Prevost had to become a naturalized Peruvian citizen before becoming bishop. (U.S. citizens can hold citizenship in other countries without losing their U.S. citizenship.)

Within the Episcopal Conference of Peru, Bishop Prevost served on the conference’s permanent council (2018–2020) and was elected president of its Commission for Education and Culture in 2019. He had a private audience with Pope Francis on March 1, 2021, which created much speculation about a new role for him in Chicago or Rome.

In Peru he criticized the political leadership for supporting inhumane political movements. He backed the 2018 campaign led by the Peruvian bishops against pardoning former terrorists. During his time at Chiclayo, however, Prevost was accused of covering up sexual abuse. In 2022, women who had been victims of abuse in 2007 by two priests, said Prevost had failed to investigate their case. The Diocese of Chiclayo, however, said that Prevost had followed proper procedures. In 2024, the victims stated that no full penal canonical investigation occurred, and an article from América Televisión agreed with them that the church’s investigation was not thorough.

In statements to the newspaper La República, Prevost said: “If you are a victim of sexual abuse by a priest, report it.” Journalist Pedro Salinas, who investigated and exposed crimes committed by members of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae highlighted that Prevost always expressed his support for the victims and was one of the most reliable clerical authorities in Peru. The lay society, founded in the 1971 in Lima, Peru, was suppressed by the Vatican in April 2025, following the scandal of abuse and corruption alleged against some of its leaders.

CARDINAL PREVOST: On September 30, 2023, Bishop Robert Prevost was created a cardinal. He played a critical role in evaluating and recommending episcopal candidates worldwide, increasing his visibility within the Catholic Church. In this role, he recommended that the arch conservative U.S. bishop and strong critic of Pope Francis, Joseph Strickland, be removed from his office as bishop of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, in November 2023.

Before the 2025 papal conclave, Prevost was considered a dark horse compared to more prominent candidates. But he was known to be a friend of Pope Francis and a possible compromise candidate. His American nationality was thought to be a stumbling block to his candidacy. Supporters argued that he represented a “dignified middle of the road” candidate.

At 18:08 Central European Time on May 8, 2025, in the fourth round of voting, on the second day of the conclave, Prevost was elected pope, thereby becoming the first American and first Peruvian pope. The day after his election, on May 9, Pope Leo XIV presided at his first Mass as pope in the Sistine Chapel before the assembled College of Cardinals. During the Mass, he spoke of a Church that would act as a “beacon that illuminates the dark nights of this world.”

Taking the name Leo, the new pope was expressing his esteem for Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903). The earlier Pope Leo, who was pope from 1878 to 1903, was the father of modern Catholic social teaching. He called for the church to address social and economic issues, and emphasized the dignity of individuals, the common good, community, and taking care of marginalized individuals. In the midst of the Gilded Age, when America and much of Europe shifted from an agricultural society to an industrial one, Leo XIII defended the rights of workers and said that the church had not just the duty to speak about justice and fairness, but also the responsibility to make sure they happened. He is best remembered for his famous 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum (“Of New Things”).

But it is also important to remember that Pope Leo XIII was theologically conservative. He emphasized, for example, the authority of the Church and kept very traditional views about the role of women and their place in the Church.

I am happy to see an American-born pope.But we do need to observe and see who he is and what he is doing. As we move ahead, the big questions for me are what Pope Leo XIV will do about women’s ordination, support for LGBTQIA+ people, and a genuine openness to contemporary theological exploration and doctrinal change and development.

In any event, I conclude this week’s reflection with hopeful words from the new Bishop of Rome:

I don’t come to offer you perfect faith.

I come to tell you that faith is a walk with stones, puddles, and unexpected hugs.

I’m not asking you to believe in everything.

I’m asking you not to close the door. Give a chance to the God who waits for you without judgment.

I’m just a priest who saw God in the smile of a woman who lost her son… and yet she cooked for others. That changed me.

So if you’re broken, if you don’t believe, if you’re tired of the lies…

come anyway. With your anger, your doubt, your dirty backpack.

No one here will ask you for a VIP card. Because this Church, as long as I breathe, will be a home for the homeless, and a rest for the weary.”

 

Jack

Dr. John A. Dick – Historical Theologian

 

 

 

During my “Easter vacation” I did a lot of thinking about God. Ok, not so unusual for an old theologian. But I re-read an excellent book by my friend William Joseph An Evolutionary Biography of God. The focus of his book is to arrive at a mature and adult understanding of God that can equip us to flourish in the twenty-first century. I strongly recommend it.

Perspectives on God are important. In Genesis, first book of the Hebrew Bible, we read that God created humanity “in God’s own image.” (Genesis 1:27) But periodically over the years, some people have re-made their image of God in their own image and likeness.

I don’t understand God as a vindictive and hard-nosed authoritarian: a God who even had to have his own Son brutally sacrificed. Did God really want and demand that Jesus suffer terrible torture and death on the cross? In the New Testament, such an understanding of God does not resonate with the historical Jesus’ understanding of God, as his loving Father. A loving parent does not demand the torturous suffering and death of a son or daughter.

Unfortunately, some medieval Christian theologians did have distorted authoritarian notions about God, and they passed them on to future generations. Anselm (1033 – 1109) of Canterbury is a good example. He was a theologian and the Archbishop of Canterbury for sixteen years. Unfortunately, Anselm did not have a very benevolent understanding of God. He saw God as a nard-nosed judge and stern taskmaster. 

Anselm believed that human sin and human disobedience to God, going back to the Adam and Eve account, had defrauded God of the honor that God was due. That offense to God’s honor had to be compensated for and repaired. God, Anselm said, could only be satisfied by having a being of infinite greatness, God’s very own Son, acting as a human, repay the debt owed to God and thereby satisfy the injury to God’s honor. In other words, God would only be happy when God’s own Son was tortured and suffered a cruel death. Strange. What an image of God.

Anselm was made a “saint” and unfortunately many later Christians inherited Anselm’s theological distortions about Jesus and about God. Catholic theology called it the “Satisfaction Theory of Atonement.”

Anselm’s vision of God was distorted. Jesus and early Christians clearly understood God as loving and kind. That is essential. That is where we begin. As my Nijmegen theological mentor, the Belgian Catholic theologian Edward Schillebeeckx (1914 – 2009), often said: “Christianity began with an experience, an encounter with Jesus of Nazareth, which caused people to discover new meaning and to direct their lives in a new direction.” That new meaning and direction was anchored in forgiveness, compassion, mutual support, and collaboration.

Today, unlike “back then,” we are very empirical. Some contemporary people, who should read William Joseph’s book, still suggest that “science and God do not connect.” In fact, however, there have been notable scientists of the 20th century, like Albert Einstein (1879-1955), Max Planck (1858-1947, Max Born (1882-1970, and others, who were very open to an understanding of God in their concepts of life, the universe, and human beings.

The Anglo-American mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) developed a metaphysical creativity framework for his scientific study. He suggested that God’s own process of continually emerging into reality serves as the “divine lure” that guides and sustains everything else in creation. 

The American philosopher Charles Hartshorn (1897 – 2000) and the American  theologians Bernard M. Loomer (1912 – 1985), longtime Dean of the University of Chicago Divinity School, and David Ray Griffin (1939-2022), who co-founded the Center for Process Studies at the Claremont School of Theology, paved the way to what would become know as “process theology.” They understood God as omnipresent and immanent in such a way as to be intricately related to and bound up with a continually evolving creation. Many process thinkers argue that the French Jesuit Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881 – 1955) should be included among process theologians. Many contemporary Protestant and Catholic theologians resonate with “process theology.”

Our earth, our universe, and humanity are very much in process: still evolving. I see natural disasters as part of our earth in process but also very much a part of human responsibility or irresponsibility. Climate change, for instance, is our responsibility. Earthquakes and tsunamis are often part of our earth still in process. Although, even with earthquakes, we now know some have had human origins. A database created by geophysicists at Durham and Newcastle Universities in the United Kingdom, has tracked down 730 cases of human-made earthquakes over the last 150 years. The primary causes have been mining, heavy water locked behind reservoir dams, and conventional oil and gas extraction.

So where does prayer fit into this process perspective? The clear message of the Incarnation is that the Divine Presence is here, with us, and with all of creation. God is not simply “out there” in some far-off realm.

Over the centuries, the understanding of prayer has often been somewhat narrow. Too often people have seen prayer as just an action, a behavior, a recitation, or participating in a gathering where God and Jesus are mentioned. In all religious traditions there are indeed people who appear to say lots of prayers and yet live very self-centered lives rooted in hatred, racism, and even terrorism.

Prayer first of all refers to an inner state, a state of consciousness, a loving union with God. I do pray. In good times and bad times. In prayer I express my concern for family members and friends who are going through difficult days. In my prayer I try, as well, to travel faithfully with the loving God, even when I don’t understand the twists and turns in life: in the lives of my friends, and in my own life. And I realize that my understanding of God is very incomplete. My understanding is still in development, in process, even though I know so very well all the classic God doctrines.

The Jesuit philosopher and theologian Karl Rahner (1904 – 1984) stressed that people do not come to know God by solving doctrinal conundrums, proving God’s existence or engaging in an abstruse metaphysical quest. Rahner stressed the importance of Divine mystery as very simply an aspect of our humanity.

Sometimes we must simply live that Mystery, with openness and calm reflection. Sometimes we limit ourselves, relying too much on just rational knowing. That Mystery, which defies description, is God. Religious doctrines can never totally explain or define that Mystery.They are simply symbolic or analogous pointers toward God. When people focus only on the pointers, however, they really miss the point.

Contemporary theologians really do have to ask how we can develop better pointers towards God. We need pointers anchored in all the complex realities and needs of our time, enabling people to believe and deal with human suffering with serenity and courage. Many of us learned about God at about the same time we also learned about the Easter Bunny. As we grew in awareness, our understanding of the Easter Bunny phenomenon evolved and matured. But for many people their religious belief has remained somewhat static and adolescent. 

Divine revelation is not an event that happened once in the past. It is an ongoing and creative process that requires human perception and contemplation. Revelation is a part of reality. We are called to be open, alert, and contemplative. Faith means trust, commitment, and engagement. But too often it is mistakenly understood as an intellectual assent to ecclesiastical propositions.

Today, as science itself says there is so much we still don’t know. It is time perhaps to return to a theology that asserts less and is more open to mystery and calm and reflective exploration. This may not be easy for contemporary people so used to getting instant information with a click on a cellphone or checking their favorite website or social network.

The image of a domineering and controlling God is an archaic image. We journey today with a different and more of a traveling-companion God, even if we struggle with descriptive words about God. “No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” (1 John 4:12) The true and essential work of all religions, but especially Christianity, is to help us recognize the divine image in everyone and everything.

My concluding reflection this week comes from the priest and theologian Ronald Rohlheiser OMI, a friend who also completed his doctorate at the Catholic University of Leuven: “God lies inside us, deep inside, but in a way that’s almost non-existent, almost unfelt, largely unnoticed, and easily ignored. However, while that presence is never overpowering, it has within it a gentle, unremitting imperative, a compulsion towards something higher, which invites us to draw upon it. And, if we do draw upon it, it gushes up in us in an infinite stream that instructs us, nurtures us, and fills us with endless energy.”

• Jack

Dr. John A. Dick – Historical Theologian