Let’s start with the important stuff, like the coat-of-arms and motto. ‘Cause I like that stuff.
Here is the coat-of-arms of Pope Leo XIV. His motto is “In Illo Uno Unum”, which from the elegance you know is from St. Augustine. Indeed it is, from en. ps. 127. I’ll write separated about that.
The arms bear a Marian lily of purity and the symbol of the Augustinians, the arrow-pierced burning heart on the book, for Augustine is a Doctor of the Church. It is simple. That is good.
That Augustinian symbol is so familiar to me, since I studied in Rome at the Patristic Institute “Augustinianum” (while Prevost was there… and his classmate was president).
His name. He told the cardinals that he wanted to affirm the path that the Church took with the Second Vatican Council, underscoring certain elements that both Benedict and Francis emphasized. Hence he took the name Leo, calling to Leo XIII, and the social teaching of the Church. Perhaps it is only coincidence that Leo XIII’s family had intimate dealings with Augustinians.
In that talk to Cardinals he mentioned AI. This is a big deal.
His pectoral cross, at least what he has now, has relics of Augustinian saints, including Augustine and Monica. I also have their relics in my chapel. That will help me with a sense of solidarity, I hope.
The Pope will live in the Apostolic Palace.
Just watch. Pretty Casa Santa Marta will return to being a “5 star hotel”.
Please, God, let the performative humility be at an end?
His theological background.
He has the coveted M.Div from the worst possible school in the worst possible years, Chicago Theological Union.
That doesn’t mean he is a heretic, like the instructors. However it doesn’t point to a profound foundation. It could be that he has done more on his own. However, his jobs have kept him busy.
My sources say that he believes and that he prays.
That’s a good start.
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In these early days, I can say I am cautiously cautious. I have seen several promising signs, but it’s also fair to say that those with whom I strongly disagree are quite happy Cardinal Prevost was elected. Hopefully, like Pius IX, Leo XIV takes a path many did not expect him to take.
I will be watching the appointments to the Curia. Do any change? Will any genuine traditionalists/conservatives receive jobs? Who replaces the new pope as the one charged with finding and selecting bishops? And much more down the road, will any conservative/traditional bishops be added to the College? After 12 years, there aren’t many left and several about close to 80.
As for the TLM, I hope it’s true the new pope is open to it. I worry many of the positive things I’ve read on Twitter came from one tweet and many have just repurposed it to make it their own. I’m glad Father Z has heard from his friends that the new pope is open to it just as I was that Damian Thompson said something similar.
If nothing else, the atmosphere coming from Rome feels much lighter now.
Any initial views from certain cardinalatial quarters would be welcomed, particularly given reports of pre-conclave tete-a-tetes.
I read that he also has a doctorate in canon law (JCD). That should lend itself to precision in his teaching.
By the way, Fr. Z, by your own reporting you also attended a bad seminary but you still turned out okay!
acard: Yes I started in a disasterous, hideous seminary, rife with heresy and sodomy and infidelity of all kinds. I am in no way kidding or exagerrating.
Leo XIV would have also risen up in a seriously compromised environment. In fact he went to CTU, which has been dreadful for a long time.
However, some men can get through those experiences, albeit with wounds, and still be clean on other side.
Sometimes I think about my US seminary time and the best comparison I can think of is crawling through the sewer of Shawshank Prison.
He even made chess pieces. Which I renew now for related issues.
Thank you acard for your goodness. I wish we could share a range again.
When I hear about these seminaries, and religious orders practicing witchcraft, etc., it breaks my heart.
And I used to wonder, why? Back when I was involved in witchcraft and various forms of debauchery, I was happy to attack Christianity from without, but the last thing I would have done is entered seminary or religious life, or even darken the door of a church except to desecrate it somehow.
But I quickly came to understand that the enemy knows it’s more effective to attack from within, and those under his influence can be led to do just that.
Also, I wasn’t a Christian or baptized back then, and it seems those attacking from within are usually people baptized and raised Catholic, so already “on the inside.” For the enemy to send some unbaptized heathen like me to enter the Church for nefarious purpose would be to risk my possible conversion. Little did he know God already had plans for me…
I agree with you, Father Z, that CTU is the worse school of theology. But not everyone graduating there is a bad priest. A good friend of mine, an orthodox Franciscan who is one of the most passionate defenders of Catholic doctrine and moral teachings you will ever see, graduated from CTU in the 1990s, though he admits it was a torture going there because of the heretical teachers and often immoral students. But God can take a good priest and bishop and pope from anywhere.
Search terms: prevost doctorate angelicum
AI overview:
Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who recently served as the Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and is considered a potential papal candidate, earned a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome. His doctoral thesis was titled “The office and authority of the local Prior in the Order of Saint Augustine”. He also holds a licentiate in canon law from the same institution.
[Appropriate disclaimer from the AI: AI responses may include mistakes.]
Chicago Theological Union the worst possible school? I can’t believe it to be any worse than Union Theological Seminary in NYC. In any event, exposure to such can turn a raging liberal into a faithful traditionally minded Roman Catholic. Take it from one who knows.
Frankly, I think CTU was worse.
Not that we have to have a Race To The Bottom!
The emphasis that our new Pope believes and prays, while reassuring, causes me to wonder: have we been led, then, in the last 12 years by someone / some people who do not (really) believe or pray? Have we been witnessing at the heart of the Churcha series of performative actions designed to deceive us?
I agree wholeheartedly with a comment Dr. Gavin Ashenden made regarding the death of Francis…. like an oppression had been lifted, something akin to a bad headache or toothache, was finally over. This morning I felt a sense of hopefulness with respect to Pope Leo XIV- it was very welcome.