Cementing Pope Francis's Institutional Legacy
New Appointments, and the Upcoming Synod Takes Shape
There has been a flurry of Vatican-related news over the past two weeks, including a number of key appointments by Pope Francis: on June 29, Francis blessed the palliums of 32 new archbishops appointed over the past year; on July 1, he appointed Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernández of La Plata, Argentina as the new prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith; on July 7, the names of the participants in the October Synod on Synodality were announced, some chosen by Francis, others by bishops’ conferences around the world; and on July 9, Francis announced that he will create 21 new cardinals at a consistory in September.
It seems clear that Pope Francis is thinking about his institutional legacy. Many of his appointments are relatively young, for example, and will likely hold positions of authority long after Francis’s death. The Synod on Synodality has the potential to initiate a revolution in how the Church conducts its affairs. And, as I discussed last week, the appointment of Fernández to the DDF likely signals a significant change in how that office functions.
I think it is fair to say that in the 2010s, Pope Francis staked out his theological legacy, or in other words made his mark on the teaching of the Church. In 2020, when many of us were working at home and largely staying indoors, I did an informal survey of the contents of a number of Catholic and ecumenical journals from about 2010 to what was then the present, early 2020. My reasons were partly idiosyncratic: my interests have evolved over the years, and I wanted to see if there were any articles related to my current interests in journals from earlier years that I had missed (because I wasn’t interested in those topics at that time!). But I also wanted to see if there were any noteworthy trends in theology over the past decade or so that stood out to me. (I guess this is what I did instead of learning how to bake obscure types of bread…)
I didn’t notice very many real trends or new movements, which I think is significant and maybe worth writing about in another post. But one trend I did note was the impact of Pope Francis’s teaching on the theological work that has been done since his election in 2013. There are three themes, in particular, that have had a deep influence on recent Catholic theology, none of which are very surprising:
Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’ has contributed to a growth in theological writing on environmental ethics, and environmental themes in theology more generally. Laudato Si’ is more than just an “environmental encyclical,” however; it offers a profound account of humankind’s place in the cosmos, and God’s role as the creator and vivifying Spirit of the cosmos and all the creatures in it. The encyclical has definitely spurred theological work building on these themes.
The two synods on the family in 2014 and 2015, and Francis’s 2016 apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, generated a great deal of controversy in Catholic circles, particularly regarding the issues of communion for the divorced and remarried and same-sex relationships. Amoris Laetitia has also inspired more serious theological work, not just focusing on the more controversial topics, but also considering its broader theology of the family and the Church’s outreach to families in difficult situations.
Although the Synod on Synodality and the ongoing synodal process were only first announced in early 2020, Pope Francis has spoken of the concept of “synodality” since the beginning of his pontificate. For example, the term appears in his 2013 apostolic letter Evangelium Gaudium (in par. 246), and in an address marking the fiftieth anniversary of the creation of the Synod of Bishops, he declared, “It is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the Church of the third millennium,” and he referred to synodality as “a constitutive element of the Church.” As I noted in my reflections on the Instrumentum Laboris produced for the upcoming Synod meeting, the International Theological Commission produced a document on synodality in 2018, based on discussions that had begun as early as 2014. Theologians have also taken on the theme of synodality in the pages of academic journals, with attention to the topic obviously growing in more recent years.
I don’t have space here to highlight the work of specific theologians focusing on these three themes, although that could certainly be the subject of a later newsletter feature, or even a more extensive scholarly work, if someone else is up to it. And of course, theologians have also tackled other topics stemming from Pope Francis’s papacy, but these are the three aspects of his magisterial teaching that have generated the most attention among theologians.
Perhaps this is too artificial a schema, but in contrast to this building of a theological legacy in the 2010s, in the 2020s Pope Francis has focused on his institutional legacy. Let’s look at the news stories mentioned earlier to see how each tells us something about this institutional legacy.
Although the blessing of palliums may be the least significant event mentioned above—after all, the pope appoints new bishops and archbishops all the time—it is emblematic of Pope Francis’s impact on the worldwide episcopacy. Among those present at the event were recently-appointed prelates in Toronto, Madrid, Brussels, Buenos Aires, and Tegucigalpa. Each of these recently-appointed archbishops is also under the age of 60. Over the years, Pope Francis has appointed leaders sympathetic to his pastoral style to key episcopal positions. He has also promoted bishops who have served in the “peripheries.” For example, Jorge García Cuerva, the new Archbishop of Buenos Aires, previously served as the Bishop of Río Gallegos, quite literally at the peripheries—the diocese includes the islands of Tierra del Fuego, one of the southernmost points in the world outside of Antarctica. He had previously served as a priest in some of the poorest neighborhoods in various cities in Argentina.
I wrote about the significance of Archbishop Fernández’s appointment to lead the DDF last week, but the appointment also highlights what is probably one of the two most lasting institutional reforms of Francis’s papacy (the other being the Synod on Synodality): the reform of the Curia. This reform was instituted in 2022 through the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium. Most readers are probably familiar with the dicastery’s prior incarnation, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), and some may even remember the Holy Office prior to 1965. I am fairly certain, however, that none have a living memory of the Roman Inquisition (and, of course, nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition…). The DDF has basically been consolidated into two Sections, the Doctrinal and the Disciplinary. The structural reforms of the Curia largely consist in similar shuffling and consolidation—for example, the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization were merged into a single Dicastery for Evangelization. Perhaps the most significant structural change is the elevation of the Dicastery for Evangelization to the position of preeminence previously held by the CDF. The pope himself is the prefect, or head, of the evangelization dicastery, reflecting Pope Francis’s emphasis on “missionary discipleship” (Evangelii Gaudium, 119-21). That being said, undoubtedly the most important reform instituted by Praedicate Evangelium is its inclusion of lay people in positions of leadership and governance in the Curia. This change has the potential to radically transform how curial offices do business.
Late last week, the participants in the upcoming first session of the Synod on Synodality were announced, so now we know the cast of characters who will be addressing the questions raised in the Instrumentum Laboris and that emerged from the synodal consultations around the world. As I noted in my commentary on the Instrumentum Laboris, the fact that this working document is presented primarily in the form of questions rather than as a rough draft is a radical shift from how prior synods have been conducted. The process will be much more open-ended. As I also noted, unlike previous synods, the purpose of this meeting is not to reach definitive conclusions on a specific topic, but rather to explore how the Church can be more synodal, or open to the participation of all the faithful, in its liturgical life, governance, and mission to the world. My favorite metaphor for synodality is that it is the nervous system of the Body of Christ, the means by which the parts of the body communicate with each other, coordinate, and express pain. There is still a long way to go until we know if the synodal process will have a lasting impact on the Church—as I wrote, this synod is in part a learning process—but if so, it will be a major part of Pope Francis’s legacy.
Finally, the announcement of a new consistory of cardinals in September was a surprise, but consistent with Pope Francis’s efforts over the years to reshape the college of cardinals. Among the most significant of the new batch of cardinals announced last week are: Archbishop Fernández of La Plata (just days after his appointment to head the DDF); Archbishop Robert Prevost, already the Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops—the department that makes recommendations for the appointment of new bishops—and a Chicago native; and Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the papal nuncio to the United States (whom I had the pleasure of briefly meeting at the Francis at 10 Conference at St. Ambrose University in March). The Vatican reporter Gerard O’Connell notes three trends in Francis’s appointments to the college of cardinals: appointing cardinals from as many countries as possible, including countries that have never had a cardinal (such as Cardinal Charles Bo from Myanmar); reducing the number of European cardinals, and Italian cardinals more specifically; and deemphasizing the tradition of automatically elevating the ordinary of certain cities to the cardinalate (for example, in the United States, Archbishop José Gómez of Los Angeles has held his position since 2011 but has not yet been appointed a cardinal). These strategies will have an impact on the next conclave, with the cardinal electors better reflecting the demographic realities of the 21st-century Church.
Pope Francis is a larger-than-life personality and a media celebrity, so it is easy to overlook the institutional impact his papacy has had on the Catholic Church. And it has only been in the past few years that this impact has really become clear. If synodality becomes a deeper reality in the Church, this will likely be the institutional change that has the most significant effect on the day-to-day life and ministry of the Church at the diocesan and parish levels. New diocesan leadership is also an important change for everyday Catholics and ministers (my own current diocese, the Archdiocese of Dubuque, is awaiting the appointment of a new ordinary—the recently retired archbishop, Michael Jackels, was himself appointed by Pope Francis very early in his pontificate, in April, 2013). The reform of the Curia and the transformation of the college of cardinals will have more of an impact on the global governance of the Church.
I think all of these institutional changes are fruitful subjects for theologians. It will also be especially important to consider this institutional legacy in tandem with Pope Francis’s theological legacy, including his magisterial teachings and their impact on theological thinking.
What do you think is Pope Francis’s most important or most lasting legacy? From a theological perspective, what have been Pope Francis’s most significant or interesting contributions? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
Of Interest…
Michael O’Loughlin, writing at America, does a good job of looking at each of the Synod participants from the United States. Jonathan Liedl, writing for Catholic News Agency, likewise has a good rundown on the American participants.
At the National Catholic Reporter, Michael Sean Winters has some pointed words for the authors of “prebuttals” to the work of the Synod and sweeping criticisms of the Instrumentum Laboris. I think Winters’s arguments are on target.
At America, Colleen Dulle has an even-handed roundup on the controversy that is, fairly or not, already swirling around Fernández, the new doctrinal head in the Vatican. In my own write-up on Fernández, I ignored the controversy surrounding his book Heal Me With Your Mouth: The Art of Kissing, published in 1995. Although by all accounts the book itself seems “cringe,” as the kids say, the controversy around it seems relatively silly, and in part based on a bad mistranslation of the text. Dulle summarizes this controversy, as well as the more serious concerns about Fernández’s response to abuse in his diocese, which I also mentioned. UPDATE: As I was writing this post on Sunday evening, the Associate Press reported an interview with Archbishop Fernández in which he admitted mistakes in his handling of a case of sexual abuse by a priest in the diocese of La Plata. Among other things, “He said church procedures for dealing with allegations of abuse committed by clerics ‘were less clear’ at that time,” according to AP. This is not very convincing, since the events in question occurred in 2019, which is not that long ago. It is also unclear, then, why last week the Diocese of La Plata vigorously denied the accusations first made against Fernández by BishopAccountability.org. Thanks to the National Catholic Reporter for reporting on this issue today (Monday).
Coming Soon…
Late last week I announced that Window Light has transitioned to paid subscriptions—some content will remain available for free subscribers, but paid subscribers will have access to all articles and interviews. If you are a free subscriber, you can upgrade to a paid subscription at any time. Don’t forget, however, that if you take out a paid subscription before July 31, you will be entered in a drawing with the following prizes:
First Prize (1 winner):
A copy of The Oxford Handbook of Vatican II, edited by Catherine E. Clifford and Massimo Faggioli ($175 value) AND 1-year free subscription to Window Light ($50 value)
Second Prize (2 winners):
A copy of my Interrupting Capitalism: Catholic Social Thought and the Economy ($130 value) AND 1-year free subscription to Window Light ($50 value)
Third Prize (3 winners):
1-year free subscription to Window Light ($50 value)
Details on subscription options and the benefits of a paid subscription can be found here.
Later this week I will also post the first article only available to paid subscribers. I will take a closer look at the participants chosen for the Synod on Synodality in October. If that interests you, consider taking out a paid subscription!
Looking further ahead, I plan on introducing a new feature to the newsletter. In addition to the in-depth interviews already included in the newsletter, I hope to start including more topical features where I survey a handful of scholars or practitioners on a particular topic. For example, a reader pointed out that in my article on the Sunday readings two weeks ago, I made a brief reference to the Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder, who engaged in multiple incidents of sexually abusing women. The reader raised the question of how theologians should deal with the work of theologians like Yoder who are guilty of serious moral transgressions. This question is quite similar to that faced by churches over what to do with the artworks of now-disgraced Jesuit artist Marko Rupnik, who is likewise guilty of multiple cases of sexual and spiritual abuse. I hope to do such a survey on this topic in the near future. I also mentioned in a past post that I wanted to round up advice from journal editors on the very different topic of how scholars can improve their manuscripts and increase the chances of publication.
Looking even further in the future, I am planning an interview with Dr. Hosffman Ospino, Associate Professor of Hispanic Ministry and Religious Education and Chair of the Department of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry at Boston College’s School of Theology and Ministry. I hope to talk to Dr. Ospino about his work studying Latino/a Catholic youth and his dual role as a sociologist and theologian. If everything works out, this interview should appear in the newsletter at the end of July or early in August. I will also be working on other interviews in the meantime, so stay tuned.