Veteran Vatican journalist Christopher White had a front-row seat to Pope Francis’ final days and the conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV.
He visited Chicago to launch his book the week of July 14 with several events that culminated with a talk at Old St. Patrick Parish on July 20.
He spoke with editor Joyce Duriga about his new book, “Pope Leo XIV: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy,” by Loyola Press.
Chicago Catholic: How was this conclave different from the one that elected Pope Benedict XVI?
Christopher White: The stakes of this conclave were incredibly high … after the 12-year papacy of Pope Francis initiating tremendous reforms in the life of the church, particularly pushing the church to consider how it might become more welcoming, more inclusive and how church structures might better reflect those goals.
The cardinals had to decide for themselves whether or not they wanted to continue on that path that Francis had initiated or whether they wanted a course correction.
Because of that, I think it will be remembered as a historic conclave.
Chicago Catholic: Many of the cardinals didn’t know each other.
White: That’s true. This was a conclave of 133 men from over 70 countries. Most of them had not spent a lot of time with one another. They spoke many languages, represented many cultures.
They reflected the reality of a global church that often has different priorities depending on where you come from. The fact that they were able to come together in just over 24 hours in what was a relatively short conclave — four ballots — shows that perhaps they were much more united than many people thought. In choosing Cardinal Prevost, they were all able to see something in him that represented their own desires or hope for the church.
Chicago Catholic: What experiences does Pope Leo bring to the papacy that will benefit the church? What do you think he faces as pope?
White: Leo has given every indication that he intends to continue the path that Francis initiated, particularly Pope Francis’ commitment to synodality. I think his challenge will be, how does he take the process that Francis started, which is the unwieldy, ambitious goal of trying to give everyone in the church to feel as if they have a voice and have a say and can participate in the life of their church? Now Leo has to figure out “How do we institutionalize this? How do we build the best structures and processes around this?”
That’s going to be his big challenge — as well as to do it in a way that brings as many people on board as possible. I think that will be the big task in front of him.
The real strength of the Leo papacy, I think, will be the fact that anyone who has worked with him, who knows him, attests to the fact that he’s a strong listener and believes very much that everyone needs to feel as if they have a seat at the table and can offer their voices as part of the contribution, that he’s also capable of making decisions when it comes time for that. So I think that’s critical.
But also the most important thing on his resume, I would argue, is the fact that he is a missionary. He spent a third of his life in Peru — first as a missionary priest and later as a bishop. And also he was the head of his religious order, and in that capacity, he was headquartered in Rome but he traveled to the 50 countries that the Augustinians worked in around the globe.
He may be a Chicago-born pope, but he brings this missionary perspective of a global church and he’s seen it firsthand through his own experience as a missionary and as the head of a religious order. And that, I think, positions him well to lead to very diverse flock.
Chicago Catholic: People want to know what he’s going to do as pope. How do you respond?
White: He gave us a sense of his priorities when he first appeared on the balcony. It was less than 500 words, and he used the word “peace” nine times, so I think he feels the weight of a world at war. So he signaled quite early on that he wants for the church, and for the Vatican and for himself, to serve in the role of peacemaker.
Practically, we see him begging for a ceasefire in Gaza, and he continues to ratchet up the calls for that. We see him offering the Vatican as a physical location for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. I don’t think he sees the Vatican as an actual negotiator, but in terms of using its convening power to get people at a table, I think he’s very happy to do that.
Secondly, in that first speech, he said that he wants the church to be synodal, so he signaled his plans to continue Francis’ push for synodality. And he said “a missionary church open to all.” I think that resonates with what we heard Francis say quite a bit, particularly in the last years of his papacy, of his dream of a church that was open — “totus, totus,” “tutti, tutti,” “everyone, everyone.” I think Leo shares that same disposition.
With that, I would say he is full-steam-ahead with the synod. He met with the synod leaders and organizers in recent weeks.
The big study groups that are looking at the sort of hot-button issues — women, pastoral ministries to LGBTQ people — those study groups all have until October to submit their reports. He has given them his backing to submit their reports. Now we wait and see.
I don’t want to read into a crystal ball. We know he believes women should have a greater roll in leadership inside church life, including at the Vatican. As I talk about in the book, women who have worked with and for him say he treats them as equals.
Women that sat at his roundtable during the synod said he was open to their perspectives and the ways in which they sought to challenge the status quo.