As fast as the election of Pope Leo XIV came, as fast came the avalanche of information, commentary and speculation about him.
How can you build a reasonable, sensible and harmonious judgment about such a world leader without being snared by narratives and points of view that almost put us in a position of having to define him, accept or reject him immediately? How to confront the doubts and concerns stoked by these diverse opinions, as well as those we carry within us? How to have a state of emotional serenity that allows us to listen, dialogue and discern, when we carry unhealed emotional wounds of traumatic abuse within our own Church community?
There are not easy, immediate answers to these questions that touch our heart and conscience.
The first thing that comes to mind is St. Ignatius of Loyola’s recommendation in his Spiritual Exercises (No. 138): “In time of desolation, make no changes.” How to interpret this recommendation in modern language? In times of confusion, anxiety, interior emptiness and sadness, don’t make important decisions. In times of emotional turmoil, let us intentionally open up a space within us to be calm and peaceful, to be able to listen to the internal voice of our conscience in the silence.
It’s neither about idealizing nor condemning, rather to approach with an open, calm mind the context and history of the person who is now the pope, without falling into simplifications that confine us in “all or nothing.”
Doubts, suspicions and uncertainties accompany us. What resists persists. The best way to cope with them is to listen to them with respect and compassion, take note of the emotions we’re feeling, and pay attention to the reactions they are provoking. Are they contracting or expanding my soul? What’s blocking me? What am I resisting? This process — like when turbulent waters settle in a bottle — allows us to have greater clarity and harmony in the face so many confusing external voices.
Our opinions “scream” and “cry” from wounds not healed, especially those related to difficult experiences within the Church community. Mistrust, confusion and rejection are not always born from lack of faith, but rather, in many cases, from wounds not healed, of abuse of power, of painful silences, of the betrayal of the most profound message of the Gospel: love.
The path toward emotional healing does not demand that we forget the past, but rather to walk with truth, at times with help, and with the certainty that there are spaces and people that can accompany us with respect and without pressure.
Hope is not naïveté. We can trust that there are new paths, even in the midst of heartbreak or crisis. We can believe that love — when it’s honest — continues to be stronger than any wound.
It’s not about idolizing or rejecting the new pope. The invitation is to build a judgment about him that is well-informed and compassionate; a judgment that is open to reading “the signs of the times,” without ceding to cynicism or naïveté, creating spaces where we can speak without fear, listen without prejudice and share our wounds without fear of being discredited.
This path of discernment is valid not only in relation to the person of the pope, but for any situation in which we wish to have a healthier and more complete judgment about people in times of doubt, suspicion and uncertainty.
