Will the New Leo Drive Away the Old Wolves?

by José Antonio UretaMay 19, 2025 will-the-new-leo-drive-away-the-old-wolves?

Will the New Leo Drive Away the Old Wolves?

It is still too early to know what program the new pope will implement. One thing seems clear: the present situation of the Church calls for a return to clarity and order.

Let us hope that this needed reform will not be only on the level of external appearances since, as Victor Hugo wisely said, “form is the substance rising to the surface.” It must also be on the doctrinal and disciplinary ones, so that the immense confusion sown by Pope Francis, with his rash statements and controversial documents such as Amoris laetitiae and Fiducia supplicans, may be dispelled. Lastly, it must reverse the persecution of clerics, intellectuals, and faithful who were sidelined and sanctioned for their fidelity to the moral teachings of the Church or her immemorial liturgical rite.

Explaining his choice of the name Leo, the new pontiff said that one reason was in remembrance of Leo XIII. That pope laid the foundations for the Church’s social doctrine in response to the challenges of the Industrial Revolution. Today, the Church faces the challenges of the new digital revolution. Another explanation could be his affection for Leo XIII because he was born near Genazzano, educated by Augustinians, and included the invocation Mater Boni Consilii in the Litany of Loreto.

According to Le Figaro, the Serbian Cardinal Ladislav Nemet shared a remark circulating among the cardinals that offered another explanation for the choice of the name Leo (“lion” in Latin): “Until now, we had Francis, who spoke with the wolves. Now, we have a lion who will drive the wolves away.” ¹

Any true reform must finally expel the “smoke of Satan” that entered the Church during the time of Paul VI, and bring to an end the “mysterious process of self-destruction” that has led to the current crisis. May Leo XIV go beyond the intentions of any elector cardinals who voted for him solely as a consensus figure and truly restore peace to the Church.

May it be the true peace of Saint Augustine—that is, “the tranquility of order”—which presupposes the radical elimination of the factors of doctrinal and disciplinary disorder rampant everywhere in the Catholic fold, but particularly in Europe.

This is the criterion to judge the new pontificate: Will the new lion drive away the old wolves (many of whom wear sheep’s clothing) who have wrought so much destruction and ruin among the flock?