Tomorrow, May 7, 2025, the whole world will be waiting for those joyous words “Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum: Habemus papam” (meaning, I announce to you a great joy: We have a pope!) as the Cardinal electors retreat into the Sistine Chapel to elect a new Pope and the 266th successor of St Peter Pope Francis who died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, at the age of 88 at his residence in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta, bringing an end to his 12-year pontificate which was marked by profound commitment to the poor, social justice, mercy, and pastoral renewal but also marked by controversies.
118 years ago, St Pius X released a prophetic encyclical, “Pascendi Dominici Gregis” to “correct” Modernism, which he saw as a synthesis of all heresies and a grave threat to the Catholic faith. In its most raw form, modernism attempted to reinterpret traditional Catholic doctrine through contemporary philosophy, psychology, and historical criticism. While not going to the single errors mentioned in the letter, the singular significance of Pascendi Dominici Gregis was its impact on 20th-century Catholicism, reaffirming Catholic orthodoxy and drawing clear lines against theological innovation perceived as incompatible with tradition. It did this not just by recalling Thomism to safeguard against relativism but also through reaffirming what the 2nd Vatican Council’s ecclesiology said that the Church has the responsibility ‘read the signs of the time’ and therefore to engage with the contemporary world. Thus, in language intelligible to every generation, she can respond to the perennial questions which men ask about this present life and of the life to come, and about the relationship of the one to the other.
Today, just like 1907, the church is confronted with Neo-Modernism/Post-Digital Modernism with its special share and threat in ‘annihilating’ the Catholic Faith. The errors she confronts today are not far from those condemned by Pius X and include among others: Skepticism to orthodoxy which challenges universal Christian truths and favoring personal narratives and localized truths; Fluid Identities particularly of gender, sexuality and religion being held as constructed and flexible; Pluralism and Relativism which advances a growing tolerance of diverse worldviews but also a risk of moral relativism and disconnection from shared values and deconstruction of ecclesial authority and her institutions where, authenticity and transparency are demanded over traditional power structures.
Most recently, the Magisteria of Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis have spoken to these errors of our times severally: John Paul II, in Veritatis Splendor (1993), reminded the Church that truth cannot be compromised in the name of pastoral practice: “It is never acceptable to do evil so that good may result from it.” Further, he wrote that “the truth which Christ reveals cannot be limited to one tradition; it is universal and unique. The proposal of religious relativism is a denial of this truth.” On the other hand, Benedict XVI taught us that the real ‘hope’ of the world is not political reform but the victory of God’s love over sin and death. The Church must never lose sight of her heavenly calling (Spe Salvi, 2007).” He warned that “…the Church is dying in places where she no longer proclaims the faith in its fullness, but adapts to the world and that the greatest persecution of the Church comes not from enemies outside, but arises from sin within the Church.” Francis on the other hand even used stronger words to express the danger of a society that rejects shared moral foundations by referring “relativism is a “cancer” or a “dictatorship”.
The Chair of Peter is not a political throne to be claimed by ideologies. It is a divine office instituted by Christ for the safeguarding of the deposit of faith and the salvation of souls. The Successor of Peter is not chosen to please the world, but to guide it to salvation. As the college of Cardinal electors gather in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new Pope, they should be alive to the errors of post-modernism, especially the errors of fluid identities, notably of sexual orientation and gender issues and that of pluralism and relativism where the Catholic faith is subjective.
The 2025 conclave is “a divine hour and a prophetic moment” when the cardinals must discern with trembling and prayer the one who will hold the keys of Peter, entrusted by Christ to guide His Church in truth and love. We must pray that they resist every form of political calculation, media pressure, or secular influence. The next Pope must be a man of God, not a man of compromise in the name of ‘compassion’. For only what is true is ultimately ‘pastoral’.
Therefore, the Pope the Catholic Church desires NOW is NOT the one who will be ‘moderate’ between conservatives/traditionalists and liberals/pluralists but one who is ORTHODOX and (as guided by the teachings of the Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes), will be BOLD and DARING to read the ‘signs of the times’ (post-modernism and its errors), lead the church to engage with it and in language intelligible to this generation, respond to the present day challenges and lived realities. As Cardinal Robert Sarah said, “division in the Church is not caused by “traditionalists,” but by those who twist doctrine for power or ideological comfort”. Our reading of the signs of the world today must be guided by this instruction: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:2).
The papacy is not a political institution advancing some populistic ideologies or a humanitarian entity doing some social work and therefore must not yield to these errors of our times which are now seen as ‘fashionable and cool things to do”. And I dare to say, when Cardinal Dean, Giovanni Battista Re will pose the question to the one elected as Pope “Quo nomine vocaberis”? (by what name do you wish to be called?)” I would love to hear the Cardinal elected say “Pius XIII”! or Benedict XVII or JPIII.
The writer is a former member of the Order of Friars Preachers (Dominican Friars)
By Mark Antonie Ageng’a