TUESDAY, JULY 01, 2025
Reflection on the Election of Leo IV as the 267th Pope (successor St. Peter)
Published on May 22, 2025
By EMN
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- The election of Leo IV is a kind of wisdom that is not loud. It does not seek attention. It does not scream to be seen. It simply exists, quietly, deeply and eternally. This is the wisdom of the Catholic Church, a body that has outlived empires, survived schisms, endured scandals and yet remains standing, steady and sacred. The Catholic Church is not a trend. It is not a social wave. It is an institution that walks with time but listens to eternity.
- While the world busied itself with predictions, drawing up lists of notable Cardinals, analysing political alignments and floating theories about who would be the next Pope, the College of Cardinals chose a different path. They ignored the noise. They turned away from the spotlight. They went into the sacred and returned with a name the world never imagined. Pope Leo the Fourteenth. A name that had not been whispered in the corridors of speculation. A man unknown to the headlines. A choice that silenced every analyst and reset the compass of divine selection.
- This is not a coincidence. It is a confirmation of the divine order.
- What the Vatican did was not just elect a new Pope. They made a statement to the world. They reminded humanity that God does not follow trends. He sets them. That true leadership is not always found in the obvious. That sometimes, the one who carries the mantle is not the one the world expects, but the one heaven approves. This is the mystery of divine succession, wrapped in silence, clothed in prayer and sealed in sacred deliberation.
- I am not a Catholic. But with every passing day, I see clearly why this institution continues to command reverence. It is not because its members are flawless. It is not because its leaders are immune to error. It is because, despite the human imperfection that exists within it, the Catholic Church remains rooted in sacred order, structured governance and spiritual discipline. It is an institution that has mastered continuity. Its longevity is not sustained by convenience but by consecration.
- No church is perfect. No human institution is without fault. The Catholic Church is no exception. Within it are men and women of varying degrees of holiness, sincerity and struggle. But amidst all of this, there remains a deeply spiritual core, a centre that holds, a system that works, a rhythm that does not break. There are those within its walls who serve God in spirit and in truth, quietly, humbly, fervently. Their devotion is not a performance. Their faith is not a fashion. It is a life.
- What happened in the election of Pope Leo the Fourteenth is not just a political or ecclesiastical event. It is a mirror to the rest of the Christian world. It exposes by comparison the chaos that reigns in many modern church settings, particularly in the Pentecostal space. In some of these assemblies, power struggles have replaced prayer, and ambition has drowned anointing. Leadership is inherited like property. Elections are manipulated like business deals. The pulpit has become a platform for performance, not a place of transformation. The altar has become a showground, not a sanctuary.
- Even among so-called brethren, love has grown cold. Loyalty is transactional. Brotherhood is hollow. It is a tragedy that many Pentecostal churches cannot even imagine holding such a transparent, spiritual and selfless process of succession. Helping one’s fellow minister is seen as a threat. The idea of unity in leadership has been replaced with competition and suspicion. The sacred is being sacrificed on the altar of success.
- But today, the Catholic Church has reminded us of something we have forgotten. That the kingdom of God is not noise but order. Not display but discipline. Not popularity but purity. It has reminded us that when God is allowed to speak, He will often choose the one no one expected. He will raise the man who is hidden. He will lift the one who has been in the secret place.
- The election of Pope Leo the Fourteenth is a lesson to the Church and to the world. It is a call to return to structure, to sacredness, to spirit-led decision-making. It is proof that an institution can be old, yet not obsolete. Ancient, yet not irrelevant. Traditional, yet not stagnant. It is wisdom in action.
- This is the wisdom of the eternal Church. This is the mystery of divine order. This is the power of the sacred. And in a world drowning in confusion, it shines like a light that cannot be hidden.
- Let every ear that hears it listen. Let every eye that sees it learn. Let every heart that understands it return to the ancient path that leads to life.
- Truly, God cannot be manipulated like many elections!! God’s God forever!
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- Hon’ble Justice Aggrey
- (non-Catholic from Kenya)
Nagaland Districts
