Gareth O'Callaghan: Is Pope Leo the key to a radical shift in global consciousness?

Irish Examiner

17-05-2025

My late colleague and great friend Larry Gogan once said to me: "Don't try to fix it if it's not broken". I was reminded of those words as I watched Pope Leo XIV on his arrival last Sunday in the small town of Genazzano, on the outskirts of Rome, much to the surprise of hundreds of locals who couldn't believe what they were witnessing.
Two weeks ago, I wrote in this column that the world more than ever before needs a great pope, not a good pope, to follow in the footsteps of Francis, whose legacy will forever be his humanitarian conscience.
My fear was that the new pope would unhitch all the fundamental goodness of his predecessor, and drag the church back into the dark ages. I was afraid he might set about fixing what's not broken. Ten days into his papacy, it's becoming obvious that's not going to happen.
Am I alone in thinking there's more to the providential surprises that have occurred since the death of Francis than just coincidence? Moments that make it difficult not to believe that some supernatural power — the Holy Spirit, even — is laying the groundwork for a radical shift in global consciousness on a scale we haven't witnessed since Ronald Reagan joined forces with John Paul II to defeat atheistic Soviet communism.
Was it a coincidence that Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy sat face to face, knees almost touching, beside the Baptistry Chapel in the heart of the Basilica, under the 18th century mosaics of Jesus baptising Peter, and Saint Peter as he baptises the Centurion Cornelius, minutes before the pope's funeral — their first encounter since the disastrous showdown at the White House last February?
Was it just luck on the second day of the Conclave that an American from Dolton, Illinois, where 20% of the population live below the poverty line, stepped onto the balcony overlooking Saint Peter's Square as the new pope? Or was it the hand of God?
Coming at a time when his president back home is untethering the laws of democracy and human rights, including threats to free speech and habeas corpus (the legal weapon against unlawful detention, which allows people who are being imprisoned unjustly to petition in court for their release). You'd have to wonder if it was the work of a greater power that has given the world an American pope at a time when his country badly needs one.
As Americans struggle to make sense of the stranglehold Trump has dragged their country into in less than four months, and what the future holds under him, has some otherworldly presence arbitrated with a papal antidote to his anarchy — one who might inspire some moral decency in him, considering no one else can?
It's 45 years since Ronald Reagan became president. Late one evening in June 1979, Reagan was engrossed in the television coverage of John Paul II's visit to his homeland.
President Ronald Reagan sitting with Pope John Paul II in Vizcaya Mansion. Picture: Getty Images
Suddenly, he stood up and shouted 'that's it!' at the television, as he watched the son of Poland's visit to Warsaw with his close aide Richard Allen. 'The Pope is the key!' he shouted, telling Allen that it was imperative he became president, and how he intended reaching out to the pope and the Vatican to 'make them an ally'.
Three years later, on June 7, 1982, in the pope's private study on the third floor of the Apostolic Palace, with heavy curtains blocking out the stifling heat of the Italian summer, a president met a pope alone for the first time in history. To this day, no one knows what Ronald Reagan and John Paul II discussed for almost an hour. There are no minutes of the meeting, no notes, no recordings.
Here were two men who knew they needed each other if either of them had any hope of ending communism, which had first taken root in 1917 Russia.
Neither of them — the leader of the free world face to face, knees almost touching, with Christ's Vicar on earth — ever spoke about the meeting, but whatever was discussed, in the six years that followed, Ronald Reagan and John Paul II united to crush the Soviet Union, bringing communism to its knees.
Half a century later, the world is edging closer to nuclear confrontation and its unthinkable consequences; not unlike back then, when it took a pope and a president together to create an era of peaceful prosperity
As I write this, I'm looking at a one dollar bill that I found in my wallet after a recent visit to Boston. On the left hand side of the bank note is an emblem, a seal bearing the Latin words Novus Ordo Seclorum, which translates as 'new order of the ages'. The phrase, taken from the Great Seal of the United States, signifies the beginning of a new generation.
Pope Leo XIV prays in the Sanctuary of the Madre del Buon Consiglio (Mother of Good Counsel) in Genazzano, near Rome, where he made a surprise visit two days after his election.
It represents a time of peace and prosperity — a new era and a departure from the old ways. Is it a coincidence — yet again — that I discovered the dollar bill while watching Leo XIV step out onto the Vatican balcony? He had opted for more traditional vestments as he introduced himself to the ecstatic crowd, including the bright red pellegrina and the ornate red and gold stole — both worn by John Paul II following his election in 1978.
Commentators have been talking in recent days about the dawn of a new era for the Catholic Church, and perhaps for America too. Let's face it: it's the first time in a while that the most famous American in the world is not the president — it's the Pope.
In Time last week, Christopher Hale wrote: 'This is more than a Catholic triumph; it's a cultural watershed for the United States. In a society that often equates American influence with might or money or celebrity, now our foremost representative on the global stage is a humble man in white robes, preaching love, justice, and mercy.'
I believe Pope Leo will accomplish great things. Can he forge a relationship with Donald Trump? I believe he can, provided Trump is not allowed to dictate the terms. Anything is possible
After all, back in 1980, no one could have imagined the reunification of Europe within 10 years, and that the threat of global nuclear war would be resolved.
In 1981, during a visit to Hiroshima, John Paul II launched a 'great challenge' to scientists and world leaders that urged 'harmonising the values of science and the values of conscience'. He was referring to the ever-present risk of nuclear annihilation. 'Humanity must implement a moral upheaval,' he told the world's press.
Our generation is at that crossroads once again, clueless about what to do in order to avoid, as Pope Francis called it, the 'suicide' of humanity.
Donald Trump has so far kept his views on the new pope to himself, apart from claiming credit for his election to the papacy. In a comment he shared on his Truth Social site last Monday, he implied that it was his personal success with Catholic American voters in the presidential election that helped Pope Leo get his new role.
If he's really that fond of the millions of Catholics who voted for him, then the least he could do would be to introduce himself to their new boss.
Or does it make him uncomfortable that here's his polar opposite — a fellow American whose shoes walk the path of decency and equality, of moral renewal and integrity, whose life is committed to leading by example?
Acknowledging holiness is not part of the Trump mindset; but the day will come when, just like Ronald Reagan, he will need to pick up the phone. America is broken, badly in need of fixing. I can just hear him now: 'The Pope is the key.'
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