The pope’s first duty

Let us pray for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis. We ought to pray no less fervently that God in His mercy will bless His Church with a new pope of the kind she most needs at this time in her history. As the cardinals begin to think about a successor, it is appropriate for them, and for us, to recall that the first duty of any pope is to preserve undiluted the deposit of faith. It concerns sound doctrine even more than sound practice, because practice can be sound only when doctrine is sound. This is something those electing a new pope should always keep first and foremost in mind. But reminders are especially important today, when the Church faces greater doctrinal confusion than perhaps at any previous time.
The modern, liberal, secular world does not like to hear such reminders. When a pope dies, the press will, predictably, praise his personal kindness and concern for the poor and marginalized. In part, this is merely politeness of the kind appropriate when any person dies. But it also seems to be what is emphasized in commentary on who a pope’s successor ought to be. The liberal, secular world’s idea of a good pope is essentially a social worker with the personality of Mr. Rogers. It is impatient with the idea that the main reason the papacy exists is to preserve the doctrine handed down to us by the Apostles, and to unite the faithful around that doctrine.

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