On 8 May 2025, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, an Augustinian, was elected Pope. He had been a Bishop for eight years and a Cardinal for two. That was three hundred and sixty seven days ago, just as a long time ago.

 While wishing Pope Leo many more years in the service of his Boss, the Carpenter’s Son, we are unable to rejoice in the way we know how to: the mercantile arrangements of ‘aso ebi,’ uniforms befitting the occasion; the assassination of an impressive number of cows, chickens and fish; the attendance of people at the receptions that follow ‘kete lehin isin’. As much as Pope Leo is loved, the job he holds does not permit of such jollification.

Pope Leo XIV remains busy in the task of shepherding the flock of Christ; dealing with the hard to imagine conflicts that dot parts of the world; and quietly building the future of the Church.

It is to the last focus that we turn our attention. During the one year, the Holy Father has filled vacancies in some of the strategic and most visible bishopric seats across the globe.

Pope Leo made177 bishopric appointments in the period between his installation and the end of the year 2025. Add to that number, the 102 the Holy Father appointed in the first four months of the year 2026.

What do all these appointments mean and why should meanings be read to them? Typically, a new Pope seeks to establish his own mark by appointing into positions, members of the clergy who align more closely with his view of the Church, and of the world. Pope Leo is like his predecessors in this regard.

The papacy transforms the one who is elected in ways that are indescribable. You will have to sit on the Chair of Peter to know what it is to be Pope. One who was a Cardinal laboriously working to keep his diocese or the dicastery he heads running as smooth as possible, now must make all dioceses, all dicasteries, all institutions of the Church to run smoothly. Add to those, the duty of the Church as a shining light in a world filled with the odium of decadence, the stench of corruption, the callousness of absolute rulership, the abject poverty of the majority and the shameless pride of nations.

But he gets help: Bishops and Cardinals are appointed to man the post in their respective areas. Some other Bishops and Cardinals work in the Roman Curia, taking charge of various duties for the Pope. There are also those who carry out diplomatic duties for him all around the world. They too are Bishops and Priests.

All these co-workers in the vineyard of the Good Shepherd must key into the mission of the Pope and to his vision for the Church. The Pope appoints all these officers and foot soldiers, choosing who by his conscience and by the help of the Holy Spirit, are best suited for the duties they are being  assigned.

No Pope would like to appoint a Maria Vigano, a Theodore McCarrick, or a Joseph Strickland; men whose personal ambition, sick minds, and self-indulgence compromised the duties entrusted to them by the Holy Roman Catholic Church. They have been outed. But before then, they brought negative attention to the Church.

A meticulous process ensures that rarely do unworthy men scale through. Patient obedience, sharp intellect, unpretentious humility, unwavering diligence and deep spirituality are some of the characteristics observed in those who have been chosen.

May those who have been appointed never betray the confidence reposed in them by Mother Church. May Pope Leo live long.

 

Ayo Fasoro

Non Sum Dignus