New Pope Leo XIV first priorities revealed and challenges he faces to fix the Vatican’s mess

Sexual abuse scandals, the place of women and the treatment of LGBTQ followers are some of the big challenges facing the 267th pope. See what is on his list of priorities.

Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, will perhaps face some of the biggest challenges of any pontiff.

Among them are the sexual abuse scandals, the place of women, the treatment of LGBTQ followers, and some serious housekeeping to get the Vatican’s finances in order.

We take a deeper look at some of the items on his to-do list.

Pope Leo XIV is seen for the first time from the Vatican balcony. Picture: Getty

Sexual abuse

The child abuse scandals that have rocked the church over the past few decades continue to hang heavy over Roman Catholicism. The new pope will be under pressure to go further in redressing the wrongs of the past and keeping children safe, according to Monash University Professor Emerita Rosemary Sheehan.

She said Francis set up the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors in 2014, which put safeguarding children at the centre of the church and led to a fundamental shift in the way it “responded to the child abuse scourge”.

Cardinal George Pell at Melbourne Magistrates' Court in 2017 facing multiple allegations of sexual assault. Pope Frances put safeguarding children at the centre of the church. Picture: Getty Images

“Words like ‘truth’, ‘justice’ and ‘reparations’ were being used by the leadership, which had never been used before,” Prof Sheehan, who also sat on the now defunct Truth, Justice, Healing Council in Australia, said.

However, there has also been pushback in the Vatican against some of the changes, as well as rows and resignations.

The Vatican has also been accused of a lack of transparency.

“The UN asked the Vatican to provide information about offenders, but it chose not to give that, saying it had its own processes in place which they believed were working as best as they could,” Prof Sheehan said.

“The secrecy about child sex abuse statistics challenges transparency and trust in the significance of work of the Pontifical Commission.”

She said, going forward, the pope will need to address that, as well as insure the safeguarding of children, globally, by supporting poorer countries to set up proper processes.

Women

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president, Archbishop of Perth Timothy Costelloe, said Pope Francis made great strides in appointing women to senior positions, including Sister Nathalie Becquart as the first female undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops advisory body.

“In Australia, there are many women undertaking leadership roles in areas such as Catholic education, health and social outreach,” he said.

However, while Francis helped start conversations around whether women could take on roles as deacons, it wasn’t realised during his papacy.

Archbishop of Perth Timothy Costelloe. Picture: Jacquelin Magnay

ACU Associate Professor Maeve Heaney. Picture: Supplied

ACU Associate Professor Maeve Heaney said she hopes that Pope Leo XIV will continue to consolidate steps made by Francis in including women in spaces of Church leadership “because it’s not like doctrine was changed, it was developed”.

“So I think there’s an important invitation for the church itself and for its credibility to continue growing this, and to bring people on the journey of how this can look. There are different takes on that across the world,” Assoc Prof Heaney said.

“Sometimes in the Western world we think everybody thinks like us and that’s not always the case. There are cultural differences in how people understand women’s roles and contributions, and the Catholic Church is a universal church which means we can’t ignore the different cultures and sensibilities that are there.”

Nuns attend a congress of nearly 900 superiors of the world's female religious orders in Rome on Monday. Pope Francis made great strides in appointing women to senior positions. Picture: AP

She said there were also different theological positions and “different understandings” on whether themes addressed over the past years, such as the women’s diaconate within the Catholic Church, should be moved forward.

However, women involved in Church leadership, however that needs to look, is essential to the mission, identity and future of the Catholic Church.

LGBTQ

“If a person is gay and seeks God and has goodwill, who am I to judge him?” Pope Francis said in July 2013. “Who am I to judge?”

With that comment the last pope helped build the foundations for a more inclusive church for LGBTQ Catholics. In 2023, the Vatican formally approved priests to be able to bless same-sex couples.

In 2023, the Vatican formally approved priests to be able to bless same-sex couples, including this public ceremony in front of the Cologne Cathedral in Germany. Picture: AP

During his papacy Francis also urged parents not to condemn their gay children.

But he continued to say homosexuality was a sin under Catholic doctrine and said blessings of same-sex couples couldn’t resemble traditional marriage vows, crushing hopes for LGBTQ followers seeking full acceptance.

Francis’s relaxation of the rules around divorce and remarriage also caused division, according to the German conservative Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller who, along with others, was concerned Francis was moving too far away from the Catholic faith.

This issue will continue to be a challenge for Pope Leo XIV who will find it impossible to keep both the Church’s conservative and liberal fringes happy whatever he chooses to do or not to do.

Finances

Despite owning billions in real estate and jaw-dropping priceless art, the Vatican is in dire financial trouble.

Pope Leo XIV will need to be a fundraiser and not afraid to wield the axe on the complex layers of bureaucracy.

The last set of published accounts from the Vatican in 2022 show there was a shortfall of 83 million euros ($A146 million), according to Reuters.

But the state of the pension funds is even worse, believed to have a shortfall of an estimated 631 million euros ($A1.11 billion).

Things are so bleak Francis cut the salaries of cardinals three times. In February he also ordered a new commission to encourage more donations.

Cardinals attend the fifth Novemdiales mass held for the late Pope Francis in St. Peters Basilica. Finances were so bleak, Francis cut the salaries of cardinals three times. Picture: Getty Images

Meanwhile, a series of financial scandals have not looked good for the church.

One involved money meant to be used to support the pope’s charitable initiatives which was instead used to plug holes in the Vatican budget.

In another, Cardinal Angelo Becciu was convicted of embezzlement and fraud in a Vatican court and sentenced to five-and-a-half years in jail. He denies all wrongdoing. He is free while waiting for his appeal. The charges mostly relate to a messy property deal in London.

A number of people within the Vatican have also faced court for crimes including fraud, abuse of office and money laundering. Again all deny the charges.

Engaging the next generation in Catholicism

In the Western world, Catholicism has suffered due to a wave of secularisation and a drop in young followers, according to Villanova University historical theology professor Massimo Faggioli.

He said the church needs to attract the next generation in the West.

“You want to have in the church young people who are convinced and happy to be Catholic, but not militant, as we have seen in some places like the United States (Vice President) JD Vance, is new Catholicism, which is very militant, very integralist,” Prof Faggioli said.

“In some sense, the future of the church in some countries has to be rebuilt, because there’s not much left from what was there in the Middle Ages or the early modern period.

“So this is a very diverse church globally, a church that is growing, a church that is slowly fading away.”

Originally published as New Pope Leo XIV first priorities revealed and challenges he faces to fix the Vatican’s mess