A test of Leo’s pontificate: Leading by administration

By Dr. Jeff Mirus ( bio - articles - email ) | Apr 23, 2026

I admit that it is difficult to consider any one factor as a definitive test of a pontificate, but Cardinal Reinhard Marx’s formal regularization of blessings for same-sex couples and couples who have married outside the Church in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising in Germany does provide one kind of test for Pope Leo XIV (Cardinal Marx instructs priests to facilitate blessings of same-sex couples). As our news story indicates, even the somewhat controversial 2023 declaration Fiducia Supplicans from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and authorized by Pope Francis, which allowed such blessings, indicated that they “should not be fixed ritually by ecclesial authorities” and “should neither provide for nor promote a ritual for blessings of couples in an irregular situation.”

Indeed, the precise text of that authorization states simply that “one should not prevent or prohibit the Church’s closeness to people in every situation in which they might seek God’s help through a simple blessing.” But Cardinal Marx is diluting the letter of the law once again. And once again, the German bishops are divided over the continuing formal secularization of the German Church. The bishops of the Archdiocese of Cologne and the dioceses of Augsburg, Eichstätt, Passau, and Regensburg have all rejected Cardinal Marx’s deliberate and enforced departure from the text of Fiducia Supplicans. (But it was predictable from the first that this document would trigger the very abuses it purported to avoid.)

Whether or not Pope Leo responds to this latest misdirection of the Church in Germany, the development remains a clear test of his pontificate.

Travel and trial

Although it is good to see Leo XIV travelling to different areas around the world to emphasize the care of the Pope for all Catholics, and indeed for all persons everywhere, at some point his pontificate will be judged—as were those of St. John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis—by how well he controls the administration of the Church itself, that is, by his appointment of solid bishops and his correction of those ecclesiastical and academic leaders who refuse to uphold the fullness of the Catholic Faith. In every era, the Church’s gravest sins are the ones she barely notices—namely, the many ways in which her leaders simply fall into the bad habits of the cultures within which they exercise their ministries. This is so true that, apart from major outside attacks on the Church, the downside of ecclesiastical history is primarily the record of how easily her priests and bishops have become culture bound.

So far, this new pontificate has lacked the waywardness of Pope Francis while upholding his legacy, but Pope Leo has yet to emerge as a clear and consistent proponent of authentic renewal against the primary errors of our age, the very errors which have so weakened the Church and diluted her membership. There are two primary ways in which such an authentic renewal can be implemented. The first is clear teaching; the second is the enforcement of ecclesiastical discipline. Interestingly, Pope St. John Paul II, who was a superb teacher and an inspiring communicator, came to regret that he had not disciplined somewhat more. In contrast, Pope Benedict (who had already established himself as a great teacher as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) was generally quieter as Pope—though he quietly removed far more bishops from office. Sadly, while none of us can judge the wisdom of Benedict’s resignation, it did allow the Church to swing back into a more chaotic state of doctrine and discipline under his very odd successor.

In any case, the problems afflicting the Church in Germany have gone uncorrected for a very long time. In the course of a fairly long pontificate, a single pope could effect a significant course correction in Germany simply by making sound episcopal appointments to set the German episcopal conference back on course. Even at the expense of a temporary immediate reduction in the number of practicing German Catholics (which has been steadily declining in any case), such a clear course correction would inescapably lead over a single generation to significant growth

But too many still seem to think that a dilution of Catholicism is the key to improving Catholic numbers. One always wants to ask in cases like this: “What part of fidelity do you not understand?”

Genuine leadership

There is something to be said for leading by example, as it inspires others to take heart and follow. But teaching clearly is also a key aspect of such leadership. Especially in an age of mass media coverage, for a Pope to teach clearly and publicly is extraordinarily important, whereas general exhortation and encouragement is so subject to interpretation as to accomplish very little. But an even more important aspect of leadership is effective administration. If faithful bishops and sound pastors are in place, the Pope generally needs very few words to keep the Barque of Peter on course. In a context of sound subordinates, most papal teaching will fulfill two purposes: To remind all of the meaning of fidelity; and to clarify the truth in cases of legitimate confusion.

Again, it makes good sense for the Pope to travel to regions that are under particular duress. This is an effective means of emphasizing the care of Christ and the Church for those who are suffering. But as a rule, it is far more important to ensure that an organization has highly committed and highly competent staff who are both willing and able to address the organization’s true needs insofar as they fall within their own areas of responsibility. Let the pope ensure the presence of faithful and effective bishops in each diocese, and let the bishops ensure the presence of faithful and effective priests in each parish. Then let the Pope exhort his bishops, and each bishop exhort his priests, and each priest exhort his people. With today’s populations, I truly need my bishop to step into my life directly only when a good priest is unaccountably unavailable. And I need the Pope to step in only if a good bishop is unaccountably unavailable.

Of course the voice of a bishop or of the pope himself needs to be heard for clarification and encouragement whenever there is a significant doctrinal or moral controversy or a general drift from a proper understanding of the mission and teachings of the Church as a whole. And in an age of mass media, it is important to see and hear episcopal encouragement and clarification locally along with papal encouragement and clarification regionally and worldwide. Unfortunately, we seem to live once again in an ecclesiastical era in which encouragement is abundant, clarification minimal, and discipline rare, with the result that in critical matters the voices lower down drown out the voices higher up.

How may times do we have to learn this hard reality? The key to effective clarification is effective discipline, and the key to effective discipline is effective staff, and the key to effective staff is effective Faith.