Preparing for the Conclave: Trust that the Gates of Hell shall not prevail

When Christ ordained Peter as the very first Vicar of Christ on earth and thus instituted the Papacy, he imparted two significant characteristics: the foundation of the Church would be governed by the Pope, and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. These elements associated with the Papacy give Peter a new identity and authority to shepherd, proclaim, teach, and minister in the name of Jesus Christ.[1] It is important to note that Peter was the first to recognize Christ as the Son of the living God[2] and thus publicly proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, the Incarnate Word, the second person of the blessed Trinity.

Fascinating in reading about the Divine institution of the Papacy in Matthew’s Gospel is that the matter and form of the Papacy have not changed in the Church’s two-thousand-year-old history.

As the head of the divinely established assembly which Peter has now been tasked to lead, he and the rest of his brother Apostles are now part of a Divinely instituted succession plan ordained to deliver Jesus’ message until He comes again. With the keys to the Church and the authority to bind and loose, Peter now becomes the shepherd of the Church after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension into heaven. The Catechism confirms that Jesus’ handing on of this authority entrusts Peter with the authority of faith,

Jesus entrusted a specific authority to Peter: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." The "power of the keys" designates authority to govern the house of God, which is the Church. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, confirmed this mandate after his Resurrection: "Feed my sheep." The power to "bind and loose" connotes the authority to absolve sins, to pronounce doctrinal judgments, and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church. Jesus entrusted this authority to the Church through the ministry of the apostles and in particular through the ministry of Peter, the only one to whom he specifically entrusted the keys of the kingdom.[3]

The responsibilities handed over to Peter by Christ were many, nurturing the spiritual well-being of the other Apostles and sustaining the Apostles through the spiritual trials and sufferings that awaited them. Charles Cardinal Journet describes Peter’s new authority and responsibilities as possessing a sovereign spiritual jurisdiction, one that he will pass on to his successors, the Roman Pontiffs.[4] As we prepare to receive a new successor to the Apostles, whomever the Vicar of Christ may be, we as members of Christ’s faithful must remain just that, spiritually faithful and steadfast. We must maintain a view of the world through a Catholic lens and nothing else, where our primary aim as laity is not to hedge bets on who the next Holy Father will be or what name he will take on, but instead, continue to ensure that Church instituted by Jesus Christ continues to absorb the world in Christ and not be consumed by a world without Him.

As we await the coming of the new Vicar of Christ, it is important not to lose sight of the daily drama that exists in every human being, the battle between good and evil, virtue versus vice, joy versus hate. We must not lose sight that our new Holy Father will be walking into what St. Peter experienced prior ascension as the Vicar of Christ and what he received afterward, a world grasping for hope, searching for unconditional love, and seeking clarity on how to live a life centered on the Jesus Christ the Son of God. Henri De Lubac, in his book Catholicism, reminds us that Christianity transformed the old world by absorbing it. [5]

In his first epistle, St. Peter provides with I believe is sound spiritual direction in preparation for the Conclave and battling the forces of evil,

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that in due time he may exalt you. Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you. Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, and strengthen^[a] you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen[6]