Many aspects of Pope Francis’ remarkable program of ecclesial renewal weare prefigured in Hans Urs von Balthasar’s vision for the church.

What did Papa Francisco see that we need to see? What tools do we have so we can choose correctly? And how do we act following our discernment?

Pope Leo XIV “is the man the church and the world need right now” and his greatest challenge, “the one he’ll carry most in his heart, is peace in the world.”

If we truly believe that the church includes all the baptized, we need better systems of transparency and accountability so that the laity might truly participate co-responsibly in our church.

There are some signs of progress in addressing the questions raised in “Laudato Si’.” There are also intimations of backpedaling, particularly by the Trump administration, regarding the industrialized world’s malign effects on creation.

We should seek to live simply, to take only what we need and share what we have, to see ourselves in kinship with all of creation.