By the time this week’s issue of The Criterion is delivered, we may have a new pope (see the latest here). If that is the case, we welcome him with open hearts in the joy of this Easter season! But if the papal see is still vacant, then we promise to continue waiting prayerfully in a spirit of joyful hope.

Since the passing of our beloved Pope Francis, there has been much speculation about who his successor will be. Will he follow in the footsteps of his immediate predecessor? Or will he chart a new direction in a different leadership style—whether progressive, traditional or moderate? These conversations are natural, but they miss the mark when it comes to choosing the next Vicar of Christ.

As Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, N.J., (and prior to that Archbishop of Indianapolis) has said, the only important questions are: “Where is God calling us to go as missionary disciples of Christ?” and “Who does the Holy Spirit want to shepherd us in this Pilgrimage of Hope?” If we are prayerfully attentive to these fundamental questions, the future of our Church will be bright regardless of the many serious challenges that our new pope—and all of us—must face in the years ahead.

Our job as Catholics is to pray for the man who is chosen to lead us as the successor of St. Peter. As Pope Francis said so forcefully, the pope is a sinner, an ordinary man called to serve others humbly and faithfully after the model of the Good Shepherd who gave his life for us, his sheep.

The one thing that we know for certain about our next pope is that he will not be perfect. He will make mistakes, and he will have to seek God’s forgiveness for his sins. He will need all of us to pray for him and to help him carry the burdens of his ministry.

As we pray for our new pope, we should also pray for ourselves. May God grant us the grace to support him, to listen to him and obey him, even when we aren’t sure we agree with everything he has to say to us. Pope Francis had his critics and his dissenters. So did his predecessors. The new pope will also. We should pray that he will rely on God’s grace to carry out his Petrine ministry as he understands it, and that, at the same time, he will be open and attentive to God’s word and to the voices of the people he serves in Jesus’ name.

This period of waiting—whether the conclave was just a brief time or is still in session—is a blessing for our Church. It allows all of us, not just the cardinal-electors, to pause and reflect on the mission given by Christ to St. Peter to “feed my sheep” and “tend my lambs” (Jn 21:15-16).

The pope is not primarily a great man or an important religious leader. He must be, first and foremost, a humble pastor who takes the place of the Good Shepherd. Our new pope will be charged with the task given to St. Peter: “Feed my sheep.” And he will only be successful if he refuses to allow the trappings of his office to distract him from his pastoral duties as the “servant of the servants of God.”

Pope Francis used dramatic gestures and powerful images to call attention to his refusal to let the office of pope overshadow his pastoral ministry. The new pope must find his own way of resisting the temptation to be a great world leader instead of a simple shepherd. We must all help him—by our prayers and by our readiness to listen to his voice and follow him in his role as Christ’s Vicar here on Earth.

In his final “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world) message, Pope Francis said: “The resurrection of Jesus is indeed the basis of our hope. For in the light of this event, hope is no longer an illusion. Thanks to Christ—crucified and risen from the dead—hope does not disappoint! Spes non confundit! [Rom 5:5]. That hope is not an evasion, but a challenge; it does not delude, but empowers us.”

We who have been waiting in hope for our new pope must embrace the opportunity that a new successor of St. Peter represents. May he challenge us, encourage us and love us as Jesus does. And may our waiting be rewarded by the hope that does not disappoint.

—Daniel Conway