The last three popes each confronted a defining crisis of their time. John Paul II stood face-to-face with the brutal realities of communism and answered them with spiritual defiance and moral clarity. Benedict XVI responded to a rising tide of relativism, defending the Church’s intellectual foundations with humility and brilliance. Francis stepped into a world fractured by violence, division and indifference, calling for encounter where the world had chosen isolation. 

Each of them faced history with a distinct charism. Now, the next pope must confront a quieter but even more devastating threat: moral collapse. 

This collapse is not marked solely by wars or ideologies, but by a crisis of clarity and conviction. Truth is treated as personal taste. Conscience is divorced from moral formation. Holiness is exchanged for relevance. Perhaps most dangerously, digital culture conditions us to prioritize image over substance, performance over prayer, and tribalism over communion. 

The Church cannot remain neutral in the face of such spiritual decay. It must speak clearly, not only to the suffering but also to the spiritually numb. The next pope must lead that charge with the clarity, courage and pastoral conviction that defines saints. 

I grew up in the legacy of John Paul II, a pope whose courage was pastoral as much as political. His writings, especially Evangelium Vitae (“The Gospel of Life”), feel as though they were written precisely for this cultural moment. He showed us the Church’s vocation: not to retreat from the world’s brokenness, but to step into it with courage and mercy. 

Benedict XVI carried forward the intellectual and spiritual clarity that also defined his predecessor. In Caritas in Veritate (“Charity in Truth”), he wrote that “to defend the truth, to articulate it with humility and conviction, and to bear witness to it in life are exacting and indispensable forms of charity.” He understood that relativism was not merely cultural drift but spiritual danger, hollowing out society from within. His theology offered precision and protection, providing an anchor for the Church amid the disorientation of modern life. 

Pope Francis, in Fratelli Tutti (“All Brothers”), confronted the divisions and tribalism that characterize our era, calling us back to the dignity of encounter. He taught us that dialogue is not weakness but strength, precisely because truth has nothing to fear from genuine engagement. 

What unites these three popes is fidelity to truth, each expressed uniquely through their own lives and teachings. The next pope must embody this fidelity with prophetic boldness. He must name the idols of our age — comfort, digital distraction, radical autonomy and indifference — and challenge us to something greater. 

We do not need a pope who caters to popularity or who carefully manages public relations with curated statements. We need a pope who boldly proclaims eternal truths, unafraid of controversy or misunderstanding. He must embrace his role as fundamentally pastoral, intellectual and prophetic. He must remind a spiritually starving world that freedom without truth is slavery, conscience is sacred, and faith, though deeply personal, is never private. 

The papacy is not meant to reflect the spirit of the age but to redeem it. This is the great challenge, and urgent responsibility, awaiting the next successor of Peter.