For the first time in the more than two-thousand-year history of the Catholic Church, an American holds the Papacy. In fairness to the U.S., we've only been in existence for 250 of those years. However, in terms of a shift, it reflects the deep cultural and economic power that the Catholic Church is shifting its leadership here.

In its long history, the Catholic Church has shunned both America and American Catholics. That has thawed in recent decades, and with Leo XIV, the hope seems to be that American Catholics will be fully embraced.

Why the change? For starters, it's a financial one. Before his death, Pope Francis realized the dire straits of the Church. "Now, in the final weeks of his life, advisers were filtering in and out of his austere reception room, presenting the details of a microstate awash in priceless treasures but tumbling deeper into debt. The budget deficit had tripled since the Argentine took office, and the pension fund faced up to 2 billion euros in liabilities it wouldn't be able to fund."

The solution? Boost donations.

The Wall Street Journal reports, "On February 11, he signed a chirografo, or papal directive, to boost donations. Three days later, he was hospitalized with double pneumonia. On April 21, he died, leaving his soon-to-be-chosen successor with a similar economic puzzle to the one Francis himself had inherited."

Leo XIV walks into a Papacy that is deeply in debt after spending decades fighting off scandal. It's a church that, while regaining its footing from the worst of the sex scandals, is still burdened by them.

Peggy Noonan gets it right in her column, "We will find in coming days what the thoughts of the members of the conclave were, and how they chose him. But it isn't a big jump to assume part of the story is that the Vatican is in grave financial crisis, and the Roman Curia has never faced a boss who is assumed to be versed in the general principles of American management."

That's not to say Leo XIV was elected to be an accountant or the chief fundraiser. However, everyone broadly assumes that selecting an American Pope will help the Vatican raise more funds from wealthy American donors than in the past.

Frankly, I hope it does. The Catholic Church is still needed and performs great good.

If you don't believe me, go look at the Obama-Biden administration, which specifically targeted Catholics. That administration spent years trying to force Little Sisters of the Poor to offer contraceptives, which violated their religious beliefs. They fought all the way to the Supreme Court and won in a stunning 7-2 decision in 2020.

Their victory spawned the last dissent ever authored by Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

But the struggles are real, too. The Journal notes in its deep dive: "The result is a paradox. A tiny country of unfathomable riches has been unable to sustain the basic functions of a state without running a perilous deficit. The country, per capita, has one of the highest percentages of residents working in finance. Yet its budget is ultimately controlled by clergy more versed in the spiritual mission of the Church than the nuts and bolts of running a government, bank or treasury department."

Pope Francis was from Argentina and witnessed firsthand how poor economic planners derailed that country. His predecessor, Benedict, is partially responsible for the state of the Church to begin with.

Beyond the divides of conservative and liberal, Augustinian and Jesuit, lies a more pressing problem: how does the Catholic Church emerge from its current hole?

Robert Francis Prevost knows these problems. In his position, he helped Francis select new bishops and cardinals. He's seen the inner workings of the Vatican and knows what Francis dealt with - he's not walking into this blind. And the Church itself is turning to an American-by-birth, hoping he can bring the economic might and generosity of U.S. Catholics to bear on the problem.

Some critics of this line of thinking claim that the Church has more important things to do, like saving souls, than worrying about money. And I'd agree—as a Christian myself, I do hope many souls are saved and brought to Jesus Christ.

I'm not blind to reality, however. If the Church can't function or flourish with the means it has, and is beset by theft, embezzlement, and scandal, it will be that much harder to pull souls into the kingdom.

I pray for Pope Leo XIV. The Catholic Church needs wisdom and divine leadership; I pray he will deliver it.