By UZOMA ODUIGWE, Editorial Consultant

The recent election and coming on board of Gratulatio Pope Robert Francis Prevost, as Pope Leo XIV on the global religio-Catholic scene has been described as a very welcome development, especially if viewed from the perspective of what global Christendom stands to gain from his emergence.

For one thing, it provides an opportunity for the convocation of a 3rd Vatican Council that hopefully, as many watchers expect, would frontally address the myriad of challenges facing Catholicism and Christianity, and most especially the palpable fear of Christianity?s global extinction in no distant future given the spate of attacks brought against it, except urgent, drastic measures are taken to forestall such.

According to a release dated Sunday May 11, 2025 from their Onitsha, Anambra State, Eastern Nigeria base and signed by the trio of International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) officers ? Emeka Umeagbalasi, Criminologist, Conflict and Peace Studies Scholar/Lead Researcher/Group Head, Intersociety; Chinwe Umeche, Esq. Human Rights Lawyer/Head, Democracy and Good Governance and Ekene Bede Umeagu, Head, Religious Freedom and Human Rights, the Pope, ?represents a global Catholic faith of members numbering over 1.4billion.? So, standing on their behalf in a spiritual fatherly position, makes him responsible for their welfare both physically and spiritually, no matter their geographical locations, nationalities and culture.

?Father Robert Francis Prevost,? Intersociety noted, comes on board as ?the new leader of this wide, broad and diverse group of the world?s faithfuls, conservatively estimated to number over 2.4billion Christians ? comprising over 1.4billion Catholics and 1billion other Christian faithfuls, spread across more than 157 countries and territories of the world,? Intersociety observed.

Hence, a threat to their religio-socio and geographical inallienable rights to existence, should be a matter on the front burner of this papacy?s administration?s focus.

Giving the magnitude and the weight of his new assignment and calling, despite he perhaps being the youngest of popes in the papacy linage to ascend this position, (he taking over at age 69), and also being the newest successor to the throne of (Saint Peter De Apostle who was the first Pope that reigned about AD35 to AD70), and whose consensus choice to that position, was devoid of rancor and unhealthy rivalries, Intersociety is of the view and looks forward to a ?robust positive turnaround of the current palpable fortunes of the Christian faith globally under his watch.?

It would be recalled that Intersociety had not too long ago in the media public domain, raised an alarm on an increase of global anti-christianity fuelled jihadist movements ? killings, displacements of Christians, many being prosecuted by various jihadists groups and many other unjust treatments against the members of the Christian faith, many with the tacit supports and backings from world leaders and some international organisations of which such jihadist onslaughts have claimed millions, if not billions of lives, globally with whole societies completely wiped out or forcefully dislodges from their native home lands, their vast cultivated farmlands overrun by Fulani animal herders and turned to cattle ranches ? all these are not beyond the knowledge of both the new pope and the papacy in Rome.

Consequently, Intersociety, in this their latest report, conclusively, sees the coming of the new pope as another ?golden opportunity? for among many other outstanding and pending issues, the need for ?a Convocating of the Third (3rd) Vatican Council, that would frontally address a myriad of the above and other challenges facing global Catholics, along with the defense of the Christian Faith,? especially as enumerated above, the report noted.

?Moving forward,? according to Intersociety, ?now that the Seat of Pope is no longer vacant (Ex Post Pontiff Sede Vacante),? the time has come for an Agenda setting towards a stronger, well protected and refined Catholicism and Global Defense of the Christian Faith.

?The Intersociety is therefore calling on the new Pope Leo XIV to perform like, if not more than Father Carol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul 11), who admirably reigned as 264th Pope from October 16, 1978, to March 2, 2005.?

According to Intersociety, ?He was a reformist Catholic Pontiff of unparalleled reference who on May 7, 2001 became the first Pope to visit a mosque when he entered the Great Omayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, during which both the Pope and the Syrian Islamic leaders offered a minute?s silent prayers at the tomb of Saint John the Baptist located inside the Mosque.?

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