Referring to Matthew 16:13-20, Fr. Jonas talks about leadership and the papacy at the 5:30 p.m. Mass at the St. Francis Chapel in the Prudential Center in Boston on Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026.

Text of the homily

Who has the final say?

Although we crave autonomy and freedom in the United States, we still seek guidance in authority figures, especially influencers and experts. Even corporations like Meta shape our attitudes and behaviors with their products and commercials. Such leaders make the urgent the most important thing and seek immediate reactions and gripes from us.

For example, a fellow priest complained to me about recent additions to baseball, such as the ghost runner in extra innings, the pitch clock and ABS. He thought they chipped away the human element and the natural flow in baseball. I, on the other hand, thought they reformed a game overinflated with delays and errors. Any debate must remember the ultimate vision and historical context.

For at least 150 years of professional baseball, changes in the game serve the higher purpose of letting players fairly decide the games on the field and reducing umpire mistakes. The game stays fun and exciting.

Likewise, there is a higher purpose in the Church: in his great love for us, Jesus wants His divine life to flourish in us, His Mystical Body, the Church, without errors and divisions threatening it.

        Good leaders always remember the ultimate vision for the organization and hold everyone accountable to it. Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, entrusts that mission to the pope, who protects the deposit of faith contained in Scriptures and Tradition. Today’s Gospel recounts the establishment of this authority with Jesus’ words to Peter: “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.”

Our Lord even gave Peter his vision for the Church: “The gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”  When Jesus’ divine life flourishes in a united Church, by their deeds and example, Christians can yank sinners from the grasp of hell.

We must remember this purpose when the world and the enemy of our human nature want to discourage and mire us in the latest tweaks and sound bites of scandals, controversies and hurts in the Church. We can confront those things because we recall Jesus’ higher vision.

Like us, my founder, Venerable Pio Bruno Lanteri, lived through chaos and upheaval with the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars. He found stability in the papacy when he wrote, “The truth is that which comes from the chair of Peter.”

Who has the final say? I trust in Jesus’ choice in Peter and his successors, not on their merits, but on the Holy Spirit, who guides this office, so that life in the Church always flourishes till Jesus comes again.