We have a new pope, but the challenges he faces are not.

Pope Francis presented himself as a reformer when he chose his name, drawing inspiration from St. Francis of Assisi. St. Francis was chosen by God to “rebuild my church,” reflecting Pope Francis’s desire for reform.

The reforms most urgently needed when Francis assumed the papacy were a church in financial shambles and ongoing fallout from the sexual abuse crisis.

While he certainly made progress in some areas, no one denies that his work on both fronts was left incomplete.

The Catholic Church’s financial deficit only grew under Francis, and mere months before he died, Francis warned in a letter that the Vatican’s pension fund was in serious trouble and would require “difficult decisions.” One Vatican expert described it as a “five alarm fire.” Shortly before he died, one of the banks managing Vatican funds cut ties over ongoing money laundering concerns.

The financial scandal haunted him even after his death, as the public face of Vatican financial scandals and corruption — convicted criminal Cardinal Becciu —  tried to force his way into the conclave, despite the late pope’s explicit directions that he be excluded.

Pope Francis’ handling of reform over sexual abuse was convoluted. He formed a commission that he allegedly neglected, and was then dogged by controversy such as accusing abuse victims in Chile of “calumny” – something he later walked back – and, near the end, of inaction about the disgraced artist Fr. Marko Rupnik whose eerie murals he did nothing about despite multiple accusations of Rupnik’s sexually abusing nuns.

This is not to diminish the godly man that Francis was or taint his legacy.

But like any institution, if the Catholic Church is to move beyond the scandal, we cannot do so with rose-colored glasses.

Pope Leo XIV inherits a Church that remains in urgent need of good governance. Which may very well be why he was chosen. America — while no exception to scandal — has a reputation for efficiency and rule of law, and the Catholic Church in America enjoys relative financial health.

On the issue of abuse, the American church has become the gold standard of reform. I’m a mom of five, and I can’t even volunteer for recess duty or read a book to my son’s preschool class without being fingerprinted, undergoing a background check, and taking a course on child protection.

In 2014, I travelled to Geneva to testify before the United Nations on the matter of the church and abuse, where I was proud to speak about the reforms the Church has put into place that make it a model to other institutions dogged by the same scourge.

There will be plenty of spin about Pope Leo XIV, but his pontificate will certainly be measured — as the late Pope Francis’ is now — by his ability to actuate real reform on issues that remain real spiritual obstacles for the faithful today.

Which brings me to one more challenge he faces: the issue of church unity.

Pope Francis, undoubtedly trying to stave off schism in parts of Europe, opened what he called the “synodal process.”

This process brought laity and clergy alike to the table and opened discussions on issues that were once considered clear, such as the question of communion for the divorced and remarried.

His intentions were noble and consistent with his desire to walk closely with those who are hurting in addition to bringing a polarized church together.

But it had the opposite effect. Catholics in the West are more polarized than ever. And to the average Catholic in the pew for whom the word “synodal” is meaningless, the synods were an exclusive gathering of celebrity Catholics that left them more confused and less united than ever.

Pope Leo XIV mentioned the synodal way explicitly in his first address to the world. Defining what exactly it means without further driving wedges will be very tricky.

Already, many are rushing to interpret his choice in name, and it won’t be long before we have plenty of experts on Rerum Novarum, an encyclical written by the last pope to take Leo as his name.

Like all of the Church’s social teaching, it won’t fit into any one political box, as it takes on unbridled capitalism and socialism in the same breath by uncompromisingly asserting respect for the dignity of the human person.

That we are discussing it 134 years later speaks to the enduringly relevant, foundational truths expressed in Catholic social teaching.

Pope Leo XIV faces the daunting task of teaching those truths with both clarity and compassion in a way that unites the Church, all while tackling the challenges it faces in the immediate term.

Sounds daunting. But Pope Leo XIV is beginning his pontificate in the Jubilee Year of Hope. We can only be optimistic.

Ashley McGuire is a Senior Fellow with The Catholic Association and co-host of the nationally syndicated radio show, “Conversations with Consequences.”