We are still getting used to having a new pope so much so that it has taken me nearly a week to gather my thoughts about this special time in Rome – a moment of grace for the whole Church. I think I share the sentiments of many of those gathered in St Peter’s Square last Thursday when I say that it was like love at first sight when Robert Francis Cardinal Prevost walked out onto the central loggia of the Papal Basilica as the newly elected Pope, taking the name Leo XIV.
Many images have since surfaced on social media platforms telling the story of a seemingly unnoticed prelate, with pastoral and curial experience, from his time as an Augustinian friar, missionary and bishop in Peru, who has travelled around the world including South Africa. This is perhaps a signal that the Lord has been quietly preparing the 69-year-old Pope Leo XIV for his new ministry as universal shepherd of the Church, beginning providentially in this Jubilee Year of Hope, when we will continue to offer prayers and sacrifices for the intentions of the Holy Father.
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| 8 May 2025 First Appearance of Pope Leo XIV Credit: Vatican Media |
There is already a great deal of excitement around what kind of leader the new Pope would be (not that that really matters, afterall the Church belongs to Christ, and as St John XXIII once quipped, Pope Leo could also go to bed at night without much trouble). One thing is sure, the Holy Father has taken up the baton of peace from his predecessor, and indeed, from the Risen Christ, greeting the admiring crowd – peace be with all of you – a message filled with Easter promise!
As he stood on that balcony, visibly moved yet portraying inner strength, he soon resembled the vigour with which the young St John Paul II started his papacy; he even sounded like JPII when he told young people on Vocations Sunday, do not be afraid! Like Karol Wojtyla, he is an alumnus of the Dominican Angelicum University in Rome, where he completed his doctorate on the role of a prior as a servant-leader in an Augustinian community, a hint as to how he would later carry out his own ministry as prior general of the same Order. Pope Leo has already shown that, like the beloved Polish Pope, he has a deep devotion to Our Lady, having already invoked her intercession for the miracle of peace.
Our new Holy Father demonstrates an intellectual affinity with Benedict XVI, as a cooperator of the Truth which Pope Leo will proclaim in love (cf. Eph 4:15). Both would be well-versed in Augustinian thought, which is steeped in contemplation of the Scriptures, the mystery of the Eucharist and the primacy of grace. Like the Theologian Pope, and as a true son of St Augustine, Pope Leo has already been speaking about truth, unity, and charity, attested to in his papal motto, “in the One Christ, we are one”.
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| Official Portrait and Coat of Arms Credit: Vatican Media |
Pope Leo certainly uses the language of inclusion so dear to Pope Francis. Prevost served as a missionary in Latin-America, in the manner of Bergoglio, with the smell of the sheep. He is aware, like Pope Francis, that he has been chosen in mercy; the papacy is a grace from God through which Leo would build bridges in the whole Church and in our divided world - unity in diversity.
Though I see some connection between Pope Leo and the three popes of the "New Millenium" (whom Prevost met in his different capacities), I don't think that he'll be a mere “copy” of any of them. Rather, continuing along the path of his predecessors, he will bring the Church into dialogue with the modern world, addressing the present-day social ills, just as the last Pope Leo did at the turn of the twentieth century. But he will do so as Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV. Given his unassuming nature, deep faith and commitment to Christ and his Church, it feels good to watch his papacy unfold, even though it is still early days. I must admit, it’s refreshing that our first North American Pope uses English at the best of times! But we would do well to get to know Pope Leo XIV on his own terms.
Breaking somewhat with the spontaneity of the first papal addresses of his predecessors, Pope Leo had a prepared text for his first “Urbi et Orbi” blessing to the City of Rome and the World. More like a lamb than a leone, he spoke about the missionary dimension of the Church; as followers of Christ, we will continue walking together, fearlessly proclaiming the Good News, so that peace and justice may prevail in all corners of the globe.
In his homily for the Mass with the Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel, offered "For the Church", Pope Leo developed what he had said the previous evening. He spoke about the content and the context of the Church's announcement of the gospel. This proclamation is centred on Jesus, he who is the Christ, the Son of the living God. The one Saviour of the world, revealing the face of the Father, says Pope Leo, is 'a model of human holiness that we can all imitate, together with the promise of an eternal destiny that transcends all our limits and abilities'. Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, is the content of the Church’s proclamation.
The Pope went on to admit that 'even today, there are many settings in which the Christian faith is considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent. Settings where other securities are preferred, like technology, money, success, power, or pleasure'. Pope Leo sees such situations as the 'contexts where it is not easy to preach the Gospel and bear witness to its truth, where believers are mocked, opposed, despised or at best tolerated and pitied. Yet, precisely for this reason, they are the places where our missionary outreach is desperately needed. A lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society'. And so, continuing the unbroken chain of apostolic tradition, the message will reach the ends of the earth (cf. Acts 1:8).
It does feel good to be Catholic in this moment in history. I will never forget the experience of witnessing that white smoke and the thrill of being in that cheering crowd. The whole world has been focussed on “Vatican Hill”, with the experience of the death of one pope and the election of another. But, Pope Leo (in a meeting with the Cardinals in the days following his election), underlined the fact that the Church is an ark of salvation for many and a beacon of light for all; it is not the grandeur of her monuments but the holiness of her members which makes the proclamation of the gospel credible.
This is very much in keeping with the Church's emphasis on the universal call to holiness by the Second Vatican Council (cf. Lumen Gentium chapter 5) and the renewed call to announce the gospel proposed by Pope Francis in his first Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel, 24 November 2013). From this document, Pope Leo highlighted the following priorities for the Church's commitment to the gospel: the return to the primacy of Christ in proclamation (cf. No. 11); the missionary conversion of the entire Christian community (cf. No. 9); growth in collegiality and synodality (cf. No. 33); attention to the sensus fidei (cf. Nos. 119-120), especially in its most authentic and inclusive forms, such as popular piety (cf. No. 123); loving care for the least and the rejected (cf. No. 53); courageous and trusting dialogue with the contemporary world in its various components and realities (cf. No. 84; Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 1-2). 'These', Pope Leo stresses, 'are evangelical principles that have always inspired and guided the life and activity of God’s Family'.
With a word of peace on our lips, then, we will continue to live as pilgrims of hope in communion with Leo our Pope in this Jubilee Year. This hope is alive with the desire for justice and peace in our times. It is a pilgrimage together from the earthly city to the city of God, to that place of everlasting peace!
Viva il Papa!
The Pilgrim
Fr Runaine James Radine
15 May 2025
Feast of St Matthias, Apostle
