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HABEMUS PAPAM! He received more than the required 2/3 of
the votes cast by the 133 Cardinals that participated on May 8, 2025, the Feast
of Our Lady of Pompeii. As the 267th
Pope, he gave his first greeting and blessing to the world! He spoke in Italian and Spanish, but not
English to show that he is the Pope for all.
He appealed for the intercession of Mary by reciting the Hail Mary
prayer. Over the weekend he visited the
Augustinian Shrine of Our Lady of Good Council, an hour drive from Rome.
As
kids in the late 1950s, his older brothers played cowboys and Indians; little
Rob Prevost, the youngest of three boys (no sisters), played priest. From that early age, God had a special
mission for little Rob; He has a special mission for each one of us. But who would even dream what mission little
Rob had?
God
does not choose the qualified; He qualifies the chosen. God prepared Robert Prevost for an awesome
mission and that preparation over his 69 years made him ready when the time
came on May 8, 2025. His father of French
descent was a Navv veteran of the Normandy Invasion and a district public school
superintendent while his mother of Haitian descent was a librarian, both
college graduates and very faithful Catholics in the working-class neighborhood
of South Chicago. They were active
members of St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church and sent their children
to its school. There Rob was an altar
boy and member of the choir. Thus Robert
Prevost grew up in an intellectual and faith environment, good for nurturing a
vocation.
After
eighth grade, he entered St. Augustine High School Minor Seminary in Michigan. While excelling academically, his activities
included student council, editor of the yearbook, and debate, balanced to this
day by swimming and tennis.
In 1977 he graduated from the Augustinian Villanova University in Philadelphia with a degree in Mathematics. Then he formally entered the Augustinian novitiate, taking his final vows in 1981, and accepting priestly ordination in 1982.
The
Augustinian Order took notice of his talents and encouraged him to continue his
studies…...Master of Divinity from the Catholic Theological Union in 1982 while
teaching Math and Physics at a Catholic high school. He obtained a doctorate in Canon Law in 1987 from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome,
becoming fluent in Italian and well versed in Latin. Along the way he became fluent in Spanish and a good grasp of
French, Portuguese, and German besides his native language of birth.
Now
Fr. Prevost served the Diocese of Chulucanas in Northern Peru 1985-86. After serving as Vocations Director and
working with the novices in the U.S. he returned to Peru in 1988. Apparently, Fr. Prevost found his niche,
teaching Canon Law at the diocesan seminary and heading the Augustinian
Seminary in Trujillo, serving as a judge on the ecclesiastical court, and doing
parish work which included even traveling on horseback. At that point he was probably resigned to
spending the rest of his life as a missionary priest in Peru. Little did he know!
From 1998-2013 he was elected to serve as Prior Provincial and later Prior General of the order worldwide. By then he was noticed by the Vatican and was appointed Apostolic Administrator in 2014 and then Bishop of Chiclayo, Peru the following year. He was elected Vice President of the Peruvian Bishops Conference. In accordance with a concordat, Bishop Prevost became a naturalized citizen of Peru.
In 2023 Pope Francis appointed him as Prefect of the Dicastery of Bishops despite his preference to remain in Peru after 20 years there and a few months later made him a Cardinal. At that point Cardinal Prevost became known among those close to the Vatican. He was responsible for advising Pope Francis on the appointment and evaluation of Bishops around the world. He was also appointed to be a member of seven additional dicasteries.
Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) and Pope Leo XIV (2025- )
What’s
in a name? Cardinal
Prevost and everyone else were taken by surprise. An American Pope was out of
the question for fear of domination by the superpower. He
didn’t have much time to think of a name and his opening greeting. The name he chooses serves as a vision and
direction of his Papacy, a model to follow and continuity. Pope Leo XIII was his inspiration.
On May 15, 1891 this pioneer of social justice published his landmark encyclical, Rerum Novarum: On the Condition of Labor in the aftermath of the Industrial Revolution. His ideas were revolutionary at the time, applying biblical Christian principles to the social problems of the day, a time of rampant abuses and exploitation of the working man in gross violation of his human dignity. The Pontiff condemned child labor, sweat shop working conditions often unsafe, unjust wages, long hours, etc. He asserted the right of workers to organize. He promoted the concept of the just wage for an honest day's work.......sufficient to modestly support a typical family without the mother having to work because of poverty.
He condemned Socialism (excessive government ownership and control of the means of production and the economy at the expense of individual freedom) as well as the abuses of unrestrained Capitalism while asserting the right to own private property. However, the owner has the duty to use his property (wealth) not only for himself, but also for the common good because God created the riches of the world for all. He espoused the Principle of Subsidiarity.......that decisions should be made as much as possible at the level of the community and family, not Big Government. The popes were really the precursors of social change, having stimulated reforms and labor laws around the world to correct the abuses. Succeeding popes followed with new social encyclicals to update Rerum Novarum to new conditions and problems on May 15 of 1931, 1961, 1971, 1981, and 1991 without contradicting their predecessors. See www.usccb.org/resources/foundational-documents-catholic-social-teaching.
Fast
forward to the 21st Century and we have “a new challenge for the
defense of human dignity, justice, and the worker”……artificial intelligence and
robotics, a second industrial revolution, a digital revolution. "AI must be in the service of truth." Furthermore, Leo XIII was a Marian Pope,
having written numerous encyclicals on Mary.
Pope Leo XIV has a devotion to Mary, praying the rosary every day. Thus the former Cardinal Robert Prevost,
chose his new name as Pope Leo XIV.
What can we expect of the new Pope? Based on prior statements, he is conservative
on Church doctrine gender, and pro-life issues, but progressive on social
justice, immigration, and ecology. Yet
he wants the Church to be welcoming to all.
He will be an ardent peacemaker as all the Popes have been. Like Pope Francis, he follows the simple life
of service and is a unifier that advocates dialogue and bridge building where
Christ is the bridge between God and man.
Being a humble and excellent listener, he will continue the synodal
movement, but he will have the last word.
We can expect him to be welcoming to the participation of women in the Church, but wth limits. As Bishop of Chiclayo, Peru the nuns were very helpful. As prefect of the Dicastery of Bishops, he included a couple of women. Being more intuitive and right brained, they can pick up on things that left brained men will often miss. Women have been invaluable in schools and hospitals, for example. Great entrepreneurs in the Church include St. Mother Cabrini, Mother Angelica, and St. Mother Drexel, among others.
Pope Leo is controlled, pastoral, down-to-earth, gentle, soft-spoken, calm, modest, and serene in his dealings, but firm, a low key yet determined style with self-assurance. He is a man of deep faith rooted in prayer. He knows the inner workings of the Vatican bureaucracy. He's committed to the 2nd Vatican Council and greater participation for women. His math background helps him to be methodical with clarity in his pronouncements.
Interesting
is his first audience with the media. He emphasized the role of journalists……to
serve truth and promote peace by disarming words that can incite and
divide. “Let us disarm communication of
all prejudice and resentment, fanaticism and even hatred.” See
Pope Leo has a great appreciation of the importance of the 23 Eastern rites in the Church, which has its origins in the East. Someday the rest of the Orthodox, separated by the schism of 1054, will return to Rome and the path will be via the Eastern rites. The apostles adapted the liturgy and traditions to their rich cultures without compromising doctrine. Only a few days into his pontificate, Pope Leo spoke at the Jubilee of Eastern Churches. “It is vital, then, that you preserve your traditions”. See the Meeting With Pope Leo XIV: A New Hope for the Eastern Churches. He opened his talk with the traditional greeting of Eastern Catholics: “Christ is risen” and the reply is “Indeed He is risen”.
The upper half of the shield is blue with a fleur-de-lis, or lily, indicates purity, the Holy Trinity, devotion to Mary, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The lower half of the shield presents the figure of a closed book beneath a pierced heart aflame. The symbol refers to the conversion of St. Augustine, who described his experience as a personal encounter with God, about whom he wrote: “You have pierced my heart with your Word.”
Beneath
the shield on the coat of arms is Pope Leo’s episcopal motto in Latin, “In
Illo Uno Unum.” As St. Augustine explained,
“Although we Christians are many, in the
one Christ we are one. We are many and
we are one — because we are united to him”.
The Pontiff explained that “unity and communion are truly part of the charism of the Order of St. Augustine, and also of my way of acting and thinking…..I believe it is very important to promote communion in the Church, and we know well that communion, participation, and mission are the three key words of the Synod. So, as an Augustinian, for me promoting unity and communion is fundamental.”
Pope Leo XIV will be greatly influenced by the charism of the Augustinian Order formed in the 13th Century and inspired by its patron, St. Augustine of Hippo…..a mendicant order (living like monks but out in the world serving). Their way of life promotes unity, community living, contemplative spirituality, humility, simple living, and poverty for its members, attuned to the emotional needs of the people, utilizing the power of love in service and evangelization. Pope Leo XIV is committed to the poor and disadvantaged, building community among them.
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