Month: May 2025

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Leo XIV asked journalists to be peacemakers by shunning prejudice and anger in their reporting, and he called for the release of journalists imprisoned for their work.

“The suffering of these imprisoned journalists challenges the conscience of nations and the international community, calling on all of us to safeguard the precious gift of free speech and of the press,” the pope said May 12.

Not counting his meeting May 10 with the College of Cardinals, Pope Leo’s first special audience was reserved for members of the media who covered his election and the death of Pope Francis.

“Thank you for the work you have done and continue to do in these days, which is truly a time of grace for the church,” he told the media representatives and staff of the Vatican Dicastery for Communication.

The new pope particularly thanked reporters “for what you have done to move beyond stereotypes and clichés through which we often interpret Christian life and the life of the church itself.”

After giving his speech and his apostolic blessing, the pope personally greeted dozens of journalists. One asked if he would be traveling home to the United States soon, the pope responded, “I don’t think so.”

Asked about the May 13 feast of Our Lady of Fatima, Pope Leo, referring to himself, said, “Cardinal Prevost had planned to go, but the plans changed.”

Another reporter asked the pope if he planned to fulfill Pope Francis’ promise of going to Turkey this year to celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea with Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. The council was held in 325 in what is now Iznik, Turkey.

“We are preparing for it,” the pope responded. But he did not say when the trip would be.

In his formal talk, Pope Leo focused on how the media can promote division and discord or peace.

The Gospel beatitude, “Blessed are the peacemakers,” is a challenge for everyone, he said, but especially for the media. It calls “each one of you to strive for a different kind of communication, one that does not seek consensus at all costs, does not use aggressive words, does not follow the culture of competition and never separates the search for truth from the love with which we must humbly seek it.”

“Peace begins with each one of us: in the way we look at others, listen to others and speak about others,” he said. “In this sense, the way we communicate is of fundamental importance: we must say ‘no’ to the war of words and images, we must reject the paradigm of war.”

The words and style journalists use are “crucial,” he said, because communication is not only about transmitting information; it should create a culture and “human and digital environments that become spaces for dialogue and discussion.”

“We do not need loud, forceful communication, but rather communication that is capable of listening and of gathering the voices of the weak who have no voice,” he said.

“Let us disarm words and we will help to disarm the world,” he said. “Disarmed and disarming communication allows us to share a different view of the world and to act in a manner consistent with our human dignity.”

“You are at the forefront of reporting on conflicts and aspirations for peace, on situations of injustice and poverty and on the silent work of so many people striving to create a better world,” he told the reporters. “For this reason, I ask you to choose consciously and courageously the path of communication in favor of peace.”

The pope had told members of the College of Cardinals that he chose his name in homage to Pope Leo XIII, recognizing the need to renew Catholic social teaching to face today’s new industrial revolution and the developments of artificial intelligence “that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor.”

That technology, he told the reporters, poses special challenges for them. “I am thinking in particular of artificial intelligence, with its immense potential, which nevertheless requires responsibility and discernment in order to ensure that it can be used for the good of all, so that it can benefit all of humanity.”

ROME (OSV News) – When Catholics heard on May 8 the new pope had chosen the name Leo XIV, the thoughts of many turned immediately to Leo XIII, the last pope to bear the name.

That most recent Leo, who served as pope from 1878 to 1903, is especially remembered for articulating the church’s teaching on social justice in a rapidly changing and ever industrialized society. He was also interested in promoting the political, theological and philosophical vision of St. Augustine, the namesake and inspiration of the new pope’s religious congregation, and St. Thomas Aquinas.

Leo XIII, was also known as “the Rosary Pope” for his unmatched 11 encyclical letters on Marian devotion.

Aside from Leo XIII, himself not canonized, there have been 12 others who share a name with the new pope, and five of those predecessors attained the heights of sanctity and have been proclaimed saints.

The first pope to bear the name, Pope Leo the Great (c. 400-461), truly had the character of a lion, from which the familiar papal name draws its meaning. A bold defender of the faith amid times of controversy and division, Leo is also remembered for successfully persuading Attila the Hun to spare Italy from an intended invasion of Italy. In doing so, Leo the Great is credited as one of the most influential patristic-era popes, who greatly increased the church’s influence and authority.

Leo the Great was a steady and sure leader amid many threats to the peace and stability of Roman culture at his time, including famine, disease, poverty and a rise in immigration.

His homilies and writings are evidence of the teaching that helped the church overcome various Christological controversies in the fifth century, in the lead up to the Council of Chalcedon in 451. For his doctrinal clarity and ability to articulate unity, Leo the Great was declared a doctor of the church in 1754, one of only two popes so designated.

Pope Benedict XVI said that Leo the Great taught the church “to believe in Christ, true God and true Man, and to implement this faith every day in action for peace and love of neighbor.”

St. Leo II (611-683), who was elected Peter’s successor two centuries later, only reigned for just under nine months. Remembered for a love of music and a unique skill for preaching, Leo II’s brief pontificate is best remembered today through various hymns he composed for the Liturgy of the Hours.

St. Leo III, who reigned as pope for nearly two decades before his death in 816, crowned Charlemagne Holy Roman Emperor in 800. This honor stemmed from, no doubt, Leo’s gratitude for Charlemagne’s protection of him after an attack on his reputation and his life.

St. Leo IV, whose eight-year pontificate ended in 855, restored several churches in Rome after Muslim invaders plundered the sacred structures. The Italian Renaissance painter Raphael commemorated various scenes associated with Leo IV’s time in office. One fresco called “Battle of Ostia” recalls how Leo IV assembled various naval fleets to defend the ancient port at the mouth of Rome’s Tiber River. Another, “The Fire in the Borgo” depicts how Leo’s blessing extinguished a fire near the Vatican in 847.

The relics of popes Leo II, Leo III and Leo IV are enshrined in an altar in St. Peter’s Basilica, close to another altar that contains the relics of St. Leo the Great.

The most recently sainted Leo, St. Leo IX (1002-1054), brought reform to the church, reiterating mandatory clerical celibacy and defending the church’s belief in Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist amid scandal.

A native of modern-day France, Leo IX was allegedly born with red crosses marking his entire body, considered by some as a form of the stigmata. Divisions between Eastern and Western halves of the church intensified during his pontificate, with the Great Schism coming amid the interregnum just after his death.

The relics of St. Leo IX are also separately enshrined in an altar in St. Peter’s Basilica.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – With a huge and festive crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Leo XIV led his first Sunday recitation of the “Regina Coeli” prayer and urged all Catholics to pray for vocations, especially to the priesthood and religious life.

Before the pope appeared on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica May 11, the crowd was entertained by dozens of marching bands and folkloristic dance troupes who had marched into the square after attending an outdoor Mass for the Jubilee of Bands and Popular Entertainment.

Pope Leo also noted that it was Mother’s Day in Italy, the United States and elsewhere. “I send a special greeting to all mothers with a prayer for them and for those who are already in heaven,” he said. “Happy holiday to all moms!”

Italian officials estimated 100,000 people were in St. Peter’s Square or on the surrounding streets to join the new pope for the midday prayer.

In his main address, Pope Leo said it was a “gift” to lead the crowd for the first time on the Sunday when the church proclaims a passage from John 10 “where Jesus reveals himself as the true Shepherd, who knows and loves his sheep and gives his life for them.”

It also is the day the Catholic Church offers special prayers for vocations, especially to the priesthood and religious life.

“It is important that young men and women on their vocational journey find acceptance, listening and encouragement in their communities, and that they can look up to credible models of generous dedication to God and to their brothers and sisters,” the pope said.

Noting that Pope Francis had released a message in March in preparation for the day of prayer, Pope Leo told the crowd, “Let us take up the invitation that Pope Francis left us in his message for today: the invitation to welcome and accompany young people.”

“And let us ask our heavenly Father to assist us in living in service to one another, each according to his or her state of life, shepherds after his own heart, capable of helping one another to walk in love and truth,” the new pope said.

Setting aside his prepared text, he told young people in the square, “Do not be afraid! Welcome the call of the church and of Christ the Lord.”

After reciting the “Regina Coeli,” he mentioned how the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe was celebrated May 8, the day of his election.

While that is reason to celebrate, he said, “‘the Third World War is being fought piecemeal,’ as Pope Francis often said. I, too, appeal to the leaders of the world, repeating this ever-relevant plea: Never again war!”

Pope Leo prayed for the people of Ukraine, saying, “May everything possible be done to achieve as soon as possible an authentic, just and lasting peace. May all prisoners be freed, and may the children return to their families.” Ukraine says thousands of children have been forcibly taken to Russia during the war.

The pope also told the crowd, “I am deeply saddened by what is happening in the Gaza Strip. Let the fighting cease immediately. Humanitarian aid must be given to the exhausted civilian population, and all hostages must be released.”

He praised India and Pakistan for reaching a ceasefire agreement, but said, “But how many other conflicts are there in the world?”

Pope Leo entrusted his “heartfelt appeal” for peace to Mary, “Queen of Peace, that she may present it to the Lord Jesus to obtain for us the miracle of peace.”

Earlier in the day, Pope Leo had celebrated Mass at an altar near the tomb of St. Peter in the grotto of St. Peter’s Basilica. Father Alejandro Moral Anton, the prior general of the Order of St. Augustine, to which the pope belonged, was the principal celebrant.

Afterward, the Vatican press office said, he stopped to pray at the tombs of popes who are buried in the grotto.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Less than 48 hours after being elected, Pope Leo XIV got in the front seat of a minivan and traveled 40 miles southeast from the Vatican to pray at a Marian shrine cared for by his Augustinian confreres.

And on his way back to the Vatican May 10, he went to Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major, stopping to pray at the tomb of Pope Francis and before the icon of Mary “Salus Populi Romani” (health of the Roman people).

The Vatican press office said he arrived at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Genazzano just after 4 p.m. local time. The shrine is famous for a small fresco of Mary holding the infant Jesus.

A description on a website of Catholic shrines says, “The Christ Child nestles close to his mother. Mary supports Jesus with her left arm. She bends her head toward him, and their cheeks touch tenderly.”

The ancient image is “dear to the order” of Augustinians and was beloved by Pope Leo XIII, whom the new pope is named after, the press office said.

Several hundred people cheered the pope’s arrival at the shrine, and he greeted many of them before going into the shrine to greet the friars. “He stopped in prayer in front of the altar and then in front of the image of the Virgin where he and those present recited the prayer of St. John Paul II to Our Lady of Good Counsel.”

St. John Paul had visited the shrine in April 1993.

The prayer assures Mary that the faithful turn to her with “their hopes and sorrows, their desires and needs, their many tears shed and their yearning for a better future. Turn, O Mother, your gaze upon this people, accept their generous intentions, accompany them on their journey toward a future of justice, solidarity and peace.”

Pope Leo told those gathered at the shrine, “I wanted so much to come here in these first days of the new ministry that the church has given me” to seek Mary’s help “to carry out this mission as Successor of Peter.”

The spoke of his “trust in the Mother of Good Counsel,” who has been a companion of “light, wisdom.”

Before leaving the town, he told the people that the shrine and the Marian image are “a great gift” that carries with it a responsibility. “Just as our Mother never abandons her children, you must remain faithful to her.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Catholic community is alive, beautiful and strong, and it is up to its pastors to protect and nourish the faithful and to help bring God’s hope to the whole world, Pope Leo XIV said.

For that reason, the pope invited the cardinals “to renew together today our complete commitment to the path that the universal church has now followed for decades in the wake of the Second Vatican Council,” and that “Pope Francis masterfully and concretely set it forth in the apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”), he said May 10, in his first formal speech to the College of Cardinals.

He also said that he chose his name in homage to Pope Leo XIII, recognizing the need to renew Catholic social teaching to face today’s new industrial revolution and the developments of artificial intelligence “that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor.”

The pope, who was elected in a conclave of 133 cardinal electors on the fourth ballot May 8, met with members of the college, including non-electors, in the New Synod Hall at the Vatican.

Pope Leo told the cardinals that after his “short talk with some reflections,” which the Vatican press office published, they would have “a sort of dialogue,” which many of them had asked for, “to hear what advice, suggestions, proposals, concrete things, which have already been discussed in the days leading up to the conclave.” Those discussions in the closed-door meeting were not published.

In the text that was released, the pope said the events of the past three weeks, beginning with Pope Francis’ final days, his death and funeral, have allowed them “to see the beauty and feel the strength of this immense community, which with such affection and devotion has greeted and mourned its shepherd, accompanying him with faith and prayer at the time of his final encounter with the Lord.”

“We have seen the true grandeur of the church, which is alive in the rich variety of her members in union with her one head, Christ,” Pope Leo said.

The Catholic Church is “the womb from which we were born and at the same time the flock, the field entrusted to us to protect and cultivate, to nourish with the sacraments of salvation and to make fruitful by our sowing the seed of the Word, so that, steadfast in one accord and enthusiastic in mission, she may press forward, like the Israelites in the desert, in the shadow of the cloud and in the light of God’s fire,” he said.

Because of that, the pope asked the cardinals to renew together their “complete commitment” to the church’s post-Vatican II journey, which was detailed in Pope Francis’ 2013 apostolic exhortation on the proclamation of the Gospel in today’s world.

“I would like to highlight several fundamental points” from the document, he said: “the return to the primacy of Christ in proclamation; the missionary conversion of the entire Christian community; growth in collegiality and synodality; attention to the ‘sensus fidei’ (the people of God’s sense of the faith), especially in its most authentic and inclusive forms, such as popular piety; loving care for the least and the rejected; courageous and trusting dialogue with the contemporary world in its various components and realities.”

“Sensing myself called to continue in this same path, I chose to take the name Leo XIV” for several reasons, he said, but mainly because Pope Leo XIII, “in his historic encyclical ‘Rerum Novarum’ addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution.”

Today, the church continues to offer “everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor,” he added.

Pope Leo XIV, the first pope from the United States, said that, “beginning with St. Peter and up to myself, his unworthy successor, the pope has been a humble servant of God and of his brothers and sisters, and nothing more than this.”

Many popes, and most recently Pope Francis, demonstrated this with his “complete dedication to service and to sober simplicity of life, his abandonment to God throughout his ministry and his serene trust at the moment of his return to the Father’s house,” he said.

“Let us take up this precious legacy and continue on the journey, inspired by the same hope that is born of faith,” he said, reminding the cardinals that it is “the risen Lord, present among us, who protects and guides the church, and continues to fill her with hope.”

“It is up to us to be docile listeners to his voice and faithful ministers of his plan of salvation, mindful that God loves to communicate himself, not in the roar of thunder and earthquakes, but in the ‘whisper of a gentle breeze’ or, as some translate it, in a ‘sound of sheer silence,'” he said.

“It is this essential and important encounter to which we must guide and accompany all the holy people of God entrusted to our care,” he said.

Thanking the cardinals for their role as the pope’s closest collaborators, he said their presence has proven to be “a great comfort to me in accepting a yoke clearly far beyond my own limited powers, as it would be for any of us.”

God, too, “will not leave me alone in bearing its responsibility,” he said, and he knew he would also be able to count on the closeness of “so many of our brothers and sisters throughout the world who believe in God, love the church and support the vicar of Christ by their prayers and good works.”

He concluded his remarks by embracing the hope St. Paul VI expressed at the inauguration of his Petrine ministry in 1963 and he invited them to do the same.

St. Paul prayed that hope “pass over the whole world like a great flame of faith and love kindled in all men and women of goodwill. May it shed light on paths of mutual cooperation and bless humanity abundantly, now and always, with the very strength of God, without whose help nothing is valid, nothing is holy,” he said, quoting the saint.

ROME (CNS) – While it is interesting and perhaps even a point of pride that the new Pope Leo XIV was born in the United States, most of the U.S.-based cardinals who participated in the conclave that elected him said nationality was not a factor.

“I think the impact of him being an American was almost negligible in the deliberations of the conclave and surprisingly so,” Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of Washington told reporters May 9 during a news conference at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

“What surprised me was the real absence of that being a key question at all,” the cardinal said.

Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, retired archbishop of Galveston-Houston, told the reporters that while the cardinals chose a pope who is a U.S. citizen, “he’s really a citizen of the entire world since he has spent so much of his life, ministry, missionary work and zeal for Christ in South America,” mainly in Peru.

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York said, “The fact that he was born in the United States of America, boy, that’s a sense of pride and gratitude for us,” but the new pope is also a citizen of Peru. And he has work in the Roman Curia as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops for the past two years.

“He’s a citizen of the world,” Cardinal Dolan said.

“Where he comes from is now sort of a thing of the past. You know, Robert Francis Prevost is no longer around. It’s now Pope Leo,” the cardinal said. “He’s the pontiff of the church universal. Where he came from, (that’s) secondary.”

The cardinals were asked to what extent could people interpret the election of Pope Leo “as a reflection of the desire of the cardinals to offer a counterweight to the global influence of President Trump.”

Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory, the retired archbishop of Washington, said, “The cardinals were quite aware of things that have occurred in the United States, statements that have been made, political actions that have been taken.”

“But what the cardinals were concerned about primarily, at least from my conversations with them,” Cardinal Gregory said, “was, ‘Who among us can bring us together; who among us can strengthen the faith and bring the faith to places where it has grown weak, bring the faith to places where there seems to be less enthusiasm or appreciation of the common things that draw us together?'”

Cardinal Dolan responded, “It should not startle us that we would look to Pope Leo as a bridge builder. That’s what the Latin word ‘pontiff’ means. He’s a bridge builder. Will he want to build bridges with Donald Trump? I suppose, but he would want to build bridges with the leader of every nation. So, I don’t think at all that my brother cardinals would have thought of it as a conduit to any one person.”

The cardinals at the news conference all mentioned the cardinals going into the conclave looking for someone who could proclaim the Gospel and strengthen the unity of the church while also continuing the approach and projects of Pope Francis.

“We are looking for someone to follow the pathway of Francis, but we are not looking for a photocopy,” Cardinal McElroy said.

Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago, Pope Leo’s hometown, told reporters that the church does not speak of replacements for a bishop or pope, but of successors for them.

“That’s a very important distinction to make, and that is what we were looking for as well,” Cardinal Cupich said. The cardinals asked themselves, “Who could bring forward the not only the ministry and life and tradition of Francis, but everything that preceded him, especially from that pivotal moment of life in the church (that was) the Second Vatican Council.”

Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the papal nuncio to the United States, quoted the French poet Charles Peguy: “Everything begins in mysticism and ends in politics.”

The conclave was the opposite, he said. In the days of preparation for the conclave, the media particularly had taken a political view of the election of the new pope.

“What I experienced was that everything begins in politics and ends in mysticism. This is what we lived” in the conclave, Cardinal Pierre said. The conclave began “in this kind of confusion” of languages, cultures and not knowing each other.

The only solution, he said, was to dialogue and listen to one another, setting aside prejudices and entering into a process of prayerful discernment.

Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, said he had known Pope Leo for 30 years; they were in Rome together in the late 1990s and early 2000s when Cardinal Tobin was superior general of the Redemptorists and Pope Leo was superior of the Augustinian friars. More recently, Cardinal Tobin served as a member of the Dicastery for Bishops, where then-Cardinal Robert F. Prevost was prefect.

Talking about the new pope’s international experience, Cardinal Tobin first referred to him as “Bob” and then corrected himself, “Pope Leo.”

Describing the new pope’s leadership style, Cardinal Tobin said, “I don’t think he’s one that likes to pick fights, but he is not one to back down if the cause is just. And I guess the last thing I’d say about Bob is that he really is a listener, and then he acts.”

Cardinal Tobin said that during the actual election in the Sistine Chapel, when he went up to cast his ballot as the outcome became clearer, he walked by then-Cardinal Prevost, “who had his head in his hands.”

“I was praying for him, because I couldn’t imagine what happens to a human being when you’re facing something like that. And then when he accepted it, it was like he was made for it,” the cardinal said. “All of the anguish or whatever was resolved by feeling — I think — that this wasn’t simply his saying yes to a proposal, but that God had made something clear, and he agreed with that.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Leo XIV will officially inaugurate his papacy with Mass in St. Peter’s Square May 18.

Although he was pope from the moment he accepted his election May 8, the inauguration Mass – which replaced the papal coronation after the pontificate of St. Paul VI – formally marks the beginning of his ministry with his reception of the fisherman’s ring and his pallium, a wool band worn around his shoulders.

The Vatican announced the date for the Mass May 9 along with events on his schedule for the rest of the month.

In a separate statement, the Vatican said the new pope has asked the heads of the dicasteries of the Roman Curia and the offices of Vatican City State to continue in their posts “on a provisional basis.”

When Pope Francis died April 21, and when any pope dies, most of the top Vatican officials lose their positions, giving the new pope a chance to appoint his team. Those reappointed included two women who were the first appointed to their posts and who succeeded cardinals: Franciscan Sister of the Eucharist Raffaella Petrini, who is president of the office governing Vatican City State; and Consolata Missionary Sister Simona Brambilla, prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

In reappointing the officials temporarily, the Vatican said, “the Holy Father wishes to set aside some time for reflection, prayer and dialogue before any final appointment or confirmation is made.”

Here is Pope Leo XIV’s schedule for the month of May released by the Vatican May 9:

— May 10. Meeting with cardinals.

— May 11. Recitation of the “Regina Coeli” prayer at noon from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.

— May 12. Meeting with members of the media covering the conclave and his election.

— May 16: Meeting with diplomats accredited to the Holy See.

— May 18: Mass for the solemn inauguration of the pontificate at 10 a.m. Rome time (4 a.m. EDT) in St. Peter’s Square.

— May 20: Formal possession of the Rome’s Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.

— May 21: Pope Leo’s first weekly general audience.

— May 24: Meeting with members of the Roman Curia and employees of Vatican City State,

— May 25: Recitation of the “Regina Coeli” prayer in St. Peter’s Square. Formal possession of the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, followed by formal possession of Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major.

ROME (OSV News) – He enjoys gelato after lunch, plays tennis weekly in the gardens of the Augustinian Curia in Rome and roots passionately for the Chicago White Sox.

But now, the man once known as Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost — a quiet, thoughtful Augustinian with decades of missionary experience in Peru — is Pope Leo XIV, the 266th successor of St. Peter.

For his brothers in the Augustinian order, his election has been met with a mixture of “joyful disbelief” and deep spiritual affirmation.

“I kept saying, ‘This is incredible,’ but I was also filled with joy,” said Father Joseph Farrell, the American prior general of the Order of St. Augustine. “As soon as I heard Roberto Francesco, I thought, it has to be Prevost. There were tears of joy — I was in the square when it happened.”

Father Farrell describes Pope Leo XIV as a man who leads by example, someone who “would never ask anyone to do anything he wouldn’t do himself.” His leadership, he said, is grounded not in ambition or politics, but in lived humility and fulfillment of the wide range of tasks a missionary might have — from teaching theology in Trujillo, Peru, or changing a flat tire.

“He’s someone who walks with people, who brings them along on the journey,” Father Farrell said. “That’s what mission is. Pope Francis said the church doesn’t just have a mission – it is a mission. I think Leo will continue that.”

The new pope has not yet personally reached out to Father Farrell, something Pope Francis had done on the day of his election when he called the superior general of his own religious order, the Jesuits. But he did send a telling one-word text after the election. “I asked him, ‘Cubs or White Sox?'” Father Farrell shared with a smile. “He just replied: Socks!”

That playful spirit – balanced by a calm, steady presence – is central to how Augustinians see Leo XIV’s upcoming papacy.

“My expectation is that he will be a little bit more reserved (than Pope Francis),” said Father Farrell. “Pope Leo XIV is a man who listens before he speaks, who listens before he acts. He needs that. He will react; he is a man who is very secure in himself, but he always listens first.”

One of the things few may know about the new pope is his commitment to exercise as part of his spiritual balance. “He played tennis here weekly. He realizes just how important staying in good physical shape is. He certainly plays tennis for the joy of the game, to keep up with the game, but also for stress relief!”

Asked if he pictures the newly elected pope continuing with his weekly tennis appointment, the priest said that he’s not sure but wouldn’t rule it out even if there is no tennis court in the Vatican.

While St. John Paul II was known as an athlete pope, the building of a tennis court would have to be the new pope’s task as the Polish one was rather famous for mountain hiking, skiing and swimming.

From Seville, Spain, another Augustinian voice echoed the same blend of affection and admiration. Father Eduardo Martín Clemens, diocesan director of the Pontifical Mission Societies and former missionary in Peru, lived and worked alongside then-Father Prevost in Trujillo.

As a priest, the pope joined the Augustinian mission in Trujillo in 1988 as director of the joint formation project for Augustinian candidates from the vicariates of Chulucanas, Iquitos and Apurímac. He stayed there until 1998.

“I’m convinced the new pope is a gift to the whole church,” said Father Clemens. “The Holy Spirit has been very generous.”

Father Clemens remembers a man who embodied both “the pragmatism of a North American and the open heart of Latin America.” He says then-Father Prevost never treated mission as a task but as a calling so deeply personal that “it was hard to distinguish if he was, in fact, a foreign missionary or Peruvian.”

He recalls weekends spent traveling together to remote corners of the country: “He’d always stop where the suffering was greatest. Whether to hear confessions or simply be present, was close to those in need.”

For Father Clemens, Pope Leo XIV’s spirituality is deeply rooted in the Augustinian tradition, but never at the expense of openness. “He embraced the new without breaking with tradition,” he said. “He was never a man of consensus in the political sense – but a man of communion. He built bridges.”

As a seminary formator and later bishop, the man who is now pope was known for his deep theological knowledge, even of canon law, which he applied “in a pastoral way, never making others feel trapped by rules, but liberated by truth,” said Father Clemens.

In his first public words as pope, Leo XIV quoted St. Augustine: “For you I am a bishop, with you, I am a Christian.” That, Father Clemens says, is exactly who he’s always been.

“In him, apostolic succession takes on flesh,” he said. “He is the man the church needs today – to build bridges and embrace everyone with his heart.”

(OSV News) – The following are key dates in the life and ministry of Pope Leo XIV, elected May 8, 2025, as the 266th successor to St. Peter.

— 1955: Born Sept. 14 in the Chicago area.

— 1977: Graduated from Villanova University near Philadelphia and entered the novitiate for the Order of St. Augustine in St. Louis.

— 1978: Professed first vows as a member of the Order of St. Augustine.

— 1981: Professed solemn vows as a member of the Order of St. Augustine.

— 1982: Ordained a priest of the Order of St. Augustine.

— 1984: Earned a licentiate in canon law from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome.

— 1985: Sent to work in the mission of Chulucanas, in Piura, Peru, until 1986.

— 1987: Elected the vocations director and missions director for his order’s Midwest province, Our Mother of Good Counsel.

— 1988: Moved to Trujillo, Peru, to direct a joint formation project for the region’s Augustinian aspirants. Over the course of a decade in Trujillo, he served as the community’s prior (1988-1992), formation director (1988-1998) and as an instructor (1992-1998).

— 1989: Began serving the Archdiocese of Trujillo for nine years as its judicial vicar; was also a professor of canon, patristic and moral law in the San Carlos e San Marcelo Major Seminary.

— 1999: Elected prior provincial for the Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel in Chicago.

— 2001: Promoted to his order’s prior general, considered its supreme authority that oversees its administration and governance. He was reelected to that role in 2007, holding it for a total of 12 years until 2013.

— 2013: Served for a year as a “teacher of the professed” and provincial vicar.

— 2014: Appointed by Pope Francis to be apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru. He was simultaneously named a bishop, but of the titular diocese Sufar, under which title he was ordained a month later on Dec. 12, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

— 2015: Appointed bishop of Chiclayo on Sept. 26.

— 2018: Served as second vice president of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference until 2023.

— 2019: Appointed a member of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy.

— 2020: While still bishop of Chiclayo, appointed apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Callao, Peru, a role he held until May 2021. He was also appointed to the Congregation for Bishops.

— 2023: Appointed prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, named president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and granted the title archbishop Jan. 30; installed in those roles April 12. On Sept. 30, elevated to the College of Cardinals.

— 2025: Elected pope May 8, taking the name Leo XIV.

(OSV News) – The following are key dates in the life and ministry of Pope Leo XIV, elected May 8, 2025, as the 266th successor to St. Peter.

— 1955: Born Sept. 14 in the Chicago area.

— 1977: Graduated from Villanova University near Philadelphia and entered the novitiate for the Order of St. Augustine in St. Louis.

— 1978: Professed first vows as a member of the Order of St. Augustine.

— 1981: Professed solemn vows as a member of the Order of St. Augustine.

— 1982: Ordained a priest of the Order of St. Augustine.

— 1984: Earned a licentiate in canon law from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome.

— 1985: Sent to work in the mission of Chulucanas, in Piura, Peru, until 1986.

— 1987: Elected the vocations director and missions director for his order’s Midwest province, Our Mother of Good Counsel.

— 1988: Moved to Trujillo, Peru, to direct a joint formation project for the region’s Augustinian aspirants. Over the course of a decade in Trujillo, he served as the community’s prior (1988-1992), formation director (1988-1998) and as an instructor (1992-1998).

— 1989: Began serving the Archdiocese of Trujillo for nine years as its judicial vicar; was also a professor of canon, patristic and moral law in the San Carlos e San Marcelo Major Seminary.

— 1999: Elected prior provincial for the Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel in Chicago.

— 2001: Promoted to his order’s prior general, considered its supreme authority that oversees its administration and governance. He was reelected to that role in 2007, holding it for a total of 12 years until 2013.

— 2013: Served for a year as a “teacher of the professed” and provincial vicar.

— 2014: Appointed by Pope Francis to be apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru. He was simultaneously named a bishop, but of the titular diocese Sufar, under which title he was ordained a month later on Dec. 12, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

— 2015: Appointed bishop of Chiclayo on Sept. 26.

— 2018: Served as second vice president of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference until 2023.

— 2019: Appointed a member of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy.

— 2020: While still bishop of Chiclayo, appointed apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Callao, Peru, a role he held until May 2021. He was also appointed to the Congregation for Bishops.

— 2023: Appointed prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, named president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and granted the title archbishop Jan. 30; installed in those roles April 12. On Sept. 30, elevated to the College of Cardinals.

— 2025: Elected pope May 8, taking the name Leo XIV.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Where Christians are “mocked, opposed, despised or at best tolerated and pitied” is where the Catholic Church’s “missionary outreach is most desperately needed,” Pope Leo XIV said in his first homily as leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

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,” the new pope told cardinals May 9 during Mass in the Sistine Chapel. 

“This is the world that has been entrusted to us, a world in which, as Pope Francis taught us so many times, we are called to bear witness to our joyful faith in Jesus the savior,” he said.

The day after his election, the new pope returned to the chapel where his fellow 132 cardinals elected him pope — the first U.S. citizen, first Peruvian citizen, first Augustinian friar and likely the first Chicago White Sox fan to become pope — to celebrate his first Mass with the College of Cardinals.

Wearing black shoes instead of the traditional red associated with the papacy and walking into the Sistine Chapel carrying Pope Benedict XIV’s papal ferula, or staff, the pope processed into the chapel.

After two women read the Mass readings in English and Spanish – a possible nod to the new pope’s U.S. and Peruvian background – he greeted the cardinals in English, marking his first public use of the language.

“Through the ministry of Peter, you have called me to carry that cross and to be blessed with that mission,” he said, “and I know I can rely on each and every one of you to walk with me as we continue as a church, as a community of friends of Jesus, as believers, to announce the good news, to announce the Gospel.”

The Mass, largely in Latin, was celebrated at a portable altar brought into the Sistine Chapel, as opposed to the fixed altar which requires the celebrant to face East, away from the congregation.

In his homily, spoken in Italian, Pope Leo said God had called him to be a “faithful administrator” of the church so that she may be “a beacon that illumines the dark nights of this world.”

“And this, not so much through the magnificence of her structures or the grandeur of her buildings, like the monuments among which we find ourselves, but rather through the holiness of her members,” he said, standing before Michelangelo’s “The Last Judgment” in the Sistine Chapel.

Reflecting on Jesus’ question to the apostle Peter in St. Matthew’s Gospel — “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” — Pope Leo said one might find two possible responses: the world’s, which considers Jesus “a completely insignificant person” who becomes “irksome because of his demands for honesty and his stern moral requirements,” and that of ordinary people, who see him as an “upright man, one who has courage, who speaks well and says the right things.”

“Even today, there are many settings in which the Christian faith is considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent,” he said. In these settings, “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,” the pope said.

And in many settings in which Jesus is appreciated, the pope said, he can be “reduced to a kind of charismatic leader or superman.”

“This is true not only among nonbelievers but also among many baptized Christians, who thus end up living, at this level, in a state of practical atheism,” he said. “Therefore, it is essential that we too repeat, with Peter: ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'”

“I say this first of all to myself, as the successor of Peter, as I begin my mission as bishop of Rome,” he said. Referencing St. Ignatius of Antioch, he said the commitment for all who exercise authority in the church is “to move aside so that Christ may remain, to make oneself small so that he may be known and glorified, to spend oneself to the utmost so that all may have the opportunity to know and love him.”

Before the Mass, video footage of the pope’s first hours in office circulated online. A video released by the Vatican showed him greeting the cardinals who elected him, praying alone in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace and wearing black, not red, shoes.

After his election and presentation to the faithful May 8, a video posted online showed Pope Leo returning to the Vatican residence where he had briefly lived as a cardinal before entering the conclave that elected him pope.

Greeting people who lived in the building, he posed for selfies and gave his blessing.

A girl asked the new pope to bless and sign a book; with a smile he replied: “I need to practice the signature! That old one is no good anymore.” And while signing, he asked, “Today is?” to a roar of laughs to those around him.