This afternoon these ancient words announced the election of a new Pope, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, the first Pope from the United States of America, the first Pope who belongs to the Augustinian Order, who has taken the name Leo XIV. It is interesting that the previous Pope Leo XIII, a Pope at the end of the 19th century, brought a new spirit to the Papacy and was an ardent advocate for workers and social justice in his encyclical “Rerum Novarum” as well as someone who sought to reach out to those of other faiths and to engage and organise the laity.
The Pope who blessed Rome gave his blessing to the world, to the entire world, that Easter morning.Allow me to follow up on that same blessing: God cares for us, God loves all of us, and evil will not prevail! We are all in God’s hands. Therefore, without fear, united hand in hand with God and among ourselves, let us move forward.”
We pray for our new Pope, Leo XIV, who undertakes a tremendous burden in leading the Church in our troubled times. Now that the excitement and expectation of the past number of days has come to a conclusion, in union with Pope Leo XIV and in his own words “let us move forward”