Warm welcome for Pope Leo XIV

The election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as the new pope has been greeted enthusiastically around the world. Named Leo XIV, he is the first American to be elected pope.

The Redemptorists of Oceania were quick to congratulate the new pope. Fr Sam Kono CSsR, Acting Provincial said, “With gratitude, we congratulate our new leader of the Catholic Church, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost who chooses the name Pope Leo XIV. May he be enriched by the Spirit as he commences his papacy. We assure him of our prayers for this new ministry. May wisdom shine, hope increase, and love prevail. Viva il Pope Leo XIV.”

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) also offered its congratulations. Conference president, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, said, “The election of Cardinal Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XIV is yet again a sign of the wisdom behind the Italian saying that ‘those who enter the conclave as a pope inevitably emerge from the conclave as a cardinal’,” Archbishop Costelloe said.

“He will be warmly welcomed by the Church in Latin America, as Pope Francis was, by the Church in the United States from where he comes, from the English-speaking world as a native English speaker, and from the whole Church as a man of God steeped in the rich spirituality of his Augustinian Religious Order.

“As Pope Leo XIV, our new pope will bring the benefit of his wide experience to the many challenges and opportunities before him.”

Archbishop Costelloe said the new pope would guide the Church with renewed hope and strength. He said Pope Francis had “reminded us that unity does not demand uniformity, but rather openness to the rich diversity of the many cultures and traditions which are part of our Christian heritage”.

Pope Leo XIV was born on September 14, 1955, in Chicago. He entered the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine (OSA) in the province of Our Lady of Good Counsel, in Saint Louis in 1977.

He studied at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago and was ordained in 1982. Two years later he was sent to work as a missionary in Chulucanas in Piura, Peru. In November 2014, Pope Francis appointed him apostolic administrator of the diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, elevating him to bishop.

In March 2018, he became second vice president of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference. On January 30, 2023, Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Prevost as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

Feature image: Newly elected Pope Leo XIV appears at the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino).

Second image: Pope Leo XIV waves to the crowd in St Peter’s Square after his election as pope (CNS/Vatican Media).

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