Habemus papam! Pope Leo XIV

Photo Credit: CNS/Lola Gomez

I share joy at the announcement of our new Holy Father, Leo XIV, a native of Chicago.  We pray for our newly elected Pope, with great hope for the future of the outreach of our Church into the world under his leadership.

You will find, below, access to various articles which will give you some background on Pope Leo XIV, concerning his Augustinian religious charism, ministry in South America, administrative work under Pope Francis, and childhood in Chicago.  I am particularly intrigued and assured by the name, Leo, chosen with reference to Leo the Great and Leo XIII, whose encyclical Rerum Novarum established the balanced view of Catholic social teaching for the Church in the modern world.  Along with Leo XIV’s institution of the theology of St Thomas Aquinas as the standard for Catholic teaching, and Leo XIV’s own spiritual connection to St Augustine, I am excited to see how the teachings of those two pre-eminent Doctors of the Church will influence the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV.    

"We pray for our newly elected Pope, with great hope for the future of the outreach of our Church into the world under his leadership."        

In this Easter season of the Jubilee Year Pilgrimage of Hope, we give thanks to God for the pontificate of Pope Francis, and for the credibility of our Church which has been renewed in the world through Francis’ answer to the call to ministry to the poor and the oppressed.  We call upon the Holy Spirit to guide our new Holy Father, Pope Leo, and look forward to the future with renewed faith, hope and love in Jesus.  May we be blessed and inspired with all graces as we pray for our Holy Father and prepare to assist him to bring the Good News forth into the world. 

+Most Reverend Stephen J. Berg

 Bishop of Pueblo

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