LEO XIV | What's In A Name? What's In A Speech?

When Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope, this blogger, like many, wept for joy. When Pope Benedict XVI resigned, this blogger, confused and disappointed, wept in sorrow.

Yesterday morning I woke up to the news that Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Prevost, had been elected by his fellow cardinals to the Office of Peter. The video that popped up on the phone captured His Holiness visibly emotional. A man in his position unmoved by the moment would be suspect of pride. Instead, it was not pride but utter sincerity on display, a sincerity of heart born by a man appreciating the profundity of the moment and the intensity of the crowd gathered to acknowledge God's gift to the Church: the ministry of Peter.

Projection

One's predisposition toward a conclave can say much more about us as individuals than about the man now occupying the Office of Peter. Thankfully, the distraction of personal goings on has provided this blogger with a useful dissociative state that is helping him to avoid gravitating toward one extreme or another, gushing approval or whingeing disappointment.

Well done, Cardinal-electors, you've yet again confounded the predictions of the pundits, and the artificial intelligence machines have been proven incompetent, too.

It is highly unfortunate that major voices in the blogosphere, triggered by the absence of their man on the loggia, are using their platforms to characterize Leo XIV's election as "disastrous" and "a confirmation of everything Francis." Ironically, they quote disparaging tidbits from the very mainstream media they usually loathe. Others, say of a liberal or heterodox bent, sport a dopey grin as if they themselves chose Pope Leo XIV and now expect him to conform to their particular values.

Yes - this blogger had his favourites for pope. Of course, yours truly is not a cardinal, so the point is moot. Rather, our role as members of the laity was and is to pray, to keep praying now that a choice has been made. God works with imperfect people. God provides grace to those who accept and cooperate with Him for the good of souls.

Over the centuries, there have been outstanding popes, wicked popes, incompetent popes, and decent popes. The Church endures. A decent pope can hardly correct overnight the course taken by an incompetent or wicked pope. It may take a dozen decades to bring about positive change, to reorient elements within the Church toward a better example of truth, goodness, and beauty. God inspires men and women to saintly activities. Saints arise when they are most needed, in the midst of the darkest of times.

Let's cut Pope Leo XIV some slack. If those worrying he's going to be a "Pope Francis II", take a moment to consider the preceding reflection and pray for the Supreme Pontiff that, in the time allotted to him, he may be a faithful shepherd. Will he be perfect? Let's hope he's perfectly contrite when he needs to be and a perfect steward of the doctrine of Christ who calls people to live and believe as Christ wills for our salvation. We can hope, too, that he will be mindful of Pope Benedict's authoritative reminder, "What was once holy remains holy."

Roar

Let's bring to mind the obvious—Leo means lion. The Church needs a lion to teach the Faith of Jesus Christ that liberates us from sin and death. The Church has lions: Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke; Salvatore Joseph Cordileone (lion hearted), Archbishop of San Francisco; Francis "Frank" Cardinal Leo, Archbishop of Toronto, Canada.

The previous Leo, the XIII, was the first to appear on film (1896), the "new media" of his day. Leo XIII issued Rerum Novarum (1891), a document that created its own controversy.

Rerum novarum (Rerum novarum semel excitata cupidine/That the spirit of revolutionary change), or Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor, is an encyclical issued on 15 May 1891, that addressed the condition of the working classes. It supported the rights of labor to form unions, rejects both socialism and unrestricted capitalism, while affirming the right to private property.

A rejection of socialism probably provoked adherents to that diabolical ideology to rage. A rejection of laissez-faire capitalism probably caused greedy businessmen to froth at the mouth and become even greedier. Pope Leo XIII's necessary encyclical was timely and has proven to be prophetic for our own age.

Rerum novarum is considered a foundational text of modern Catholic social teaching, and supplemented by later encyclicals, in particular Pius XI's Quadragesimo anno (1931), Pope Saint John XXIII's Mater et magistra (1961) and Pope Saint John Paul II's Centesimus annus (1991), each of which commemorates an anniversary of the publication of Rerum novarum.

Signs that might temper a rush to judgement.

• Pope Leo XIV read from a prepared script. A subtle sign he will not subject the flock of Christ to scandal caused by careless improvisations?
• He wore the traditional vesture at the window possibly signaling his deference to the Office rather than asserting his personal style.
• Pope Leo XIV is a missionary bishop committed to evangelization, to sharing the love of God, which was emphasized in his first speech.

Let's also wait and see where Pope Leo XIV will make his first apostolic journey.

1. Pope Saint Paul VI: Holy Land (January, 1964)
2. Pope Saint John Paul II: Dominican Republic, Mexico, and the Bahamas (January, 1979)
3. Pope Benedict XVI: United States (April, 2008)
4. Pope Francis: Lampedusa (Italy, 2013)

First words are important. They can point us to the character of the Successor of Saint Peter and to his intentions.

Pope Saint John Paul II | 164 words

Praise be to Jesus Christ.

Dear brothers and sisters,

We are still grieving after the death of our dearly beloved Pope John Paul I. And now the Eminent Cardinals have called a new bishop of Rome. They have called him from a distant country... distant, but always so close through communion in the Christian faith and tradition. I was afraid to accept this appointment, but I did so in the spirit of obedience to Our Lord Jesus Christ and with total trust in his Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

I don’t know if I can express myself well in your ... our Italian language. If I make a mistake, you will correct me. And so I present myself to all of you, to confess our common faith, our hope, our trust in the Mother of Christ and of the Church, and also to begin again on this path of history and of the Church, with the help of God and with the help of men.

Pope Benedict XVI | 88 words

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

After the great Pope John Paul II, the Cardinals have elected me, a simple and humble labourer in the vineyard of the Lord.

The fact that the Lord knows how to work and to act even with inadequate instruments comforts me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers.

Let us move forward in the joy of the Risen Lord, confident of his unfailing help. The Lord will help us and Mary, his Most Holy Mother, will be on our side. Thank you.

Pope Francis | 319 words

Brothers and sisters, good evening!

You know that it was the duty of the Conclave to give Rome a Bishop. It seems that my brother Cardinals have gone to the ends of the earth to get one... but here we are... I thank you for your welcome. The diocesan community of Rome now has its Bishop. Thank you! And first of all, I would like to offer a prayer for our Bishop Emeritus, Benedict XVI. Let us pray together for him, that the Lord may bless him and that Our Lady may keep him.

[Our Father... Hail Mary... Glory Be...]

And now, we take up this journey: Bishop and People. This journey of the Church of Rome which presides in charity over all the Churches. A journey of fraternity, of love, of trust among us. Let us always pray for one another. Let us pray for the whole world, that there may be a great spirit of fraternity. It is my hope for you that this journey of the Church, which we start today, and in which my Cardinal Vicar, here present, will assist me, will be fruitful for the evangelization of this most beautiful city.

And now I would like to give the blessing, but first - first I ask a favour of you: before the Bishop blesses his people, I ask you to pray to the Lord that he will bless me: the prayer of the people asking the blessing for their Bishop. Let us make, in silence, this prayer: your prayer over me.

[...]

Now I will give the Blessing to you and to the whole world, to all men and women of good will.

[Blessing]

Brothers and sisters, I leave you now. Thank you for your welcome. Pray for me and until we meet again. We will see each other soon. Tomorrow I wish to go and pray to Our Lady, that she may watch over all of Rome. Good night and sleep well!

Here are the first words of the Supreme Pontiff Leo XIV, Thursday, May 8, 2025. | 479 words

Vatican News

• https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-05/pope-leo-xvi-peace-be-with-you-first-words.html

Peace be with you! 

Dearest brothers and sisters, this was the first greeting of the risen Christ, the good shepherd who gave His life for the flock of God. I, too, would like this greeting of peace to enter your hearts, to reach your families and all people, wherever they are; and all the peoples, and all the earth: Peace be with you.

This is the peace of the Risen Christ, a disarming and humble and preserving peace. It comes from God. God, who loves all of us, without any limits or conditions. Let us keep in our ears the weak but always brave voice of Pope Francis, who blessed Rome - the Pope who blessed Rome and the world that day on the morning of Easter.

Allow me to continue that same blessing. God loves us, all of us, evil will not prevail. We are all in the hands of God. Without fear, united, hand in hand with God and among ourselves, we will go forward. We are disciples of Christ, Christ goes before us, and the world needs His light. Humanity needs Him like a bridge to reach God and His love. You help us to build bridges with dialogue and encounter so we can all be one people always in peace.

Thank you Pope Francis!

Thank you to my Cardinal brothers who chose me to be the Successor of Peter and to walk together with you as a united Church searching all together for peace and justice, working together as women and men, faithful to Jesus Christ without fear, proclaiming Christ, to be missionaries, faithful to the gospel.

I am a son of Saint Augustine, an Augustinian. He said, “With you I am a Christian, for you a bishop." So may we all walk together towards that homeland that God has prepared for us.

To the Church of Rome, a special greeting:

We have to look together how to be a missionary Church, building bridges, dialogue, always open to receiving with open arms for everyone, like this square, open to all, to all who need our charity, our presence, dialogue, love.

[In Spanish]

And if you'll allow me a word, a greeting to everyone, and in particular to my beloved diocese of Chiclayo, in Peru, where a faithful people have accompanied their bishop, shared their faith, and given so much, so much, to continue being the faithful Church of Jesus Christ.

Y si me permiten también una palabra, un saludo a todos y en modo particular a mi querida diócesis de Chiclayo, en el Perú, donde un pueblo fiel ha acompañado a su obispo, ha compartido su fe y ha dado tanto, tanto, para seguir siendo Iglesia fiel de Jesucristo.

[Returning to Italian]

To all you brothers and sisters of Rome, Italy, of all the world, we want to be a synodal church, walking and always seeking peace, charity, closeness, especially to those who are suffering.

Today is the day of the Supplicatio [Plea] to Our Lady of Pompei.

Our blessed mother Mary always wants to walk with us, be close to us, she always wants to help us with her intercession and her love. So let us pray together for this mission, and for all of the Church, and for peace in the world.

We ask for this special grace from Mary, our Mother.

Hail Mary...

- - -

Official Transcript

• https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2025/05/08/250508a.html