By Fr. Shay Cullen, PREDA Founder
The election of Cardinal Robert Prevost, a 69-year-old Augustinian missionary to Peru, as pope on May 8 signaled a clear desire among his fellow cardinals for continuity in the urgent reforms and renewal of the Catholic Church initiated by his predecessor Pope Francis. Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, is a leader committed to human rights and dignity, the cause of the oppressed and migrants, and the pursuit of social justice. This is mainly the reason he chose the name Leo, after Pope Leo XIII, a most influential pontiff who responded to the challenges of the Industrial Revolution in the late 19th century.
Pope Leo XIII laid the foundation for the Catholic Church’s social teaching with his landmark 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum. At that time, there was immense social upheaval marked by ideological struggles between repressive socialism and uncontrolled exploitative liberal capitalism. The document addressed the vital importance of workers’ rights and human dignity. Pope Leo XIII highlighted the dehumanizing effects of mechanized production and warned against the growing concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few elite families, corporations, and oppressive nations.
Globalization today presents a serious challenge where exploited workers from impoverished communities in the developing world labor long hours for meager wages – often in inhumane conditions – to produce consumer goods for wealthy nations. Addressing this injustice will be a major challenge for the new pope.
Pope Leo XIV is carrying forward this mission in todays’ world. In a recent appeal, he called for peace and an end to the starvation of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, saying the elderly, children and families still surviving there are “reduced to starvation.” He also emphasized that war-torn Ukraine “awaits negotiations for a just and lasting peace.”
“In our time, we still see too much discord and too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalizes the poorest. For our part, we want to be a small leaven of unity, communion, and fraternity within the world… in Christ we are one,” he said.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, to migrant parents of French, Italian, and Spanish ancestry, Pope Leo XIV speaks several languages and holds dual citizenship with Peru, where he served as a missionary for 20 years. He now faces the challenge of responding to today’s evolving industrial revolution, marked by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) – a force creating more unemployment, poverty, and human suffering, realities he witnessed during his time in South America. Thousands of impoverished people in the Global South, living under cruel and unjust governments, are fleeing disasters brought about by climate change and political repression. They journey to the Global North as asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants in search of safety and work. Yet many are turned away, and denied the opportunity to settle in wealthier countries. While some remain in migrant camps in Europe, countless others have been deported unjustly by the current U.S. administration. Pope Leo XIV expresses deep compassion, understanding, and solidarity with them.
“My own story is that of a citizen, the descendant of immigrants, who, in turn, chose to emigrate. All of us, in the course of our lives, can find ourselves healthy or sick, employed or unemployed, living in our native land or in a foreign country, yet our dignity always remains unchanged: it is the dignity of a creature willed and loved by God,” Pope Leo IV told an audience composed of the diplomatic corps in Rome recently.
Robert Prevost was ordained in 1982 at the age of 27. He studied canon law in Rome before being assigned by his order, the Order of Saint Augustine, to serve in Peru. He became the order’s leader from 2001 to 2013, during which he visited many countries, including the Philippines. In 2015, he was appointed bishop of Chiclayo in northwestern Peru, and in 2023, he was elevated to the rank of a cardinal , marking a significant step on his path to the papacy.
Pope Francis appointed him head of the Dicastery of Bishops, an important Vatican office that oversees the selection of bishops worldwide. In that role, he came to know many bishops personally – their strengths as well as their weaknesses. One of the pressing challenges he faced then, and continues to face now, is the widespread clerical child abuse crisis, often worsened by bishops who cover up such abuses. There are also bishops who prioritize money over God and faith, dressing up in fine robes, enjoying the pomp, and presiding from their ornate cathedral thrones- far removed from the humble service expected of them. In contrast, Pope Leo XIV has walked through village mud with the people, and he expects bishops everywhere to do the same.
He said, “The bishop is not supposed to be a little prince sitting in his kingdom.” “The Church leader,” he emphasized, “is called authentically to be humble, to be close to the people he serves, to walk with them, to suffer with them.” Speaking about bishops who failed to hold pedophile priests accountable and covered up their abuses, he added: “Silence is not the solution. We must be transparent and honest; we must accompany and assist the victims, because otherwise their wounds will never heal.”
His words offer hope that he will actively pursue justice for victims of clerical child abuse and bring an end to the tolerance, cover-up, and silence surrounding this heinous crime. Hopefully, he will urge bishops to compel child-abusing priests to repent and accept punishment from the civil courts for their crimes. Only then can the cycle of abuse be truly broken.
Above photos were taken from https://www.congregatiojesu.org/encounters-with-pope-leo-xiv-in-peru/
