<html><head></head><body><div style="font-family: Verdana;font-size: 12.0px;"><p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Friends,</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-top:8px; margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">By now, you will have heard about the election of the new Pope – an American –something that would have been unthinkable in the past</span></span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-top:8px; margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">However, the former Cardinal Robert Prevost has been described as the “least American of the American bishops”. The BBC provided this description of him:</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="sc-9a00e533-0" style="margin-top:8px; margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><i><span style="color:#202224"><span style="letter-spacing:-.25pt">“He is the first American to fill the role of Pope, although he is considered as much a cardinal from Latin America because of the many years he spent as a missionary in Peru, before becoming a bishop there.</span></span></i></span></span></span></p>
<p class="sc-9a00e533-0" style="margin-top:8px; margin-bottom:8px; text-align:start"><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-variant-ligatures:normal"><span style="font-variant-numeric:inherit"><span style="font-variant-east-asian:inherit"><span style="font-variant-alternates:inherit"><span style="font-variant-position:inherit"><span style="font-variant-emoji:inherit"><span style="font-stretch:inherit"><span style="font-optical-sizing:inherit"><span style="font-size-adjust:inherit"><span style="font-kerning:inherit"><span style="font-feature-settings:inherit"><span style="font-variation-settings:inherit"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><i><span style="color:#202224"><span style="letter-spacing:-.25pt">Born in Chicago in 1955 to parents of Spanish and Franco-Italian descent, Prevost served as an altar boy and was ordained as a priest in 1982. Although he moved to Peru three years later, he returned regularly to the US to serve as a pastor and a prior in his home city.</span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="sc-9a00e533-0" style="margin-top:8px; margin-bottom:8px; text-align:start"><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-variant-ligatures:normal"><span style="font-variant-numeric:inherit"><span style="font-variant-east-asian:inherit"><span style="font-variant-alternates:inherit"><span style="font-variant-position:inherit"><span style="font-variant-emoji:inherit"><span style="font-stretch:inherit"><span style="font-optical-sizing:inherit"><span style="font-size-adjust:inherit"><span style="font-kerning:inherit"><span style="font-feature-settings:inherit"><span style="font-variation-settings:inherit"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><i><span style="color:#202224"><span style="letter-spacing:-.25pt">He has Peruvian nationality and is fondly remembered as a figure who worked with marginalised communities and helped build bridges.</span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="sc-9a00e533-0" style="margin-top:8px; margin-bottom:8px; text-align:start"><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-variant-ligatures:normal"><span style="font-variant-numeric:inherit"><span style="font-variant-east-asian:inherit"><span style="font-variant-alternates:inherit"><span style="font-variant-position:inherit"><span style="font-variant-emoji:inherit"><span style="font-stretch:inherit"><span style="font-optical-sizing:inherit"><span style="font-size-adjust:inherit"><span style="font-kerning:inherit"><span style="font-feature-settings:inherit"><span style="font-variation-settings:inherit"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><i><span style="color:#202224"><span style="letter-spacing:-.25pt">He spent 10 years as a local parish pastor and as a teacher at a seminary in Trujillo in northwestern Peru.”</span></span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-top:8px; margin-bottom:8px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">He gave an impassioned address in fluent Italian, followed by a greeting in Spanish to his former diocese in Peru and concluded with a benediction in Latin. He speaks five languages: including French and Portuguese in addition to his mother tongue, English.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">His first message to the world was the need for peace and reconciliation.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">People around the world will be watching how he approaches the difficult role of trying to bring so many warring factions together.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Let’s keep him in our prayers,</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Roswita</span></span></span></span></span></span></p></div></body></html>