<div dir="ltr">Interesting - Thanks for sending.<div>Mary</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Fri, May 9, 2025 at 10:16 AM John MacMillan via Sundaycommunity <<a href="mailto:sundaycommunity@lists.integralshift.ca">sundaycommunity@lists.integralshift.ca</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default"><br><br>
<div><h1><font size="4">Leo XIV, a pope of balance and appeasement</font></h1> <font size="4"><span> By <a href="http:///en/signataires/benoit-vitkine/" target="_blank">Benoît Vitkine</a>, <a href="http:///en/signataires/sarah-belouezzane-1/" target="_blank">Sarah Belouezzane</a> and <a href="http:///en/signataires/amanda-chaparro/" target="_blank">Amanda Chaparro</a> <span>(Cuzco (Peru) correspondent)</span> </span> </font> <span><font size="4">Published today at 10:29 am (Paris), updated at 11:45 am</font></span><font size="4">The American Robert Francis Prevost's affiliation with the mendicant order of the Augustinians, known for their commitment to tradition and charity, and his understanding of the Curia contribute to a reassuring image. Grounded in modernity and mindful of the marginalized, his pontificate promises 'unity' and collegiality.</font> </div> <p><font size="4">When his name was announced, there was a murmur of confusion among the crowd gathered in Saint Peter's Square, Rome. "Prevost? Who is he?" In the election for the Throne of St. Peter, observers saw him as a serious candidate due to his ability to unite and bring peace to the Church. However, to the general public, Robert Francis Prevost, the 267<sup>th</sup> pope of the Catholic Church and the first to come from the United States, is unknown.</font></p> <p><font size="4">When white smoke appeared from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel on Thursday, May 8, shortly after 6 pm, onlookers were still betting on the victory of Pietro Parolin, former second in command to Francis and the anticipated favorite for the papacy. "It will be him, Parolin, with the papal name Paul VII," predicted two French priests. The speed with which the election was concluded – four rounds of voting, totaling 24 hours of conclave – seemed to support this hypothesis.</font></p> <p><font size="4">But it was Robert Prevost, from the Order of Saint Augustine, who was elected. He took the papal name Leo XIV. This choice places the new pontiff in the continuity of Leo XIII, the pope who forged the Church's social doctrine, notably through the encyclical <em>Rerum Novarum</em> ("Of New Things"), published in 1891. In short, the promise of a pontificate rooted in modernity and concerned for the poor, the marginalized, the excluded – the "peripheries," as Francis would have said, to whom Leo XIV paid a heartfelt tribute in his first speech.</font></p> <font size="4"><img width="90" height="60" alt="Newly elected Pope Leo XIV appears on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, on May 8, 2025." style="margin-right: 0px;"> <img src="<a href="https://img.lemde.fr/2025/05/09/0/0/4000/2666/1920/0/75/0/a630e40_sirius-fs-upload-1-z6rou59vpd1y-1746772264729-327389.jpg" target="_blank">https://img.lemde.fr/2025/05/09/0/0/4000/2666/1920/0/75/0/a630e40_sirius-fs-upload-1-z6rou59vpd1y-1746772264729-327389.jpg</a>" alt="Newly elected Pope Leo XIV appears on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, on May 8, 2025." /> </font><br> <p><font size="4">"We have to look together how to be a missionary church (...) 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," he said in a statement that sounded like an action plan, longer than tradition dictates.</font></p> <div id="m_6172042118052384796gmail-inread_top" aria-hidden="true"><div id="m_6172042118052384796gmail-google_ads_iframe_/128139881/lm_lemonde_en_abo/international/international/article/inread_top_0__container__" style="border:0pt none;margin:auto;text-align:center;width:300px;height:0px"></div></div> <p><font size="4">With his face framed by glasses, visibly moved, Prevost also called for "peace" in the world, pronouncing the word ten times. Described as "shy and less outgoing than Francis" by one of his American colleagues stationed in Rome, Jesuit priest David McCallum, Leo XIV spoke in a strong, assured voice in Italian, tinged with a slight accent.</font></p> <h2><font size="4">The pope of the Americas</font></h2> <p><font size="4">The 69-year-old did not appear intimidated by the crowd, nor by the Roman pomp: Prevost is a Curia cardinal, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops since January 2023, a position he was appointed to by Francis. In this role, he has been able to forge ties with Churches worldwide and demonstrate his leadership abilities.</font></p> <p><font size="4">"American pope," the symbolism is immense in a world marked by the erratic governance of Donald Trump. Prevost has repeatedly criticized the American president, particularly regarding the mass and indiscriminate expulsions of migrants. On Thursday evening, the US president hailed "a great honor" for his country, but the coexistence between the two men promises to be delicate. The American episcopate, which clashed with the Trump administration on this issue of migrants, should see its authority strengthened.</font></p> <div><font size="4"><span>Read more</span><span> <span><span>Subscribers only</span></span> <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2025/05/09/leo-xiv-a-global-citizen-engages-in-us-public-debate_6741072_4.html" target="_blank">Pope Leo XIV, a global citizen who engaged in US public debate</a> </span> </font></div> <p><font size="4">In the hustle and bustle of Saint Peter's Square, Leila Brown, 23, from Washington State with her younger sister, said she could "never imagined we could have an American pope. I thought the Church would be afraid to give too much power to Americans in the international context. But I hope he will bring love to our country, that we stop hating our neighbor for their skin color."</font></p> <div><font size="4"> Help us improve Le Monde in English </font></div> <font size="4"><a href="https://refairelemonde.typeform.com/to/L6zwZ9Yi#source=WAINR" target="_blank"> <div>Dear reader,</div> <div>We’d love to hear your thoughts on Le Monde in English! Take this quick survey to help us improve it for you.</div> <div>Take the survey</div> </a> </font> <p><font size="4">However, Prevost, a native of Chicago, Illinois, is more likely the pope of the Americas than of the United States. When he switched from Italian, it was to speak in Spanish and greet his "dear diocese of Chiclayo," in Peru, where he was bishop for eight years. The holder of a Peruvian passport, he spent three decades in the country.</font></p> <font size="4"><img width="90" height="60" alt="During a Corpus Christi celebration in a stadium in Chiclayo, Peru, on June 19, 2015." style="margin-right: 0px;"></font> <p><font size="4">A man of cultural syncretism, Leo XIV is also a pope of synthesis. It is likely this thirst for unity and peace that secured his election, following a pontificate by Francis that some in the Church experienced as harsh. Even though the conclave's secrets are not – yet – known, it seems that the figure of Pietro Parolin, long described as consensual, ultimately proved divisive.</font></p> <h2><font size="4">Subtle game of symbols</font></h2> <p><font size="4">For the members of the College of Cardinals most attached to Jorge Bergoglio's legacy, the American fits into an obvious continuity. He was one of the most determined supporters of the Argentine pope, who made him a cardinal in September 2023. In his first address from the balcony of Saint Peter's Basilica, he twice saluted his predecessor and followed in his footsteps by emphasizing the need for "dialogue," "encounter," and "bridges" that the Church must build.</font></p> <p><font size="4">More specifically, in an allusion to a program of action, he mentioned the "synodal church" dear to Francis. In 2023 and 2024, Prevost participated in the synod on the future of the Church, a large assembly aimed at making the institution more inclusive. "We want to be a synodal church, walking and always seeking peace," Leo XIV emphasized.</font></p> <p><font size="4">This promise is not just a pledge to the faithful of Francis; it aligns with the American's convictions. A missionary, a man of the field, recognized like his predecessor for his pastoral qualities, he explained in a rare interview with <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2023-05/archbishop-prevost-the-bishop-is-a-pastor-not-a-manager.html" rel="noopener" title="Nouvelle fenêtre" target="_blank"><em>Vatican News</em> in May 2023</a> that churchmen often care about "teaching doctrine" at the risk of "forgetting that our first task is [...] to communicate the beauty and joy of knowing Jesus." In the same interview, he also explained that the process of choosing bishops should be "more open to listening to the different members of the community." Enough to satisfy the "Bergoglians," attached to the advent of a more open and less clerical Church governance.</font></p> <p><font size="4">But through a subtle play of symbols, Leo XIV also managed to address those left discontent with the Francis era, conservatives first and foremost. On the balcony of the basilica, he appeared wearing the traditional ceremonial attire, the red mozzetta and a stole embroidered with the figures of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. In 2013, the appearance of Francis dressed in a white cassock set the tone for his pontificate: Simple, humble, but also, for his detractors, nonchalant, disorganized and autocratic. During the general congregations preceding the conclave, many cardinals expressed their desire for more peaceful and less personal governance, even at the cost of losing flamboyance.</font></p> <h2><font size="4">Navigating the 'universal church'</font></h2> <p><font size="4">"Clothing is a symbol and a message, as strong as words," said Roberto Regoli, a professor of Church history at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Prevost thus reassures both the outside and the inside of the Church. For the specialist, the new pope sends a "message of unity" and presents himself as "a pope of balance."</font></p> <p><font size="4">Leo XIV explicitly recalled the need for unity within the Church: "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," he declared.</font></p> <p><font size="4">His affiliation with the mendicant order of the <em>Augustinians</em>, known for their commitment to tradition and brotherly charity, his solid knowledge of canon law and the Curia further contribute to building this reassuring image. As the head of his dicastery and, previously, of his order, he has dealt with churchmen from around the world. A position that undoubtedly taught him to navigate the different cultures that make up the universal Church. "He is someone who knows how to listen," McCallum, who met him in the context of the synod on synodality, agreed. "He is not focused on himself and is dedicated to his task. He also knows how to make difficult decisions."</font></p> <font size="4"><img width="90" height="60" alt="Pope Leo XIV's childhood home in Dolton, Illinois, on May 8, 2025." style="margin-right: 0px;"> <img src="<a href="https://img.lemde.fr/2025/05/09/0/0/4000/2667/600/0/75/0/870508e_ftp-import-images-1-40b7ijjj50zb-5842187-01-06.jpg" target="_blank">https://img.lemde.fr/2025/05/09/0/0/4000/2667/600/0/75/0/870508e_ftp-import-images-1-40b7ijjj50zb-5842187-01-06.jpg</a>" alt="Pope Leo XIV's childhood home in Dolton, Illinois, on May 8, 2025." /> </font><br> <p><font size="4">Born in 1955, Prevost grew up in Dolton, a working-class suburb south of Chicago. His father, of French and Italian descent, a lieutenant commander during World War II, later became a school principal and catechist. His mother, a librarian, was also involved in local parish life.</font></p> <p><font size="4">Scientifically trained, like Pope Francis – Jorge Bergoglio was a chemist – Prevost first attended Villanova University in Pennsylvania, where he earned a mathematics degree. He then studied theology at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago before entering the Order of Saint Augustine, where he was ordained a priest in 1982 at 27. He then turned to canon law at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas in Rome before beginning his South American career.</font></p> <font size="4"><img width="90" height="60" alt="John Prevost, brother of the new Pope Leo XIV, with a 1958 portrait of the three brothers, in New Lenox, Illinois, on May 8, 2025." style="margin-right: 0px;"> <img src="<a href="https://img.lemde.fr/2025/05/09/0/0/4500/2930/1200/0/75/0/52c7a3b_ftp-import-images-1-fvcvi53obhu0-ea482339b5b34ce3b69ae7618ad820ba-0-3bdbc8808be34378b92cdf50f4352596.jpg" target="_blank">https://img.lemde.fr/2025/05/09/0/0/4500/2930/1200/0/75/0/52c7a3b_ftp-import-images-1-fvcvi53obhu0-ea482339b5b34ce3b69ae7618ad820ba-0-3bdbc8808be34378b92cdf50f4352596.jpg</a>" alt="John Prevost, brother of the new Pope Leo XIV, with a 1958 portrait of the three brothers, in New Lenox, Illinois, on May 8, 2025." /> </font><br> <p><font size="4">Prevost's vocation lies in mission, as he said himself during his speech on Thursday. He left in 1985 with the Order of Saint Augustine to Peru, where he lived as a missionary, with a few interruptions, until 1999. He then returned to the United States, where he headed the Augustine Province of Our Lady of Good Counsel in the Midwest, before moving to Rome to become the order's prior general for 12 years. In this position, he oversaw 2,500 brothers spread across several continents and learned to manage a global institution.</font></p> <p><font size="4">In 2014, his path led him back to Peru, where Pope Francis appointed him the apostolic administrator of a diocese, Chiclayo. He later became its titular bishop. His mission was to restore order in a territory and especially a Church plagued by numerous tensions. At the time, the episcopate was torn apart over the case of two bishops: One accused of pedophilia, the other of personal misconduct.</font></p> <h2><font size="4">Social fiber</font></h2> <p><font size="4">The man who would later become pope acquired Peruvian nationality in 2015. "The pope is Peruvian!" echoed many of the country's newspapers on Thursday, in unison with joy and pride widely shared by the population. The interim president, Dina Boluarte, hailed a "historic" day for Peru.</font></p> <p><font size="4">In the Andean country, his episcopate was not without challenges. The year of his naturalization saw the outbreak of the <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/09/02/in-peru-the-vatican-investigates-sexual-predators_6120557_4.html" target="_blank">Sodalicio case</a>, considered the most significant sexual scandal in the country's Church history. A book, <em>Mitad monjes, mitad soldados</em> ("Half Monks, Half Soldiers,"), by journalists Paola Ugaz and Pedro Salinas, compiled over 30 testimonies from former sodalites reporting "sexual, physical, and psychological abuse, and sequestrations," committed between 1971 and the 2000s in the Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana community, an organization close to the far right and very influential in Peru.</font></p> <p><font size="4">Prevost had recommended the dissolution of Sodalicio, achieved in mid-April, a few weeks before Pope Francis's death. At the head of his dicastery, Prevost also obtained the dismissal of the former bishop of Piura, linked to the community.</font></p> <br> <p><font size="4">The cardinal did not hesitate to intervene in the political life of his adopted country. In 2017, after the presidential pardon granted to Alberto Fujimori, he urged the former autocrat, who led Peru from 1990 to 2000, to ask forgiveness from his victims. His social fiber was also evident in February 2023 when he emphasized, during the repression of protests against interim president Boluarte, that "the right to protest must be respected."</font></p> <p><font size="4">"There are sectors of the population who feel forgotten, ignored, and who have legitimate grievances," he noted further.</font></p> <p><font size="4">On Thursday evening, the newly elected pope made an impromptu appearance at the Apostolic Palace to greet the cardinals present and members of the Curia. Starting Friday, he will celebrate his first mass as pope – in the Sistine Chapel, the very place where his election took place. His inauguration mass is to follow, on a yet-to-be-determined date. The United States customarily sends their vice president. It would, in this case, be JD Vance, a Catholic convert and a leading figure of a traditionalist and nationalist current within the Church, opposed to the vision embodied by Leo XIV.</font></p> <div><br></div><p><br></p></div></div>
________________________________________<br>
<br>
Sundaycommunity mailing list<br>
To send message: <a href="mailto:sundaycommunity@integralshift.ca" target="_blank">sundaycommunity@integralshift.ca</a><br>
To manage Subscription: <a href="https://sundaycommunity.integralshift.ca" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://sundaycommunity.integralshift.ca</a><br>
To Unsubscribe send email to: <a href="mailto:sundaycommunity-unsubscribe@integralshift.ca" target="_blank">sundaycommunity-unsubscribe@integralshift.ca</a><br>
To Subscribe send email to: <a href="mailto:sundaycommunity-subscribe@integralshift.ca" target="_blank">sundaycommunity-subscribe@integralshift.ca</a><br>
Link for Zoom mass Sundays 11AM EST: <a href="https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83018087848?pwd=Yjh4VnV6QXE2MFRzbEZwWUpacmJ5UT09" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83018087848?pwd=Yjh4VnV6QXE2MFRzbEZwWUpacmJ5UT09</a><br>
<br>
<br>
</blockquote></div>