Pope Leo XIV

The pontiff met in the Paul VI Hall with representatives of the media that covered the death of Pope Francis and the conclave. Speaking about imprisoned journalists, he said that their suffering “challenges the conscience of nations and the international community”. Following his predecessor, he called for disarming “communication of all prejudice and resentment, fanaticism and even hatred”. Asked about a possible trip to Turkey for the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, he said: "We are preparing for it.”

Care for creation and overcoming divisions were the themes at the centre of the Argentine pontiff's last apostolic journey in September last year. Already by name the successor draws the Church's attention to the “new things” and the challenges of the present. The sacredness of life and the mission to build bridges in society.

Leo XIV experienced the mission for a long time, in Peru first, as a reason for being alive. This is something new for a pontiff. He has already spoken about authority that should “disappear so that Christ remains.” The choice of the name denotes freedom from influences and expectations, but also rootedness in a thousand-year-old history of faith. He was chosen for his human qualities, and those who like to see his election in geopolitical terms are plain wrong.

The archbishop emeritus of Bombay (Mumbai), representative of Asia on Pope Francis’s Council of Cardinals, wrote to AsiaNews about the new pope. “He brings hopes, expectations, understanding, openness and a missionary thrust,” the cardinal writes. Leo is a pastor “shaped by Saint Augustine the ‘Doctor of Grace’ when he says the Church must illuminate the ‘dark nights of this world’.

The pontiff led the Pro Ecclesia Mass with the cardinal electors. After speaking first in English, he read the text in Italian. Opening his missionary heart, he called on the faithful to joyfully bear witness in a world marked by “practical atheism", where faith has been replaced by "technology, money, success". Quoting Saint Ignatius, he said that those “who exercise a ministry of authority” should “move aside so that Christ may remain”.

As with the death of Pope Francis, the Catholic entities controlled by the Communist Party of China kept publicly within diplomatic boundaries, unlike Catholic communities who were joyful for their new pastor. The issue of the two bishops elected in recent weeks will be the first test for the new pontiff. In a statement, Taiwanese President Lai expressed hope that his country and the holy See can promote peace and justice together.

Bishops, priests, religious and faithful in Pakistan are grateful and hopeful following the election of Pope Leo XIV. Young people, teachers and seminarians hope for a pontificate marked by peace, dialogue and closeness to the last and the marginalised, like the Christians living in difficult situations in Pakistan.

The religious family to which the new pontiff belonged, and which he led as Prior General for 12 years, has a long history of missionary presence on the Asian continent, beginning with the Basilica of Santo Niño in Cebu. Fellow Augustinians in India and Indonesia describe him as "a deeply spiritual man, capable of truly listening." His coat of arms features a phrase from Augustine and the order's emblem: a burning heart pierced by an arrow above a book.

Cardinal Prevost, a spiritual son of St Augustine, was elected pope on the very day the Church celebrated the liturgical feast of the martyrs of Algeria, among whom were two Augustinian nuns. And in the description of the “disarmed and disarming” peace of the Risen Christ proclaimed by the new pope in his first Urbi et Orbi blessing, there echoed the prayer once written by Christian de Chergé, the prior of Tibhirine.

Born in Chicago, he is the first pontiff from North America who also served as bishop of Chiclayo and has Peruvian citizenship. For two terms he was prior general of the Augustinians, a religious order also present in many Asian countries. Pope Francis brought him to Rome in 2023 as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops. In his words: “My vocation, like that of every Christian, is to be a missionary, to proclaim the Gospel wherever one is.”

The new pope is U.S. Cardinal Robert Prevost, 69 years old, who had previously served as the prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops after his time as a missionary in Peru. “God loves everyone, help us build bridges of dialogue to be reached by His love. We want to be a synodal Church, one that walks, always seeks peace, charity, and is close, especially to those who suffer.”