Just one week before heading back to Dallas for my presbyteral ordination, God granted me the opportunity to witness the election of our first U.S. born pope, Leo XIV.
Pope Leo XIV
Calling the election of Chicago native Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost both a surprise and a gift, Bishop Edward J. Burns addressed local media at a press conference held May 8 at the Diocese of Dallas Pastoral Center about Pope Leo XIV — the first American-born pope in the history of the Catholic Church.
Pope Leo XIV has advanced the sainthood causes of two missionaries whose murders in the Amazon jungle in Ecuador led to the protection of remote Indigenous peoples from encroaching extractive industries.
The Gospel parable of the “wasteful sower” who casts seeds on fertile soil as well as on a rocky path “is an image of the way God loves us,” Pope Leo XIV told visitors and pilgrims at his first weekly general audience.
God’s love, mercy, and goodness lie at the foundation of every vocation, including that of the pope, Pope Leo XIV said.
As the Holy Father stepped onto the central loggia above St. Peter’s Square on May 8, I was overcome with emotion and pride, swept up in the historical significance of the moment. Like many around the world, I was intrigued — and excited — by his decision to take the name Leo XIV.
During a special audience with religious leaders who came to Rome for the inauguration of his papal ministry, Pope Leo XIV vowed to continue working toward Christian unity and promoting dialogue among all religions.
Launching his papacy with a call for reconciliation and communion, Pope Leo XIV formally began his ministry as the successor of St. Peter by calling for “a united church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world.”
The Catholic Church wants to reach out and embrace all people who need and yearn for truth, justice, and peace, Pope Leo XIV said in his first meeting with the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See.
The church building at Christ Our Savior Parish in the suburb of South Holland houses the tabernacle that used to be part of the now dilapidated St. Mary of the Assumption at the very southern edge of Chicago.