by Kathy Shaw, SPARK manager
Cardinal Robert Prevost has been elected pope and will be known as Pope Leo XIV
Pope Leo XIV holds dual citizenship in both the US and Peru where he served as a bishop. He spent much of his career as a missionary in South America where he is fondly remembered as a figure who worked with marginalised communities and helped build bridges in the local Church.
He is the first American to become pontiff and will lead the Catholic global community of 1.4 billion people.
One of the first acts of a new pope is to choose a new name, changing their baptismal one. Over the years, popes have often chosen the names to refer to previous pontiffs for example, Pope Francis said his name honoured St Francis of Assisi. Once elected, the name that a chosen pope takes is often seen as a sign of their focus and direction for their papacy. It can signal continuity or a break with the past and suggest whether the new leader of the Catholic Church is progressive or traditionalist.
The previous Pope Leo XIII was pope at the end of the 19th century, he died in 1903. He was a determined defender of the rights of workers and is remembered as a pope who was dedicated to social policies and social justice. He laid the foundation for modern Catholic social thought, addressing workers' rights and capitalism at the dawn of the industrial age. He is particularly known for issuing an encyclical - a letter sent to bishops of the Church - called "Rerum Novarum", a Latin expression which means "Of New Things".
Robert Francis Prevost has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. He was ordained a priest in June 1982 and studied canon law at the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome, five years later, he received his doctorate.
He was received into the Augustinian religious order in 1977. The Order of St Augustine was formed in the 13th century as a community of “mendicant” friars dedicated to poverty, service and evangelisation. It has a presence in about 50 countries, and its ethos includes a contemplative spirituality, communal living and service to others.
Pope Leo first went to Peru as a missionary in 1985, returning to the US in 1986 as vocations director in the Augustinians. In 1988, he returned to Peru for about a decade in the city of Trujillo, before returning to the US for a leadership role with the Augustinians in 1999. He returned to Peru in 2014 and was installed as the bishop of Chiclayo in September 2015. He also became a Peruvian citizen in 2015.
In taking the name Leo XIV, the indications include a commitment to social issues. He is reportedly very close to Francis's vision regarding the environment, outreach to the poor and migrants.
Pope Leo was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2023 and appointed to a powerful position, responsible for selecting new bishops. Significantly, he presided over one of the most revolutionary reforms when three women were added to the voting bloc which decides on the bishop nominations sent to the Pope. He also supported Pope Francis's stance on allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion. However, he only showed mild support for allowing priests to bless same-sex couples.
As Cardinal he said in 2024,
He also echoed his predecessor, the late Pope Francis, in calling for peace.
www.cafod.org.uk
Cardinal Robert Prevost has been elected pope and will be known as Pope Leo XIV
Pope Leo XIV holds dual citizenship in both the US and Peru where he served as a bishop. He spent much of his career as a missionary in South America where he is fondly remembered as a figure who worked with marginalised communities and helped build bridges in the local Church.
He is the first American to become pontiff and will lead the Catholic global community of 1.4 billion people.
One of the first acts of a new pope is to choose a new name, changing their baptismal one. Over the years, popes have often chosen the names to refer to previous pontiffs for example, Pope Francis said his name honoured St Francis of Assisi. Once elected, the name that a chosen pope takes is often seen as a sign of their focus and direction for their papacy. It can signal continuity or a break with the past and suggest whether the new leader of the Catholic Church is progressive or traditionalist.The previous Pope Leo XIII was pope at the end of the 19th century, he died in 1903. He was a determined defender of the rights of workers and is remembered as a pope who was dedicated to social policies and social justice. He laid the foundation for modern Catholic social thought, addressing workers' rights and capitalism at the dawn of the industrial age. He is particularly known for issuing an encyclical - a letter sent to bishops of the Church - called "Rerum Novarum", a Latin expression which means "Of New Things".
Robert Francis Prevost has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. He was ordained a priest in June 1982 and studied canon law at the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome, five years later, he received his doctorate.He was received into the Augustinian religious order in 1977. The Order of St Augustine was formed in the 13th century as a community of “mendicant” friars dedicated to poverty, service and evangelisation. It has a presence in about 50 countries, and its ethos includes a contemplative spirituality, communal living and service to others.
Pope Leo first went to Peru as a missionary in 1985, returning to the US in 1986 as vocations director in the Augustinians. In 1988, he returned to Peru for about a decade in the city of Trujillo, before returning to the US for a leadership role with the Augustinians in 1999. He returned to Peru in 2014 and was installed as the bishop of Chiclayo in September 2015. He also became a Peruvian citizen in 2015.
In taking the name Leo XIV, the indications include a commitment to social issues. He is reportedly very close to Francis's vision regarding the environment, outreach to the poor and migrants.Pope Leo was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2023 and appointed to a powerful position, responsible for selecting new bishops. Significantly, he presided over one of the most revolutionary reforms when three women were added to the voting bloc which decides on the bishop nominations sent to the Pope. He also supported Pope Francis's stance on allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion. However, he only showed mild support for allowing priests to bless same-sex couples.
As Cardinal he said in 2024,
"the bishop is not supposed to be a little prince sitting in his kingdom"Appearing on the balcony of St Peter's Basilica, his first words outlined a vision of a "missionary" Church which "builds bridges, which holds dialogues, which is always open".
He also echoed his predecessor, the late Pope Francis, in calling for peace.
Faithful God,A prayer to welcome Pope Leo XIV from CAFOD Director, Christine Allen
You guide us on the path of life
and your goodness is our constant companion.
Be with our new Shepherd, Pope Leo XIV,
in his service of the Church.
Fill him with the power of your Spirit,
the peace of your presence
and the compassion of Christ.
May he walk with you,
in wisdom and humility,
and lead us, together with all God’s people,
to embody your love for the world.
Amen.
www.cafod.org.uk
Host a Supper Club for Palestine this Summer
Christine Allen, CAFOD Director, was with us for the day and in a short presentation gave a context for the award scheme and then went on to lead morning workshops about living simply and sustainably. Francis Stewart, part of the CAFOD Theology team led another workshop about the underpinnings of LiveSimply – why should we see these sorts of action as stemming from our Catholic faith. The third morning workshop was led by Caroline Kelly, Head of the SVP Centre on York Road in Leeds, and she addressed the issues of those experiencing poverty.
Commission Chair, John Battle, summed up at the end and thanked people for coming along in the first place and for the enthusiastic way in which they had participated in the day. He pointed out that this was the first event in the Diocese where we had brought together CAFOD supporters, SVP members, staff from Caritas Catholic Care, younger people and J&P supporters to discuss the links (written about by Pope Francis in Laudato Si) between climate change and how this impacts most on people experiencing poverty.
Talking about an attack that killed over 200,000 people is always challenging. Talking about it in a challenging narrative over Japan’s role in the war makes it more challenging still. Talking about it 80 years on to generations of people who were not present at the time means it is important to put it into context with the world we currently live in.
Under the auspice of Mayors for Peace around the 70th anniversary of the attacks, the Mayor of Hiroshima instituted a programme of sharing seeds harvested from those mother trees as symbols of peace and regeneration. I received (in the post) twenty little gingko biloba seeds and thought through what to do with them. As I did a lot of work on climate change, with my colleagues we had the idea that we should make them a peace and climate project for local schoolchildren. Thus, ‘Project G’ was born. We encouraged young children to understand about what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki through art and poetry. Schools across the city received young trees (which were kindly grown for us at the Dunham Massey National Trust estate) and met with the Mayor of Hiroshima, met with survivors of the bomb, and met with children and grandchildren of the hibakusha as part of this project.
For our Leeds Diocese Justice and Peace Commission especially, Pope Francis has left us two key workbooks; his encyclical letters "Laudato Si" and "Fratelli Tutti". 
His watchword for the Church in our times was to be a "church for the poor" and to lead by being a "field hospital" - mobile and active among the people, binding the wounds in practical service especially to the poor, the homeless, refugees and victims of violence and war. 
He concludes: 
Pope Francis for now deserves these last words. 
Moving from ‘Just Politics’ to a ‘Just Peace’