Church News Ireland Special – May 8

Warm welcomes for Pope Leo XIV

including the Church of Ireland Archbishops

Habemus Papam! We have a Pope!

The Cardinals gathered in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel have elected Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as the 267th Pope, who has adopted the name Pope Leo XIV.

The first US Pope is from Chicago. He is 69 years old. Many will pray that he will continue the work of Pope Francis in bringing peace, hope and mercy to a beautiful yet fractured world.

Robert Francis Prevost, was born on September 14, 1955, in Chicago, Illinois. The new pope, is taking the name Pope Leo XIV. He is the first American-born pope and the second pope from the Americas after Pope Francis.

Pope Leo joined the Order of Saint Augustine and was ordained a priest on June 19, 1982, by Archbishop Jean Jadot. He studied theology in Chicago and later earned a licentiate and doctorate in canon law in Rome at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum).

His early ministry included work in the United States with the Augustinians, but he spent significant time in Peru as a missionary from 1985 to 1986 and again from 1988 to 1998. In Peru, he served as a parish pastor, seminary teacher, diocesan official, and administrator. He became a naturalized Peruvian citizen in 2015.

Pope Leo was Bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, from 2015 to 2023 and served as second vice president of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference starting in 2018. From 2001 to 2013, he was prior general of the Order of Saint Augustine, leading the worldwide Augustinian order.

In 2023, Pope Francis appointed him Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, a key Vatican office responsible for overseeing the appointment of bishops worldwide, and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. He was created cardinal in September 2023 and promoted to cardinal-bishop of Albano in February 2025.

Cardinal Prevost’s election as Pope Leo XIV on May 8, 2025, marks a historic moment as he is the first pope born in North America. His background as a missionary, administrator, and Vatican official positions him to continue addressing global Church challenges with a pastoral and international perspective.

Welcome from The Church of Ireland’s Archbishop of Armagh and Archbishop of Dublin

Shortly after the announcement on Thursday, 8th May 2025 the Archbishops shared the following words of welcome for Pope Leo XIV on his election in the Conclave in Rome.

From Archbishop John McDowell, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland:

“As we in the Church of Ireland prepared to meet in Synod not long after the funeral of Pope Francis who refreshed the whole idea of Synodality for the Roman Catholic Church and perhaps for the Universal Church, the Cardinal electors were meeting in the Sistine Chapel to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit on who should be a successor to Francis.

“Today they have elected Pope Leo XIV and we rejoice with our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters that a heavy responsibility has been discharged and can now be received with thanksgiving by the Christian world. I wish to pass on the good wishes of the Church of Ireland not only to Pope Leo but also to the bishops, priests and Catholic people of Ireland as they enter in closer communion and closer knowledge of their new Chief Shepherd.

“In any episcopal and pontifical succession beginnings are never completely new and endings are never entirely final, so we give thanks to God for the spiritual riches which Pope Leo has inherited and pray that he may know the presence of our common Lord and Saviour as he walks together in discipleship with all who are called by His Name. I also share my best wishes with the Catholic faithful of the United States of America on the election of the first American Pope.”

From Archbishop Michael Jackson, Archbishop of Dublin, Bishop of Glendalough and Primate of Ireland:

“The Christian world paid its respects both publicly and privately to Pope Francis. All of us were given opportunities locally and internationally to reflect on his strategic realignment of ecumenism and environmentalism through the lens of both human need and human excess. We will carry forward his plea that we care for the creation to which we all belong.

“It is with joy that we hail the election of Pope Leo XIV whom the Holy Spirit, through the conclave of cardinals, has discerned to be his apostolic successor in the faith. Pope Leo has spent his ministry to date serving in the United States and Peru and in the Roman Curia, and is already renowned for his contribution to the life of the Church.

“Pope Leo is in our prayers as he embarks upon his Godly task which is new to him and new to the world as the Bishop of Rome. We rejoice with our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters in Ireland as they prepare for a new chapter in their spiritual lives and as we prepare for this new chapter with them.”

Bishop Fintan Gavin of Cork and Ross has welcomed the election.

Bishop Gavin also extends his congratulations to the community of Augustinian Friars in Cork as the new pope belongs to the worldwide Augustinian family which is one of the oldest religious orders of the Catholic Church.

“It’s very encouraging to hear the key points made by the Holy Father in his first remarks. He emphasised the need for unity and peace in the world and in the Church.”

“Pope Leo also has a connection with Cork and Ross Diocese because until last year he was a bishop in Peru. Many of the priests and religious sisters in our diocese have also spent time as missionaries in Peru.”

The choice of name which the new pope has taken also tells us something of his emphasis in faith, Bishop Fintan said.

“Pope Leo XIII, the last pope to take the name Leo, issued an important document in 1891 on the social teaching of the Church. And this new pope is someone who has ministered with among the poor in Peru.”

I invite the people of our diocese to pray for Pope Leo as he becomes our chief shepherd and guides us closer to the Risen Lord.”

APOLOGY – During posting this issue we hit problems in displaying the text which for the present cannot be resolved.

Church News Ireland
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