“Peace be with you.” Our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, chose as his first words to the City of Rome and the world the greeting of the risen Lord to the disciples. We pray that Pope Leo will long guide the Church in the peace of Christ and the world toward the peace only God can give.
On this day of his election, Pope Leo looked forward in confidence, “We walk together and go forward without fear.” As Supreme Pontiff – “Supreme Bridge Builder” we rejoice in the bridges that can be built among people always recognizing that Jesus Christ is our bridge between heaven and earth through the power of the Holy Spirit in the Church he founded.
Our local church of Paterson rejoices with the Church throughout the world in election of Cardinal Robert Prevost as the Successor to the blessed Apostle Peter. We give thanks to our Heavenly Father who, led by the Holy Spirit, the Cardinals in Conclave to choose one with an evangelizing heart and a son of Saint Augustine.
We pray that the Holy Father is blessed with good health and long life as he guides the barque of Peter so that “In the one Christ we are one” (Sermon of Saint Augustine). We commend Pope Leo XIV to the loving care of the Virgin Mother of God, Our Lady of Pompeii, on whose feast day, May 8, he has been elected to the Chair of Saint Peter.
