Vatican City (AP) – Pope Leo XIV laid out his vision for the Pope on Saturday, vowing to continue with some of Pope Francis’ core priorities, one of the most important issues facing humanity.
However, he had made his own Pope so much that Leo took his first outing since the election, travelling to the southern sanctuary of Rome dedicated to Madonna, and is particularly important to his Augustine order and Pope Leo XIII of his same name.
The townspeople of Gennazzano gathered in the square outside the main church that houses the Madre del Boon Consurio (Mother of the Good Counsel) Sanctuary as Leo arrived and greeted them. The sanctuary managed by Augustine’s monks has been a pilgrimage site since the 15th century, and former Pope Leo promoted it to a minor basilica and expanded the adjacent monastery in the early 1900s.
After praying at the church, Leo greeted the townspeople and told them that he had a gift and responsibility to put the Madonna in the middle. He offered the blessings and then returned to the black Volkswagen, the passenger seat of the car. On his way back to the Vatican, he stopped praying at the grave of Francis in St. Mary’s Major Basilica.
The after-run outing came with the Cardinals who elected him after Leo had presided over his first formal audience. In it, Leo repeatedly cited Francis and the Argentine Pope himself’s 2013 mission statement, clarifying his commitment to being more inclusive and careful to faithful churches that aim to “have been denied by minimal” the Catholic Church.
The first American Pope, Leo, told Cardinals that he was completely committed to reforming the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s meeting, when he modernized the church. He identified AI as one of the main problems facing humanity, saying it poses challenges to protect human dignity, justice and labor.
Some signs about the future appear
Meanwhile, the Vatican has provided its own tips on Leo’s Pontifeet. It revealed on Saturday that Leo would hold the motto and coat of arms he had as the bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, which emphasized church unity.
The motto “Illo Uno Unum” was proclaimed by St. Augustine in a sermon to explain that “we are many Christians and Christ is one.” The emblem is of Augustine’s order. It is a fiery heart and book with earrings, representing the Bible.
The Vatican also provided details about the chest cross that Leo wears. It was a gift from the Augustine Order when he created the Cardinal in 2023. It was a relic of St. Augustine and his mother, St. Monica, which was important for his conversion to Christianity.
St. Augustine of the Hippo was one of the theological and prayer giants of early Christianity. Augustine’s order, formed in the 13th century as a community of “Mendicant” Friars, is dedicated to poverty, service and evangelization.
Identifying with Pope Francis
Leo mentioned AI when describing his name choice. Pope Leo XIII, whose name was Pope from 1878 to 1903, laid the foundation for modern Catholic social thought. He became most famous for the environmental Rerum Novarum in 1891. The late Pope criticized both laissez-faire capitalism and state-centered socialism, clearly giving shape to the vein of Catholic economic education.
In his remarks Saturday, Leo said he identified with his predecessor.
“In our own time, the Church will provide everyone with the Treasury of Social Education in response to another industrial revolution and development in the field of artificial intelligence that poses new challenges for human dignity, justice and the defense of labour,” he said.
Towards the end of his Pope, Francis increasingly spoke out about the threat to humanity raised by the AI, calling for an international treaty to regulate it.
In many ways, Francis saw Chicago-born Augustine’s missionary Robert Prevast as a kind of heir. He moved to take over the small Peruvian parish in 2014.
In a speech delivered in Italian in the Vatican Conference Hall, not in the Apostles Palace, Leo repeatedly mentioned Frances and his mourning regarding his death. He raised Francis’ 2013 mission statement, “The Joy of the Gospel,” as something of his own marching order.
He cited Francis’s claims about the nature of the missionaries of the Church and the need to make his leadership more cooperative. He cited the need to pay attention to the loyal people saying “particularly in the most authentic and inclusive form, especially in the popular respect.”
Again, referring to Francis’ 2013 mission statement, Leo cited the need for the church to represent “the fewest people and rejected care” and engage in brave dialogue with the modern world.
A simple conclave
Celebrated by a standing ovation, Leo read from his prepared text, but occasionally looked up. Even when he first appeared in the world on Thursday night, Leo read from handwritten text prepared in Italian, which must have been historic elections and drafted about an hour ago. He seemed most comfortable to speak with the cuffs in a few words pronounced in Spanish.
Prevost was elected the 267th Pope in Conclave’s fourth vote on Thursday. This was a very fast result considering that this was the largest and most geographically diverse conclave in history, and that not all cardinals knew each other before they arrived in Rome.
The Madagascar Cardinal désiré Tsarahazana told reporters on Saturday that she received “even more” over 100 of the 133 votes in the final vote. It suggests an extraordinary margin, or 89 votes, well over two-thirds of the required to be elected.
Comments from candidates
Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State, who was considered one of the top candidates to become Pope, offered his congratulations on Saturday in a letter published in his hometown paper, Illinois di Vicenza.
Parolyn recalled his first words from the Loggia when Leo grasped the issues today and spoke of the need for peace, which was “disarming and disarming.” Parolyn said he appreciated Prevost’s leadership at Chiclayo and helped him handle particularly troublesome issues – no details.
Specifically, Parolyn praised Leo’s people and circumstances, “the balance of discussion, the balance of solutions, respect, care, and love for everyone.”
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