On May 8th, 2025, Pope Leo XIV was elected supreme pontiff. Like many Catholics and non-Catholics alike, I watched eagerly on the Thursday of Pope Leo’s election and got a chance to celebrate a new pontiff with the Holy Cross Parish and School community (South Bend, IND). I was shocked to hear the name Robert Prevost and realize he was from the United States — just another Bob from Chicago in his 60s. These have been a special few months witnessing the Church come together under our new pope.
My three classmates and I were ordained priests less than a week after Pope Francis’ death and were therefore ordained without a sitting pope. This meant that the first times we prayed the Eucharist Prayer as priests we omitted the line N. our Pope, before finally adding Pope Leo after his election. The more I have reflected upon his election and the ways he is guiding us as a Church, the more I recognize that I look to him as a father. We call the pope the Holy Father and he is to be a father to us all.
A few aspects of Pope Leo’s papacy have jumped out to me thus far: his role as a peacemaker, a listener, a missionary, and as a pastor.
“Peace be with you all,” were the words that began his first address. We call Jesus the Prince of Peace, and this is a peace that we’re called to have in our hearts, but also on a global scale. Our world needs this emphasis on peace.
The stories of Pope Leo reflect that he listens more than he speaks, a trait that goes hand in hand with his being a man of prayer. His speech is rooted in attentive listening to the Holy Spirit and his awareness of that dwelling place of the Spirit in the person in front of him. He does not need to knock people over in order to exert his leadership. He listens and then acts and speaks in humility.
Pope Leo’s own story involves many years of missionary work, often outside the United States. Pope Leo said that the Church herself is called to be “a missionary Church that opens its arms to the world, proclaims the word … and becomes a leaven of harmony for humanity” (Homily, Mass for the Beginning of the Pontificate). Pope Leo’s emphasis on mission and zeal mirrors our own in Holy Cross. Our founder Blessed Basil Moreau described zeal as that flame of burning desire to make God known, loved, and served. Inspired by Pope Leo, we are all called to live with zeal, proclaiming the Gospel in this world and the Hope promised by Christ.
Finally, we know Pope Leo has a heart modeled after the Sacred Heart of Jesus. We saw him get emotional on the balcony during his first public address as pope. We have also heard stories from the people from his diocese in Peru of his kind heart and desire to simply be with the people. Pope Leo encourages priests to model their hearts on the heart of the Good Shepherd, inviting them to mirror “…the joy of God – and of every shepherd who loves in the manner of his Heart – at the return of even one of his sheep to the fold. We are called to exercise pastoral charity with a generous love, like that of the Father, and to foster in our hearts the desire that no one be lost (cf. Jn 6:39) but that everyone, also through our ministry, may come to know Christ and have eternal life in him (cf. Jn 6:40).” (Homily on Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus)
As a young priest, I find myself drawn deeper into the relationship with the Lord through Pope Leo, trusting that the Spirit gave us a Holy Father to guide the world towards peace and our hearts towards Christ.
Fr. Noah Junge, C.S.C.
Published August 27, 2025
Photo Credit: “Pope Leo XIV first Regina Caeli Prayer In St. Peter’s Square after his Election” by Catholic Church England and Wales, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
