A Pope with a Peruvian Heart!
Our brethren in Peru were delighted with the election of Pope Leo.
I am not long back from Peru. My visit was to support our brothers in our monastery of Lurin, but it was a special joy to receive the Temporary Vows of Br Saul and the promises of two oblates of the Community.
On the last day, on the way to the airport, Br Wilmer texted news that there was white smoke above the Sistine chapel. There has been such positive coverage of the church in the media in these last few weeks, but I wondered if people might wonder if Catholics spend their time looking and chimneys and balconies!
As the crowds gathered in St Peter’s square, Fr Alex and I pulled over to the side of the road and watched the coverage on a mobile phone. "Habeamus Papam" said the Cardinal Chamberlain. Then after a longish pause Cardinal Robert Prevost appeared as Pope Leo XIV. How wonderful for the brethren in Peru to have a Pope with a Peruvian heart (and Passport) and to be a citizen of Peru as well as his native United States. Fr Alex and others are from Chiclayo, the new Pope’s former diocese.
I had chatted with them about the possibility of a Peruvian pope, as just before the conclave I had him down as one of the two most likely candidates. Yes, some were saying “It won’t be an American” and others “It won’t be another religious!” Of the so-called front-runners, lacked the necessary charisma, another had too much. Another prominent candidate I guessed was too young. The comment of a Cardinal that “we want a holy Father, not an eternal Father” rang true!
Cardinal Prevost seemed to tick all the right boxes. 1. He is the right age, 2. He has pastoral and missionary experience; and 3. He has the experience and knowledge of the episcopacy as head of the Dicastery of Bishops.
My hunch was that Pope Francis would be a hard act to follow, and the Cardinals might want someone committed to his pastoral legacy but with a little quieter with a more collegial way of working. The church continues to want to integrate the legacy of three great recent popes. Pope John Paul, with his message “Do not be afraid”; Pope Benedict, the great teacher of faith and reason; and Pope Francis, who wanted reach out to the peripheries with the joy of the Gospel and show God’s merciful face to all.
Pontifex: Bridge-Builder
But here is the main reason why I think they chose Cardinal Prevost: He was a man who had dedicated his life to the mission - in Chulucana, Trujillo, and Chiclayo. Someone there described him as the kind of person who would “put on boots and wade through the mud” to help those most in need – as he did in 2022, when torrential rains affected Chiclayo and nearby villages.
I think the Cardinals were looking for someone with ability to look beyond their own cultural horizons, so important for someone given the title of Pontifex – “bridgebuilder.” Pope Leo, with one foot happily in Chicago and the other foot happily in Chiclayo and with his head in Rome was perfectly placed to be that bridge-builder, that central role of holding together the Church in unity.
I have been in St Peter's Square twice for the election of a new Pope. To see the crowds pour into the church for the new Pope’s first appearance, is to see the whole world gathered with flags from every nation. The church is Catholic – a place where everybody belongs. In a world that is fractured Pope Leo is perfectly placed to be that bridge between peoples and cultures. He knows how to understand the other.
The BBC News began on Friday morning began by saying “the new Pope, Robert Prevost has pledged to build bridges and promote peace as he begins his papacy in Rome.” And in taking the name Leo, after Pope Leo XIII he has suggested that just as the pope of the encyclical Rerum Novarum, New Things, asserted human dignity in the face of the industrial revolution, this Pope wanted to lead us through a new technological revolution.
It is rare that a speaker on Thought for the Day on BBC Radio 4 to break down in tears, but I sense a weeping fade at the end of Tim Stanley’s that Friday. He described his presence in the square: “I found myself immersed in other people – in their values and their kindness. I converted to Catholicism 20 years ago and to this day I can’t explain why. But being in St Peter’s square I felt I had come home.” Then he blubbered.
Thinking of the Pope from Chiclayo made me think of our lovely community in Peru, and give thanks for all the Belmont monks who have been committed to Peru over the years in the monastery and in parishes.
I joined a community that has always been open to the world and sought to build bridges, whether at home in our commitment to the parishes in our care, or abroad such as Peru. My work in Rome for many years was precisely that - to support formation in communities all over the world, from the Uganda to the United States, from Burma to Belgium from Ireland to India.
Here too at Belmont we must never lose the desire to build bridges with those around us. Reopening our guesthouse this summer will be an important part of our mission at Belmont. And our continued support of our brethren at Lurin will always be important.
The Rule of St Augustine under which Pope Leo has lived begins by offering an ideal of monastic life: a community living together with “cor unum et anima una in Deum” – “with one mind and one heart in (or towards God.)”
In thanking God for our new Pope we pray that he may foster this unity in the universal Church, and that we cherish the community life we share together.
