Our New Pope

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Matthew 28:19-20 NIV

When Robert Prevost was elected to be the new Pope on May 8, Americans were understandably proud, as this was the first Pope to come from the United States. But if citizens of the United States thought that he would somehow advance the interests of their country over those of others they would be forgetting that the Pope is the leader of the entire Catholic church. Indeed, the word “catholic” means “universal” and the Pope is in some ways the leader of Christendom itself, even if many Christians and non-Christians do not “bow to the Pope.”The first public words of Pope Leo XIV expressed this universal Christian message: “Peace be with all of you! Dearest brothers and sisters, this is the first greeting of the Risen Christ, the good shepherd who gave his life for God’s flock. I too would like this greeting of peace to enter your heart, to reach your families, to all people, wherever they are, to all peoples, to the whole earth.” All true religion is universal, as all life, and all of creation is sacred because created by God. Pray that our new Pope may bring peace and unity to a divided world riven with strife and suffering greatly by the hands of man.