By Colleen O’Connor
In the darkest of hours and sometimes despair, the Universe has produced great leaders. Rev. Martin Luther King amid the Civil Rights’ struggles. Mahatma Ghandi leading the fight for Indian independence. Lech Walesa conducting Poland vs. Russia over independence and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, deftly steering the globe through the Great Depression and the carnage of World War II.
Each leader a victor. Each possessed a moral compass, with convictions capable of overcoming defeat and cruelty to find a nobler path forward.
And now, from an unlikely, but equally providential source, comes the newly named Pope Leo XIV already shining an almost heavenly light on an increasingly dark era.
What a shock. The 267th Pope and the first ever American Pope. And a progressive with impressive credentials. He speaks four languages; English, Latin, Italian, Spanish, and reads German and French.
Robert Francis Prevost. Now Pope Leo the XIV.
Highly educated, described as “shy, intelligent, a listener,” and a global missionary, devoted to the poor and underserved. Evolutionary and Revolutionary. In short, a disciple of Pope Francis, his predecessor and good friend. The new Pope is steeped in the history of the church and unafraid to confront inequalities.
“If you’re a papal Leo, you tend to be a reformer at the progressive end of Catholicism.
“That Prevost has decided to become Leo XIV will make Catholics think immediately of the last Leo – Leo XIII – and his 1891 encyclical or teaching document, Rerum Novarum (of new things), which outlined workers’ rights to a fair wage, safe working conditions and the rights of workers to belong to trade unions.” the Guardian
An amazing critique of contemporary injustices, written over a century ago, that railed against “materialism and the unbridled pursuit of profit, arguing that the aim of life should not be the accumulation of wealth, but integral human development.” (https://studyallday.com/rerum-novarum/)
As with Mother Teresa, and the leaders mentioned above, Pope Leo XIV speaks of the multiple inequities, the cruelty towards immigrants, and the poor, the need for dignity, education, and fairness to the masses.
In short, the origins of Christianity.
Pope Frances followed those paths, as did Leo XIII, and XIV. So, too, might the world follow the new “Leader We Have Been Waiting For.”
Viva il Papa!
Must not reach the keyboard ……
Best written article I have ever read in the Rag.
I echo Colleen comments
May the world be a better place from now on
Pope John Paul helped to defeat the evils of Communism in parts of Europe and I wonder how much The Cardinals were thinking in terms of a counter to Trump ? And , I agree with Rich- Excellent article.
Not to quibble, but “communism” needs to be capitalized because there never has been real communism on the state level in history. What the Russians created was not “communism” and it does not exist either in China. Having a huge, massive state machinery with a huge bureaucracy and military is the antithesis of real communism. Look it up. What the USSR and China had and have built are more accurately called “state capitalism” where the state, the government was / is the largest capitalist entity.
Pope Leo XIV’s new message. Calleh for the protection of “the precious gift of free speech and the press” and urged reporters to “disarm communication of all prejudice and resentment, fanaticism and even hatred.”
“We do not need loud, forceful communication,” the pope added, “but rather communication that is capable of listening and of gathering the voices of the weak who have no voice.”
From Pope Leo XIV today. BLESS him. “War is never inevitable. Weapons can and must fall silent, for they never solve problems but only intensify them. Those who sow peace will endure throughout history, not those who reap victims. Others are not enemies to hate but human beings with whom to speak.”
His words have gone “super viral!”