Bishop of Shrewsbury shares joy over the election of Pope Leo XIV

In a pastoral letter to be read at all Masses over the weekend today (Sunday, May 11), the Rt Rev. Mark Davies reminded the faithful of the spontaneous “outburst of joy” that greeted the announcement that a Pope had been chosen by the conclave of cardinals earlier this week. 

Bishop Davies explained in his letter that it was significant that such joy was felt even before the identity of Cardinal Robert Prevost, a Chicago-born Augustinian, was known before he emerged onto a balcony of St Peter’s Basilica as Leo XIV and the first American Pope.

Davies said: “It was the announcement that we had a Pope that was the source of this joy. 

“The man chosen was still unseen, and undoubtedly conscious as never before, of his human weakness and the immense weight of the mission suddenly entrusted to him as the 266th Successor of the Apostle Peter. 

“The new Pope would first lead us in prayer by greeting the Holy Mother of God and asking her to pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. This struck me as a beautiful expression of our Catholic faith in the office of the Pope, whoever the man happens to be, and in the mission entrusted by Christ to Peter and his successors until the end of time. 

"It is in this faith that we welcome Pope Leo XIV. For it was Christ who made Peter the rock of His Church, gave him the keys of the Kingdom, called him to strengthen His brethren and to feed the sheep and lambs of His flock, as a witness to His love. 

“It seemed significant that before we caught sight of our new Pope, we saw first the Cross of Christ carried onto the balcony of Saint Peter’s. 

"For the Pope always stands before the world as a witness to Christ and to the victory of His Cross. In his first words and greeting ‘Peace be with you all’, Pope Leo consciously echoed the words of the Risen Jesus and reminded us ‘We are disciples of Christ, Christ goes before us, and the world needs His light’ for in His love we find the assurance that evil will not prevail.”

Catholics are bonded by love and loyalty to Pope because “the place of the Pope in the family of the Church is always seen in the light of faith, whoever the man happens to be, for he has taken the place of Peter for us”, Bishop Davies said.

The Bishop added: “We pray for the Pope with a loyalty and affection which transcends all human ‘likes’ or ‘dislikes’. We might even pray, as one faithful soul did, that the Pope gets a good night’s rest, conscious of the burden he bears. It is with such faith, loyalty and human affection that we welcome Pope Leo XIV, our 13th Holy Father since his predecessor Pope Pius IX founded the Shrewsbury Diocese in 1851.”

Finally, Bishop Davies encouraged vocations to the priesthood on this Good Shepherd Sunday by noting that it was only by the “generous and faithful response” of the young Robert Prevost to the call to the Priesthood that the Church today is able to celebrate with joy the gift of Pope Leo XIV as a “Holy Father for us all”.

The Bishop said that as the Church prayed for the new Pope she must also pray for new and generous vocations to the priesthood which, he said, “are a source of joy for the whole Church”.