“I cannot explain how, but it left a deep joy in my heart. First, because the Holy Spirit has given us a Pope, and then because he immediately pointed to this disarmed and disarming peace that comes to us from Christ and, at the same time, projects us towards a world that He wants to be a world of peace, but whose path is placed in our hands,” stated the bishop, in reaction following the first appearance of the new Pope.
Armando Esteves Domingues, quoted on the Igreja Açores platform, expressed that the initial words of the new pontiff indicate the path “towards love, dialogue, and acceptance.”
“The chosen name reminds us of Leo XIII, who brought us the Rerum Novarum, the encyclical dedicated to the social causes of the Church in a world that was undergoing profound transformation, much like ours, and this is indispensable at this moment,” added the prelate of Angra.
Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, aged 69, was elected Pope today by the college of cardinals, on the second day of the conclave that followed the death of Pope Francis on April 21.
The new Pope, who took the name Leo XIV, was until now the Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops.
Considered a progressive or reformist, he was made a cardinal by Pope Francis at the Consistory on September 30, 2023.
He is the first American Pope in the history of the Catholic Church.
