Bulletins, Newsletters, and Flocknotes

This morning, the Holy Father Leo XIV met with the members of the College of Cardinals, to whom he delivered the following address, followed by a conversation that returned to some of the topics and proposals that emerged during the speeches in the General Congregations. The following is the text of the address delivered by the Holy Father:

 

Address of the Holy Father

Thank you very much, Your Eminence. Before taking our seats, let us begin with a prayer, asking the Lord to continue to accompany this College, and above all the entire Church with this spirit, with enthusiasm, but also with deep faith. Let us pray together in Latin.

Pater noster… Ave Maria…

In the first part of this meeting, there will be a short talk with some reflections that I would like to share with you. But then there will be a second part, a bit like the opportunity that many of you had asked for: a sort of dialogue with the College of Cardinals to hear what advice, suggestions, proposals, concrete things, which have already been discussed in the days leading up to the Conclave.

Dear Brother Cardinals,

I greet all of you with gratitude for this meeting and for the days that preceded it. Days that were sad because of the loss of the Holy Father Pope Francis and demanding due to the responsibilities we confronted together, yet at the same time, in accordance with the promise Jesus himself made to us, days rich in grace and consolation in the Spirit (cf.  Jn  14:25-27).

You, dear Cardinals, are the closest collaborators of the Pope. This has proved a great comfort to me in accepting a yoke clearly far beyond my own limited powers, as it would be for any of us. Your presence reminds me that the Lord, who has entrusted me with this mission, will not leave me alone in bearing its responsibility. I know, before all else, that I can always count on his help, the help of the Lord, and through his grace and providence, on your closeness and that of so many of our brothers and sisters throughout the world who believe in God, love the Church and support the Vicar of Christ by their prayers and good works.

I thank the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re – who deserves applause, at least once, if not more – whose wisdom, the fruit of a long life and many years of faithful service to the Apostolic See, has helped us greatly during this time. I thank the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell – I believe he is present today – for the important and demanding work that he has done throughout the period of the Vacant See and for the convocation of the Conclave. My thoughts also go to our brother Cardinals who, for reasons of health, were unable to be present, and I join you in embracing them in communion of affection and prayer.

At this moment, both sad and joyful, providentially bathed in the light of Easter, I would like all of us to see the passing of our beloved Holy Father Pope Francis and the Conclave as a paschal event, a stage in that long exodus through which the Lord continues to guide us towards the fullness of life. In this perspective, we entrust to the “merciful Father and God of all consolation” ( 2 Cor  1:3) the soul of the late Pontiff and also the future of the Church.

Beginning with Saint Peter and up to myself, his unworthy Successor, the Pope has been a humble servant of God and of his brothers and sisters, and nothing more than this. It has been clearly seen in the example of so many of my Predecessors, and most recently by Pope Francis himself, with his example of complete dedication to service and to sober simplicity of life, his abandonment to God throughout his ministry and his serene trust at the moment of his return to the Father’s house. Let us take up this precious legacy and continue on the journey, inspired by the same hope that is born of faith.

It is the Risen Lord, present among us, who protects and guides the Church, and continues to fill her with hope through the love “poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” ( Rom  5:5). It is up to us to be docile listeners to his voice and faithful ministers of his plan of salvation, mindful that God loves to communicate himself, not in the roar of thunder and earthquakes, but in the “whisper of a gentle breeze” ( 1 Kings  19:12) or, as some translate it, in a “sound of sheer silence.” It is this essential and important encounter to which we must guide and accompany all the holy People of God entrusted to our care.

In these days, we have been able to see the beauty and feel the strength of this immense community, which with such affection and devotion has greeted and mourned its Shepherd, accompanying him with faith and prayer at the time of his final encounter with the Lord. We have seen the true grandeur of the Church, which is alive in the rich variety of her members in union with her one Head, Christ, “the shepherd and guardian” ( 1 Peter  2:25) of our souls. She is the womb from which we were born and at the same time the flock (cf.  Jn  21:15-17), the field (cf.  Mk  4:1-20) entrusted to us to protect and cultivate, to nourish with the sacraments of salvation and to make fruitful by our sowing the seed of the Word, so that, steadfast in one accord and enthusiastic in mission, she may press forward, like the Israelites in the desert, in the shadow of the cloud and in the light of God’s fire (cf.  Ex  13:21).

In this regard, I would like us to renew together today our complete commitment to the path that the universal Church has now followed for decades in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. Pope Francis masterfully and concretely set it forth in the Apostolic Exhortation  Evangelii Gaudium , from which I would like to highlight several fundamental points: the return to the primacy of Christ in proclamation (cf. No. 11); the missionary conversion of the entire Christian community (cf. No. 9); growth in collegiality and synodality (cf. No. 33); attention to the  sensus fidei  (cf. Nos. 119-120), especially in its most authentic and inclusive forms, such as popular piety (cf. No. 123); loving care for the least and the rejected (cf. No. 53); courageous and trusting dialogue with the contemporary world in its various components and realities (cf. No. 84; Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution  Gaudium et Spes , 1-2).

These are evangelical principles that have always inspired and guided the life and activity of God’s Family. In these values, the merciful face of the Father has been revealed and continues to be revealed in his incarnate Son, the ultimate hope of all who sincerely seek truth, justice, peace and fraternity (cf. Benedict XVI,  Spe Salvi , 2; Francis,  Spes Non Confundit , 3).

Sensing myself called to continue in this same path, I chose to take the name Leo XIV. There are different reasons for this, but mainly because Pope Leo XIII in his historic Encyclical  Rerum Novarum  addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution. In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour.

Dear brothers, I would like to conclude the first part of our meeting by making my own – and proposing to you as well – the hope that Saint Paul VI expressed at the inauguration of his Petrine Ministry in 1963: “May it pass over the whole world like a great flame of faith and love kindled in all men and women of good will. May it shed light on paths of mutual cooperation and bless humanity abundantly, now and always, with the very strength of God, without whose help nothing is valid, nothing is holy” (Message  Qui Fausto Die  addressed to the entire human family, 22 June 1963).

May these also be our sentiments, to be translated into prayer and commitment, with the Lord’s help. Thank you!

MAIN SCHEDULED ENGAGEMENTS

Saturday 10 May: Meeting with the Cardinals

Sunday 11 May: Central Loggia of the Basilica: Regina Caeli

Monday 12 May: Meeting with the world press

Friday 16 May: Diplomatic Corps (Mission Heads)

Sunday 18 May, 10.00, Saint Peter’s Square: Mass for the Beginning of the Pontificate

Tuesday 20 May: Possession of Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside-the-Walls

Wednesday 21 May: First General Audience

Saturday 24 May: Meeting with the Roman Curia and Vatican City State employees

Sunday 25 May: Regina Caeli

Possession of Papal Basilica of Saint John Lateran

Possession of Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major.

At 11.00 this morning, in the Sistine Chapel, the Holy Father Leo XIV presided over his first Eucharistic Celebration as Pontiff with the College of Cardinals.

The following is the homily delivered by the Pope after the proclamation of the Gospel:

 

Homily of the Holy Father

I will begin with a word in English, and the rest is in Italian.

But I want to repeat the words from the Responsorial Psalm: “I will sing a new song to the Lord, because he has done marvels.”

And indeed, not just with me but with all of us. My brother Cardinals, as we celebrate this morning, I invite you to recognize the marvels that the Lord has done, the blessings that the Lord continues to pour out on all of us through the Ministry of Peter.

You have called me to carry that cross, and to be blessed with that mission, and I know I can rely on each and every one of you to walk with me, as we continue as a Church, as a community of friends of Jesus, as believers to announce the Good News, to announce the Gospel.

[Continued in Italian]

“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” ( Mt  16:16). In these words, Peter, asked by the Master, together with the other disciples, about his faith in him, expressed the patrimony that the Church, through the apostolic succession, has preserved, deepened and handed on for two thousand years.

Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God: the one Saviour, who alone reveals the face of the Father.

In him, God, in order to make himself close and accessible to men and women, revealed himself to us in the trusting eyes of a child, in the lively mind of a young person and in the mature features of a man (cf.  Gaudium et Spes , 22), finally appearing to his disciples after the resurrection with his glorious body. He thus showed us a model of human holiness that we can all imitate, together with the promise of an eternal destiny that transcends all our limits and abilities.

Peter, in his response, understands both of these things: the gift of God and the path to follow in order to allow himself to be changed by that gift. They are two inseparable aspects of salvation entrusted to the Church to be proclaimed for the good of the human race. Indeed, they are entrusted to us, who were chosen by him before we were formed in our mothers’ wombs (cf.  Jer  1:5), reborn in the waters of Baptism and, surpassing our limitations and with no merit of our own, brought here and sent forth from here, so that the Gospel might be proclaimed to every creature (cf.  Mk  16:15).

In a particular way, God has called me by your election to succeed the Prince of the Apostles, and has entrusted this treasure to me so that, with his help, I may be its faithful administrator (cf.  1 Cor  4:2) for the sake of the entire mystical Body of the Church. He has done so in order that she may be ever more fully a city set on a hill (cf.  Rev  21:10), an ark of salvation sailing through the waters of history and a beacon that illumines the dark nights of this world. And this, not so much through the magnificence of her structures or the grandeur of her buildings – like the monuments among which we find ourselves – but rather through the holiness of her members. For we are the people whom God has chosen as his own, so that we may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called us out of darkness into his marvellous light (cf.  1 Pet  2:9).

Peter, however, makes his profession of faith in reply to a specific question: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ( Mt 16:13). The question is not insignificant. It concerns an essential aspect of our ministry, namely, the world in which we live, with its limitations and its potential, its questions and its convictions.

“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” If we reflect on the scene we are considering, we might find two possible answers, which characterize two different attitudes.

First, there is the world’s response. Matthew tells us that this conversation between Jesus and his disciples takes place in the beautiful town of Caesarea Philippi, filled with luxurious palaces, set in a magnificent natural landscape at the foot of Mount Hermon, but also a place of cruel power plays and the scene of betrayals and infidelity. This setting speaks to us of a world that considers Jesus a completely insignificant person, at best someone with an unusual and striking way of speaking and acting. And so, once his presence becomes irksome because of his demands for honesty and his stern moral requirements, this “world” will not hesitate to reject and eliminate him.

Then there is the other possible response to Jesus’ question: that of ordinary people. For them, the Nazarene is not a charlatan, but an upright man, one who has courage, who speaks well and says the right things, like other great prophets in the history of Israel. That is why they follow him, at least for as long as they can do so without too much risk or inconvenience. Yet to them he is only a man, and therefore, in times of danger, during his passion, they too abandon him and depart disappointed.

What is striking about these two attitudes is their relevance today. They embody notions that we could easily find on the lips of many men and women in our own time, even if, while essentially identical, they are expressed in different language.

Even today, there are many settings in which the Christian faith is considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent. Settings where other securities are preferred, like technology, money, success, power, or pleasure.

These are contexts where it is not easy to preach the Gospel and bear witness to its truth, where believers are mocked, opposed, despised or at best tolerated and pitied. Yet, precisely for this reason, they are the places where our missionary outreach is desperately needed. A lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society.

Today, too, there are many settings in which Jesus, although appreciated as a man, is reduced to a kind of charismatic leader or superman. This is true not only among non-believers but also among many baptized Christians, who thus end up living, at this level, in a state of practical atheism.

This is the world that has been entrusted to us, a world in which, as Pope Francis taught us so many times, we are called to bear witness to our joyful faith in Jesus the Saviour. Therefore, it is essential that we too repeat, with Peter: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” ( Mt  16:16).

It is essential to do this, first of all, in our personal relationship with the Lord, in our commitment to a daily journey of conversion. Then, to do so as a Church, experiencing together our fidelity to the Lord and bringing the Good News to all (cf.  Lumen Gentium , 1).

I say this first of all to myself, as the Successor of Peter, as I begin my mission as Bishop of Rome and, according to the well-known expression of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, am called to preside in charity over the universal Church (cf.  Letter to the Romans , Prologue). Saint Ignatius, who was led in chains to this city, the place of his impending sacrifice, wrote to the Christians there: “Then I will truly be a disciple of Jesus Christ, when the world no longer sees my body” ( Letter to the Romans , IV, 1). Ignatius was speaking about being devoured by wild beasts in the arena – and so it happened – but his words apply more generally to an indispensable commitment for all those in the Church who exercise a ministry of authority. It is to move aside so that Christ may remain, to make oneself small so that he may be known and glorified (cf.  Jn  3:30), to spend oneself to the utmost so that all may have the opportunity to know and love him.

May God grant me this grace, today and always, through the loving intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church.

In nomine Domini. Amen.

Ego Didacus Ioannes Ravelli, Archiepiscopus tit. Recinetensis,

Celebrationum Liturgicarum Pontificalium Magister,

munere notarii fungens, attestor et notum facio

Eminentissimum ac Reverendissimum Dominum

Dominum Robertum Franciscum titulo Ecc. Sub. Albanensis

Sanctæ Romanæ Ecclesiæ Cardinalem Prevost

acceptasse electionem canonice de Se factam in Summum Pontificem Sibique nomen imposuisse

Leonem XIV

ut de hoc publica quæcumque instrumenta confici possint.

Acta sunt hæc in Conclavi in Palatio Apostolico Vaticano post obitum felicis recordationis

Papæ Francisci, hac die VIII mensis Maii Anno Sancto MMXXV

testibus adhibitis atque rogatis Excellentissimo Domino Ilson de Jesus Montanari,

Archiepiscopo tit. Capitis Cillensis et Cardinalium Collegii Secretario,

atque Reverendissimis Dominis Marco Agostini et Maximiliano Matthæo Boiardi,

viris a Cæremoniis Pontificalibus.

His Holiness Leo XIV has expressed the wish that the Heads and Members of the Institutions of the Roman Curia, as well as the Secretaries and the President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, provisionally continue in their respective offices donec aliter provideatur.