Dear Friends,
As I write this message, we are still celebrating the election of a new pope, Pope Leo XIV, following the death at Easter time of Pope Francis.
It is wonderful to note that Pope Leo is a missionary, from the Augustinian order, and in his first address to the crowds in St Peter’s Square he called for a missionary Church.
It was also wonderful to hear the new pope giving thanks for the legacy of Pope Francis, especially in the areas of synodality and peace-building.
It remains to be seen how Pope Leo’s many years of missionary life in Peru will shape his pontificate, but I feel sure that they will. Pope Francis called for a Church that brings the peripheries into the centre, that cares for the people on the margins, the poor and the unseen. Pope Leo has lived the missionary experience and knows the richness to be found in the communities which are a long way from Rome, but rich in faith, culture, hospitality, love and joy.
In the 150th Jubilee Year of the Society of the Divine Word we too are celebrating a long history of ‘Witnessing to the Light: From Everywhere for Everyone’, while joining with Pope Leo in responding to the needs and the wounds of the world today.
I pray for Pope Leo XIV as he embarks on his pontificate. Encouraged by his first words in which he spoke of peace, bridge-building, dialogue and encounter, let us join together with him in his missionary outlook and pray that the Holy Spirit who guided his election will strengthen and sustain him on the journey.
Yours in the Word,
Fr Asaeli Rass SVD, Provincial.