Dear Readers, for your consideration, I offer this translation of an Italian article that reflects my present thoughts and sentiments regarding the election of Pope Leo XIV, despite initially being worried when I heard his name.
Paolo Deotto
Il Nuovo Arengario
10th May 2025
Allow me
today to speak only of the Pope.
In the coming
days we will also return to our customary news, which is, unfortunately,
mostly news of a world lost, in the hands of the reckless (in the best of
cases) and the wicked (more often than not), where the few who are still lucid
and honest are insulted and attacked.
A world that
needs to rediscover reason and peace - true peace.
And from whom can this true peace come if not from Christ?
Can we once
again look to Rome as a guide and a beacon of light?
I hope so
with all my heart. Twelve years of the Bergoglian disaster have filled us with suspicion.
Nor could it be any other way.
But now it
seems that the cardinals have indeed understood how to listen to the Holy
Spirit. Regrettably, there is no scarcity of those who are already saying that
Prevost is not the Pope: those who are
scandalized by the references he made to Vatican II and to Bergoglio.
Among the
wide range of armchair theologians, many perhaps expected a sort of ‘righter of
wrongs’ or an avenger with a flaming sword to appear on the loggia.
Instead, a meek-looking
man appeared, who spoke to us about Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Most Blessed
Mother.
I am not a
theologian; I am a Catholic, who, like all of you, has suffered deeply for
twelve years.
Suffering
generates suspicion and I am not immune to this.
Nevertheless,
I have seen actions and heard words that have opened my heart to hope.
Cardinal
Robert Francis Prevost presented himself to the people in St. Peter's Square
dressed as the Pope. He chose the name, Leo XIV, which is full of meaning.
He spoke to
us about Christ and the Madonna.
He granted an
indulgence.
He presented
himself as the Pope. Friendly, smiling, even emotional. But he presented
himself as the Pope, not as a ‘buddy’ you meet at the bar with a "Bonasera".
And today, visiting the sanctuary of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano, he arrived in a dark car along with escort cars, not in a small car so as to appear “humbly democratic”. The man called Prevost may be modest – and he surely is – but the Pope must have dignity even in exterior forms, since he does not represent himself, but is the Vicar of Christ.
Leo XIV’s first outing
In short,
dear readers, there is much cause for hope that gives us reasons to follow the
Pope with our prayers.
Leo XIV, has
an immense mission ahead of him. But repetita iuvant, Faith moves mountains.
And allow me one last note, which may seem superfluous. For me, it is not. Leo XIV has a nobility about him that is well suited to the very high office he has been called to. Bergoglio, poor man, among other things, had a vulgarity about him. Perhaps it was not his fault. He was just made that way. May he rest in peace.
So, dear
readers, let us resume our journey with a peaceful
heart, open to hope.
Let us pray
for the Pope and for Holy Mother Church.
Praise be to
Our Lord Jesus Christ!
