Angelus News | May 30, 2025 | Vol. 10 No. 11

ANGELUS
WE HAVE
A POPE
Leo XIV begins his mission
May 30, 2025 Vol. 10 No. 11

B • ANGELUS • May 30, 2025

ANGELUS
May 30, 2025
Vol. 10 • No. 11
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ON THE COVER
VATICAN MEDIA
On May 8, the world was introduced to the Catholic Church’s new pope:
69-year-old U.S.-born Augustinian missionary Robert Francis Prevost. Since
then, the story of his life — from his humble roots in suburban Chicago, to
his years as a missionary in Peru — has prompted plenty of fascination. This
special edition of Angelus begins with an introduction to Pope Leo XIV
from editor-in-chief Pablo Kay on Page 10, followed by coverage of Leo’s
May 18 inauguration Mass in Rome on Page 14, and in-depth reporting and
commentary on the new pope from various contributors.
THIS PAGE
VICTOR ALEMÁN
Peruvians celebrated the election
of Pope Leo XIV with Archbishop
José H. Gomez at a special Mass at
the Cathedral of Our Lady of the
Angels on May 9.
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CONTENTS
Archbishop Gomez..................................................................................................................... 3
World, Nation, and Local News.......................................................................................... 4-6
In Other Words............................................................................................................................. 7
Father Rolheiser............................................................................................................................ 8
Heather King............................................................................................................................... 46
Scott Hahn................................................................................................................................... 48
Events Calendar......................................................................................................................... 49
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Local parishioners, Augustinians react to Pope Leo XIV’s election
The rise and fall of the Chicago suburb that raised a pope
A guide to Pope Leo XIV’s ‘Augustinianism’
What Leo XIV’s name choice says about the past — and the future
The great ‘social question’ of Pope Leo’s time: Artificial intelligence
Why Leo XIV won’t be the American pope you might expect
Five films to help us understand Pope Leo XIV’s Chicago
Greg Erlandson: Our unexpected pope, ‘The Latin Yankee’
May 30, 2025 • ANGELUS • 1

POPE WATCH
Leo’s first homily
The following is the full text of the homily
delivered by Pope Leo XIV at his first
Mass as pontiff, celebrated Friday, May
9, in the Sistine Chapel with the College
of Cardinals.
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.
“You are the Christ, the Son of the
living God” (Matthew 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 2,000
years.
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the
living God: the one Savior, 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, 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,
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.
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 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,
an ark of salvation sailing through the
waters of history and a beacon that
illuminates 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 marvelous light
(cf. 1 Peter 2:9).
Peter, however, makes his profession of
faith in reply to a specific question:
Continued on Page 40
Papal Prayer Intention for May: Let us pray that through
work, each person might find fulfillment, families might be
sustained in dignity, and that society might be humanized.
2 • ANGELUS • May 30, 2025

NEW WORLD OF FAITH
ARCHBISHOP JOSÉ H. GOMEZ
Listening to our new pope
Habemus papam! We have a
pope!
It has been beautiful to
watch how all the world’s attention
has been focused on Rome these
days.
It seems that even in our highly
secularized technological societies,
people still sense that the Church is
more than a human institution; they
seem to know that the Church is at
the heart of God’s plan for the world
and the human race.
Every pope is a new beginning
along the ancient path that started
at Caesarea Philippi, when Jesus
established his Church on the “rock”
of the apostle Peter’s confession of
faith: “You are the Christ, the Son of
the living God.”
Our new Pope Leo XIV now walks
on the path that Peter and his successors
have walked down through the
centuries, following in the footsteps of
Jesus and carrying on the mission that
he commanded: to proclaim the good
news of God’s love to every person
on earth, teaching them how to live,
calling disciples from out of all the
nations and uniting them into one
family of God.
Leo is the first American pope,
descended from immigrants to this
country. He is also the first missionary
pope, having spent years in Latin
America before coming to Rome.
And in his inaugural homily, he
called us to be “a missionary Church
that opens its arms to the world.”
He said, “We want to say to the
world, with humility and joy: Look to
Christ! Come closer to him! Welcome
his Word that enlightens and
consoles! Listen to his offer of love
and become his one family: In the
one Christ, we are one.”
I’ve been listening closely to our
new Holy Father’s words, and I am
excited by his vision.
I’m especially encouraged by his
desire to proclaim the Church’s social
teaching in response to the challenges
we face in the world today. I’ve
long believed that our social teaching
is the Church’s best-kept secret.
Leo rightly sees that we are living
in a world where people are deeply
divided, and where a new industrial
revolution, driven by digital communications
technologies and artificial
intelligence, is creating new threats
to human work, human dignity, and
human freedom.
He also understands that this is a
time of great confusion about the
reality of God and the true meaning
of human life.
In his first Mass with the cardinals,
he described the “crisis of the family”
and the “loss of meaning in life”
caused by the growing secularism of
Western societies.
Many people in our societies entrust
their lives, not to God, but to “other
securities … like technology, money,
success, power, or pleasure,” he said.
Even many “baptized Christians” are
living “in a state of practical atheism.”
Leo is deeply concerned about the
challenges facing our young people.
He spoke of their loneliness, about
the “isolation caused by rampant
relational models increasingly marked
by superficiality, individualism,
and emotional instability,” and “the
spread of patterns of thought weakened
by relativism.”
He said, “There is a widespread
thirst for justice, a desire for authentic
fatherhood and motherhood, a
profound longing for spirituality,
especially among young people and
the marginalized.”
In his address to diplomats to the
Vatican, Leo reminded them that
government leaders have the duty to
promote “the family, founded upon
the stable union between a man and
a woman,” and to protect “the dignity
of every person, especially the most
frail and vulnerable, from the unborn
to the elderly, from the sick to the
unemployed, citizens and immigrants
alike.”
What comes through in all these
early talks and homilies is our new
Holy Father’s confident hope and
serenity.
Leo believes in the power of the
Gospel, and the power of God’s love.
As he said in his first blessing, “God
loves us, God loves you all, and evil
will not prevail! All of us are in God’s
hands. So, let us move forward,
without fear, together, hand in hand
with God and with one another! We
are followers of Christ. Christ goes
before us. The world needs his light.”
He knows that only in Jesus, the
Son of the living God, do we find the
peace and happiness that our restless
hearts are seeking.
“Jesus 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,” he said.
Our task now, all of us in the
Church, is to deepen “our personal
relationship with the Lord … our
commitment to a daily journey of
conversion.”
Pray for me and I will pray for you.
And let us continue to pray for our
new Pope Leo XIV!
May holy Mary, mother of the
Church, keep our Holy Father, and
all of us, in her tender care.
May 30, 2025 • ANGELUS • 3

WORLD
At peace with a Sinner — Jannik Sinner, the No. 1 rated tennis player in the world, gave a racket to Pope Leo
XIV during a surprise May 14 meeting at the Vatican. Leo is an avid tennis fan and is known to enjoy playing the
sport. The meeting was arranged during Sinner’s day off from the Italian Open, which was being played a few
miles away that week in Rome. | CNS/VATICAN MEDIA
■ UK court orders Vatican
to pay legal fees
The High Court of England and
Wales ordered the Vatican to pay legal
fees for an investment manager connected
to a scandalous property deal.
The May 2 ruling, which will cost
the Vatican Secretariat of State
approximately $9 million, comes after
the court cleared investment banker
Raffaele Mincione of accusations of
conspiracy and fraud.
Mincione had managed investments
for the Vatican from 2013 to 2018,
when the Secretariat of State made an
early withdrawal of the funds, triggering
millions in penalties and receiving
in exchange a controversial London
property development.
Though Mincione was cleared by the
English court, the judges still criticized
his company’s “standards of communication.”
Mincione is still pending
appeal in a Vatican City lawsuit, where
he seeks to overturn a 2023 conviction
for misappropriation of funds.
■ Report: Number of
displaced people has
doubled in decade
The number of internally displaced
persons (IDPs) hit a global high of
83.4 million people in 2024, according
to a new report.
“Conflicts and violence have left 73.5
million people displaced and [natural]
disasters 9.8 million, in both cases the
highest figures on record,” read the
Global Report on Internal Displacement
(GRID) released May 13.
The number of IDPs was just 40.5
million — less than half of current
numbers — in the first GRID report
released in 2015. IDPs grew in
large part due to conflict in Sudan,
which has the highest number of
displaced people in the world at 11.6
million, with conflicts in Syria, Gaza,
and Ukraine leading to more than
13 million IDPs combined. The
U.S. reported more than 11 million
displacements due to hurricane mass
evacuations.
■ Pakistan:
Three Catholic
students killed
in skirmish with
India
Three Catholic school
students were among
those killed during a
brief conflict between
India and Pakistan that
began May 7.
The fighting began
with Indian aerial
assaults against what
they claimed were
Twelve-year-old twins Zain Ali and Urwah Fatima were killed in the May 7
attack. | ARTICLE 14/COURTESY KHAN FAMILY
nine terrorist centers in Pakistan, killing 31. In retaliation, Pakistani forces increased
shelling in border areas, including the Poonch township where the Christ School is
located.
The school’s principal told Catholic News Agency that two of the students who
died were twins who “were hit by splinters from shelling when they were moving
out to flee the area with their parents after their house was hit by a shell.”
A third student who was in a car during the shelling was also killed.
Despite regional expectations that fighting could escalate further, the two countries
reached a ceasefire May 10 — earning a congratulatory shout-out from Pope
Leo XIV during his first “Regina Caeli” address the next day.
4 • ANGELUS • May 30, 2025

NATION
■ Villanova
University
becomes a
pope’s alma
mater
The Villanova
University
community is celebrating
the election
of a onetime
math major at the
Catholic liberal
arts university to
the papacy.
“He’s always
been a brother to
Then-Cardinal Robert Prevost holds up the Villanova “V” hand sign with a
group of Villanova students at St. Peter’s Crypt beneath St. Peter’s Basilica in
October 2024. | CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY/COURTESY JAISY JOSEPH
us,” said Augustinian Father Robert Hagan, prior provincial for the Province
of St. Thomas of Villanova, who first met then-Father Robert Prevost while
Hagan was in the novitiate.
Over the years, Prevost made a habit of stopping by campus during visits to
the U.S. In 2014, he received an honorary doctorate from the school.
Father William Lego, who went to both high school and college with
Prevost, said the two helped found the pro-life club “Villanovans for Life.”
Villanova president Father Peter Donohue, who also studied at the school
with Prevost, sent a congratulatory message after the conclave to the pope’s
personal email address.
“It started out, ‘Bob,’ ” he told Time magazine. “Then I said, I guess I
should say ‘Your Holiness.’ ”
■ Virginia: Catholic
Charities steps in to help
Afrikaner refugees
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington
agreed to help resettle dozens of white
South Africans, known as Afrikaners after
local Episcopalian leaders declined to.
Fifty-nine Afrikaner refugees landed in
Washington, D.C., on May 12 after the
Trump administration expedited their applications
to be resettled, claiming unjust racial
discrimination in South Africa. The resettlement
is occurring despite the administration’s
indefinite suspension of the U.S. Refugee
Admission Program.
Episcopal Migration Ministries had refused
to assist in the Afrikaner resettlement,
claiming that they were “selected in a highly
unusual manner” and given “preferential
treatment over many others who have been
waiting in refugee camps or dangerous conditions
for years” by the U.S. government.
Catholic Charities will provide “limited and
temporary assistance” to the refugees as they
travel through to their final destinations, even
after the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
was forced to end its refugee resettlement
program due to budget cuts from the Trump
administration.
■ Bomb detonated in
Pennsylvania adoration chapel
A Pennsylvania bishop described the detonation
of an explosive device in a Pennsylvania
adoration chapel as an “act of religious
hate.”
No one was injured in the May 6 attack on
the perpetual adoration chapel at St. Teresa
of Calcutta Church in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania,
but the monstrance was damaged
and the chapel remains closed until further
notice.
“I am heartbroken that such a heinous,
hateful, and evil act occurred at St. Teresa of
Calcutta,” Allentown Bishop Alfred Schlert
said on May 7. “Belief in the real presence of
Jesus Christ in the holy Eucharist is central
to the Catholic Faith. To use an explosive
device to destroy the Blessed Sacrament is
an act of darkest evil.”
Police arrested a 32-year-old man in
connection with the attack with the help of
surveillance footage.
A city on edge — A woman cries as a bus transporting detained people leaves the Department of Homeland
Security field office in Nashville, Tennessee, where a multi-agency immigration operation resulted in
the arrest of at least 196 noncitizens the week of May 4. In response, the Diocese of Nashville reminded
local Catholics that according to canon law, they are not required to attend Sunday Mass if they fear for
their well-being. | OSV NEWS/SETH HERALD, REUTERS
May 30, 2025 • ANGELUS • 5

LOCAL
■ SF archbishop named to US
religious liberty board
The Trump administration has selected San
Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone to
serve on an advisory board for the newly established
Religious Liberty Commission.
Cordileone joins Cardinal Timothy Dolan of
the Archdiocese of New York and Bishop Robert
Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester,
Minnesota, as Catholic members of the new
commission.
Cordileone noted several concerns about religious
liberty in recent years, such as contraception
or in vitro fertilization mandates, and a new
Washington state law that tries to force priests
to violate the seal of confession. In 2019, he
noted, lawmakers in California debated a similar
bill, which “galvanized Catholics” to oppose its
adoption.
The commission is tasked with creating a report
on the current threats to religious freedom
in the United States and providing strategies to
improve legal protections for those rights.
■ Department of Catholic Schools
unveils inaugural Angel Awards
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ Department of Catholic Schools honored
three individuals for its first Angel Awards announced on May 7.
Christiana Davis, a middle-school teacher at Transfiguration School in
Leimert Park, Tina Johnson, principal at St. Albert the Great Elementary
School in Rancho Dominguez, and Father Francis Mendoza, pastor at St.
Finbar Church in Burbank, were chosen from among more than 100 nominees
for representing “the values of servant leadership, Christian dignity and
respect, commitment to community, and collaboration in ministry.”
For her award, Davis was described as having “an unwavering commitment
to her students’ growth and consistently embodies service, stewardship, and
excellence in everything she does.”
About Johnson: “Her faith-based approach to leadership allows space for
students to build a relationship with God, but also learn how to navigate the
world that we live in.”
Regarding Mendoza: “He is thoughtful and makes the Scriptures as relatable
and digestible as possible to students.”
Christiana Davis, Father Francis Mendoza, and Tina Johnson. | SUBMITTED PHOTOS
Ministering to mothers — The Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ Office of Life, Justice and Peace put
on a Mother’s Day event on May 3 at St. Teresa of Avila Church in Silver Lake for mothers whose
children are incarcerated. | DEACON PAULINO JUAREZ-RAMIREZ
■ Female high school
seniors earn Rader
foundation scholarships
Three high-school seniors won scholarships
given by the Lucille Rader Education Foundation
to young women attending Catholic
schools in the archdiocese.
Anja Fassbind from Bishop García Diego
High School in Santa Barbara received a
$40,000 scholarship paid over four years and
will be attending Baylor University.
Ellie Stinson from Bishop Montgomery
High School in Torrance received a $40,000
scholarship paid over four years and will be
attending Loyola Marymount University.
Isabella Matthews from Louisville High
School in Woodland Hills won a $15,000
Director’s Scholarship and will be attending
Loyola University Chicago.
The scholarships are given annually to
young women in Catholic schools who excel
in academics and athletics, as well as good
moral character.
The foundation and scholarships are
named in honor of Lucille Rader, a former
nun in the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart
of Mary who taught in Los Angeles-area
schools for nearly 60 years. Rader died in
2015.
Y
6 • ANGELUS • May 30, 2025

V
IN OTHER WORDS...
Letters to the Editor
Don’t downplay McCarrick’s sins
As a survivor of clerical sexual abuse at the hands of the late Theodore
McCarrick, I want to express my profound indignation at Msgr. Richard
Antall’s recent essay (published on AngelusNews.com April 30). The piece
soft-pedals horrors that thousands of survivors have spent decades forcing into the
light.
Antall highlights McCarrick’s former charitable work while glossing over the 2018
Vatican report on McCarrick, the civil suits in New Jersey, and the criminal indictment
against him. Downplaying all that evidence presented against him insults
every victim who risked retaliation to testify.
Antall’s suggestion that McCarrick’s downfall stems from a “cultural overcorrection”
rather than decades of stonewalling by bishops is either historically tone deaf
or an intentional diversion from institutional culpability.
I recognize opinion columns allow strong viewpoints. What Angelus published,
however, muddles opinion with omission so egregiously that it lands in the realm
of revisionism. I am appalled that you would allow one of your writers to treat survivors’
pain as a footnote to clerical reputation. When the Catholic press skirts the
full truth, it deepens the very distrust the late Pope Francis, and now our new Pope
Leo XIV, want healed.
— John Bellocchio
Y
Continue the conversation! To submit a letter to the editor, visit AngelusNews.com/Letters-To-The-Editor
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‘Peace be with you’
“Without a doubt, Chiclayo
will be in his heart.”
~ Chiclayo Bishop Edinson Farfán, in a homily
during a Mass of Thanksgiving in Peru on May 10
for Pope Leo XIV, the former bishop there.
“Even the Pope might need
a great CPA.”
~ Linda Jensen, founder of Heart Financial Group, in
a May 13 Fortune article on whether Pope Leo XIV
will need to file a U.S. tax return.
“Now they can be forgiven
for their sins.”
~ New York Knicks Coach Tom Thibodeau, during
a May 9 press conference about the players on his
team who hailed from Villanova University, the
same college that Pope Leo XIV graduated from.
“The movie ‘Conclave’ is
horrific because it has
nothing to do with what I
lived.”
~ Chilean Cardinal Fernando Chomalí, in an
interview with OSV News recounting his experience
in the conclave and his dinner with Pope Leo XIV
the day he was elected.
“He is a scroller, a kind of a
Twitter lurker … and so am I.”
~ Katy Prejean McGrady, host of Sirius XM’s
Catholic channel, in a May 12 Religion News
Service article on Pope Leo XIV’s digital footprint.
Pope Leo XIV delivers his first remarks to the people gathered at St. Peter’s Square — and around the world — after he
was elected on May 8. | CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
To view this video
and others, visit
AngelusNews.com/photos-videos
Do you have photos or a story from your parish that you’d
like to share? Please send to editorial@angelusnews.com.
“The Pope does not need a
passport nor a citizenship,
because he is the source of
every citizenship.”
~ Andrea Gagliarducci, a Vatican analyst for
Catholic News Agency, in a May 14 CNA article
on whether Pope Leo XIV can keep his American
citizenship.
May 30, 2025 • ANGELUS • 7

IN EXILE
FATHER RONALD ROLHEISER, OMI
Oblate of Mary Immaculate Father
Ronald Rolheiser is a spiritual
writer; ronrolheiser.com
A needed reminder
A
Benedictine monk shared this
story with me. During his early
years in religious life, he had
been resentful because he was required
to ask permission from his abbott if he
wanted anything: “I thought it was silly,
me, a grown man, an adult, having to
ask a superior if I wanted a new shirt. I
felt like a child.”
But as he aged his perspective
changed: “I’m not sure of all the
reasons, though I’m sure they have
to do with grace, but one day I came
to realize that there was some deep
wisdom in having to ask permission
for everything. We don’t own anything;
nothing comes to us by right.
Everything is gift. So, ideally everything
should be asked for and not taken as
if it were ours by right. We need to be
grateful to God and the universe for
everything that’s been given us. Now,
when I need something and need to
ask permission from the abbott, I no
longer feel like a child. Rather, I feel
that I’m more properly in tune with the
way things should be in a gift-oriented
universe within which nobody has a
right to ultimately claim anything.”
What this monk came to understand
is a principle that undergirds all
spirituality, all morality, and every one
of the commandments, namely, that
everything comes to us as a gift, nothing
can be claimed as if owed to us.
We should be grateful to God and to
the universe for giving us what we have
and careful not to claim, as by right,
anything more.
But this goes against much in our
instinctual selves and within our
culture. Within both, there are strong
voices which tell us that if you cannot
take what you want, then you’re a weak
person, weak in a double way. First,
you’re a weak personality, too timid to
fully claim life. Second, you’ve been
weakened by religious and moral scruples
and are unable to properly seize
the day and be fully alive. These voices
tell us that we need to grow up because
there is much in us that’s fearful and
infantile, a child held captive by superstitious
forces.
It’s precisely because of these voices
that today, in a culture that professes
to be Christian and moral, leading
political and social figures can, in all
sincerity, believe and say that empathy
is a human weakness.
We need an important reminder.
The voice of Jesus is radically antithetical
to these voices. Empathy is
the penultimate human virtue, the
antithesis of weakness. Jesus would look
on so much that is assertive, aggressive,
and accumulative within our society
and, notwithstanding the admiration it
receives, tell us clearly that this is not
what it means to come to the banquet
which lies at the heart of God’s kingdom.
He would not share our admiration
of the rich and famous who too
often claim, as by right, their excessive
wealth and status. When Jesus states
that it is harder for a rich person to
go to heaven than for a camel to pass
through the eye of a needle, he might
have qualified this by adding: “Unless,
of course, the rich person, childlike,
asks permission from the universe, from
the community, and from God, for
every new shirt!”
When I was a religious novice, our
novice master tried to impress upon
us the meaning of religious poverty
by making us write inside every book
that was given to us the Latin words:
ad usum. Literally: for your use. The
idea was that, although this book was
given to you for your personal use,
you didn’t own it. It was only for your
use; real ownership lay elsewhere. We
were then told that this was true as well
Empathy is the penultimate human virtue, the
antithesis of weakness.
of everything else given to us for our
personal use, from our toothbrushes to
the shirts on our backs. They were not
really ours, merely given to us for our
use.
One of the young men in that novitiate
group who left the order is today
a medical doctor. He remains a close
friend, and he once shared with me
how today, as a doctor, he still writes
those words ad usum in every one of
his books. His rationale is this: “I don’t
belong to a religious order. I don’t have
a vow of poverty, but the principle
our novice master taught us is just as
valid for me in the world as it is for a
religious novice. We don’t own anything.
Those books aren’t really mine.
They’ve been given to me, temporarily,
for my use. Nothing ultimately belongs
to anybody and it’s best never to forget
that.”
No matter how rich, strong, and
grown-up we are, there’s something
healthy in having to ask permission to
buy a new shirt. It keeps us attuned
to the fact that the universe belongs
to everyone, to God ultimately.
Everything comes to us as a gift and so
we may never take anything for granted,
but only as granted!
8 • ANGELUS • May 30, 2025

Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal
Robert F. Prevost, smiles as
he appears at the central loggia
of St. Peter’s Basilica at the
Vatican following his election
as pope May 8, 2025. | CNS/
LOLA GOMEZ
10 • ANGELUS • May 30, 2025

Pope Leo XIV’s first words and actions as pontiff reveal a man convinced
that the Catholic Church has something special to offer the world.
BY PABLO KAY
We have a pope.
After all the guessing
and stressing that happens
between the death of a pope and the
selection of his successor, those are
predictable words — everyone knows
the “Habemus Papam” announcement
is coming at some point.
But since the emergence of Robert
Francis Prevost onto the loggia of St.
Peter’s Basilica on May 8, I suspect
those words have a special meaning for
Angelus readers.
Because the truth is, we don’t just
have any pope. In Leo XIV, we have a
missionary pope. An Augustinian pope.
A mathematician pope. And yes, an
American pope.
Those adjectives are all important.
And I have a sense that for Angelus
readers, Leo is going to be our pope
in ways that no pontiff before him has
been.
In 2025, the Catholic Church may
not have the temporal power or the
cultural influence it had during the
times of “Christendom.” But as the
worldwide reaction to the death of Pope
Francis reminded us, our increasingly
materialistic, divided, and often irreli-
Pope Francis greets then-Cardinal
Robert F. Prevost upon making
him a cardinal at a consistory in
St. Peter’s Square Sept. 30, 2023. |
CNS/VATICAN MEDIA
May 30, 2025 • ANGELUS • 11

gious world still looks to the Church for
something, and cares what she does and
says. And beginning on May 8, Leo did
and said a few important things.
When he stepped onto the loggia, or
central balcony, of St. Peter’s Square
that evening, our new pope didn’t speak
right away. He waited, as if he were
trying to buy every available second
possible to take in the moment, to
understand what the College of Cardinals
— and the Holy Spirit — had
just asked of him, a noticeably shy man
called to serve in the most visible role
on the world stage.
Close-up camera images showed
Leo appear to grow emotional in this
moment, as if he were about to cry. His
human vulnerability was on display for
the world to see.
His first words were “Peace be with
you!” and in the words that followed,
Leo reminded the world of Christianity’s
enormous, life-changing promise:
that Jesus Christ is alive, risen from the
dead, and still today has the power to
bring peace to places torn apart by hatred
and violence, and to human hearts
in urgent need of healing.
In his remarks, Leo paid tribute to his
12 • ANGELUS • May 30, 2025

predecessor, Francis, who named him
a bishop in Peru 10 years ago, gave him
a few challenging assignments and responsibilities
in the years that followed,
and eventually placed him in charge of
the Vatican department that helps the
pope vet and appoint bishops.
He called on Catholics to be faithful
to Christ without fear, to be united, to
be missionaries, and to keep our eyes
on the ultimate prize.
“I am a son of St. Augustine, an
Augustinian. He said, ‘With you I am a
Christian, for you a bishop.’ So may we
all walk together toward that homeland
that God has prepared for us.”
And then, he switched from Italian to
Spanish and gave a special shout-out
to the faithful of his “dear diocese” of
Chiclayo, Peru, which he led as bishop
for eight years.
In the hours and days that followed,
a fascinating portrait of the new pope
began to emerge, driven by wall-to-wall
media coverage. The images, facts, and
stories reported in the media have given
the world insights about Prevost’s family
roots, spirituality, hobbies, and mission-
Continued on Page 22
OSV NEWS GRAPHIC/CHELSEA ALT
May 30, 2025 • ANGELUS • 13

T HIS IS THE HOUR FOR LOVE!
BY JUSTIN MCLELLAN
Pope Leo XIV formally began his pontificate by emphasizing
Church unity and calling Catholics to ‘Look to Christ!’
Pope Leo XIV waves as
he arrives to celebrate his
inauguration Mass at the
Vatican May 18. | OSV
NEWS/JACQUELYN MAR-
TIN, POOL VIA REUTERS
VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo
XIV formally began his ministry
as the successor of St. Peter by
calling for “a united Church, a sign
of unity and communion, which
becomes a leaven for a reconciled
world.”
“In this our time, we still see too
much discord, too many wounds
caused by hatred, violence, prejudice,
the fear of difference and an economic
paradigm that exploits the Earth’s resources
and marginalizes the poorest,”
the new pope said in his homily during
his inauguration Mass in St. Peter’s
Square on May 18.
“For our part, we want to be a small
leaven of unity, communion, and
fraternity within the world,” he told
the estimated 150,000 people gathered
in and around the square. “We want to
say to the world, with humility and joy:
Look to Christ! Come closer to him!
Welcome his word that enlightens and
consoles! Listen to his offer of love and
become his one family: ‘In the one
Christ, we are one.’ ”
A version of the quote from St. Augustine
is the pope’s episcopal motto
and is featured on his coat of arms.
Ecumenical and interreligious guests
and more than 100 government
delegations joined the new pope for
Mass in St. Peter’s Square. The United
States was represented by Vice President
J.D. Vance and Secretary of State
Marco Rubio, accompanied by their
spouses and senior White House aides.
Vance and the second lady, Usha
14 • ANGELUS • May 30, 2025

A group of Los Angeles priests were on hand to concelebrate
Pope Leo XIV’s May 18 Inauguration Mass
in Rome. From left: Father Ramon Reyes (Incarnation,
Glendale), Father Juan Cesar Carrasco (St. Rose of
Lima, Maywood), Father Julio Gonzalez (Our Lady
of the Rosary, Paramount), Father Michael Masteller
(studying in Rome), Father Claude Williams, O.Praem.
(formerly Sts. Peter & Paul, Wilmington), Father Daniel
Lopez (Holy Family, Glendale), and Father Brian
Humphrey (studying in Rome). | ANGELUS PHOTO
Vance, visited Pope Francis’ tomb in
the Basilica of St. Mary Major the
evening before the Mass. “He was
beloved by many Catholics around the
world, and I hope you will join me in
praying for the repose of his soul,” he
wrote in a post on X.
Among the Christian leaders present
was Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew of Constantinople,
along with other delegations from
the Orthodox churches, the Anglican
Communion, the Lutheran World
Federation, the World Methodist
Council, the World Communion
of Reformed Churches, and various
evangelical and Pentecostal communities.
Representatives of the Jewish
community as well as Muslim, Hindu,
Buddhist, Sikh, Zoroastrian, and Jain
traditions also were in attendance.
Before the Mass began, Leo rode
through the square in the popemobile
for the first time since his election on
May 8, greeting the faithful as cheers
of “Viva il papa!” (“Long live the
pope!”) rose from the crowd. He then
Pope Leo XIV waves at the conclusion
of his inauguration Mass at the Vatican
May 18. | OSV NEWS/CLAUDIA
GRECO, REUTERS
entered the basilica to pray at the tomb
of St. Peter, accompanied by patriarchs
of the Eastern Catholic churches.
Following the Gospel reading, three
cardinals from the different orders
within the College of Cardinals took
part in the formal beginning of the
Petrine ministry: Italian Cardinal
Mario Zenari placed the woolen pallium
on the pope’s shoulders, symbolizing
his role as shepherd of the universal
Church; Filipino Cardinal Luis
Antonio Tagle presented him with the
fisherman’s ring, evoking St. Peter’s
mission to draw people into Christ’s
net; and Congolese Cardinal Fridolin
Ambongo offered a prayer invoking
the strength of the Holy Spirit for the
new pontificate.
Representing the universal Church,
12 people — clergy, religious, and
laity from around the world — then
came forward to offer their obedience
to the new pope.
Reflecting on the Gospel reading
from St. John — in which Jesus asks
St. Peter three times to tend to his
sheep — Leo said in his homily that
the ministry of
Peter is rooted
not in authority
for its own sake,
but in love that
serves and unites.
“Peter is thus
entrusted with
the task of
‘loving more’
and giving his
life for the flock,”
he said. “The
ministry of Peter
is distinguished
precisely by this
self-sacrificing
love, because the
Church of Rome
presides in charity
and its true
May 30, 2025 • ANGELUS • 15

authority is the charity of Christ.”
The successor of St. Peter, he said,
“must shepherd the flock without ever
yielding to the temptation to be an autocrat,
lording it over those entrusted
to him.” Instead, “he is called to serve
the faith of his brothers and sisters, and
to walk alongside them.”
Leo also recalled the period of
mourning following the death of
Francis, and he said that the conclave
that followed the late pope’s death was
“a moment of grace.”
“I was chosen, without any merit of
my own, and now, with fear and trembling,
I come to you as a brother, who
desires to be the servant of your faith
and your joy, walking with you on the
path of God’s love, for he wants us all
to be united in one family,” he said.
“With the light and the strength of
the Holy Spirit, let us build a church
founded on God’s love, a sign of unity,
a missionary church that opens its
arms to the world,” he said, calling for
a church that “proclaims the word,
allows itself to be made ‘restless’ by history
and becomes a leaven of harmony
for humanity.”
“Brothers and sisters, this is the hour
for love!” he added. “The heart of the
Gospel is the love of God that makes
us brothers and sisters. With my predecessor
Leo XIII, we can ask ourselves
today: If this criterion ‘were to prevail
in the world, would not every conflict
cease and peace return?’ ”
At the end of Mass, the pope called
for prayers for regions afflicted by war:
Gaza, Myanmar, and Ukraine, which
“finally awaits negotiations for a just
and lasting peace.”
Justin McLellan is a Rome correspondent
for Catholic News Service.
America comes to the pope
The day after his inauguration Mass, Pope Leo
XIV met with U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance
and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss
international affairs and exchange gifts.
One of the gifts from the U.S. delegation was a navy
blue and orange jersey from the Chicago Bears football
team with “Pope Leo XIV” written on the back.
The new pope, who was born in Chicago, responded
with, “Good choice,” when the vice president showed
him the jersey, according to video clips released by
Vatican Media.
Vance’s office said he also gave the pope the books,
“The City of God” and “On Christian Doctrine,” both
written by St. Augustine, the founder
of the religious order the pope joined
when he was 21.
Among the gifts Leo presented was
a bronze bas-relief of a flower blossoming
with an inscription, which the
pope read out loud to Vance, “Peace
is a fragile flower,” according to the
Vatican Media video.
As the pope presented a large book
of colored photographs he was giving
Vance, the pope was explaining one
photo of the Apostolic Palace saying,
“Pope Francis did not live [here] and I
may live [there], which is right upstairs
from here.”
Vance also told the pope, “The
United States people are extremely
excited about you,” to which the pope
responded with an “Oh,” a smile, and
a nod.
The vice president also handed the
pope a letter from President Donald Trump and First
Lady Melania Trump, reportedly inviting him to visit
the White House.
Later, Rubio was present for a portion of the closeddoor
meeting with the pope after Vance’s one-on-one.
The day before, Vance and Rubio also met with
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was in
Rome for the pope’s inaugural Mass.
In a post on X, Vance said, “Our countries share the
goal of ending unnecessary bloodshed in Ukraine, and
we discussed updates on the ongoing negotiations for a
ceasefire and lasting peace.”
— Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service
Usha Vance smiles as her husband, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, presents a Chicago Bears jersey
and other gifts to Pope Leo XIV in the library of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace on May 19. | CNS
PHOTO/VATICAN MEDIA
16 • ANGELUS • May 30, 2025

May 30, 2025 • ANGELUS • 17

F IRST INTRODUCTIONS
BY MIKE CISNEROS, THERESA CISNEROS AND KIMMY CHACÓN
Catholics across the Archdiocese of LA were surprised,
overjoyed, and eager to see where Pope Leo takes the Church.
When Laura Gonzales watched
as newly elected Pope Leo
XIV spoke to the crowd at St.
Peter’s Square in Rome — and to the
rest of the world — she screamed with
joy.
She knew him.
Gonzales, a parishioner at St. Joseph
the Worker Church in Winnetka, is
from Peru. More specifically, she’s from
Chiclayo, Peru, the same place where
Leo — then known as Father Robert
F. Prevost — was appointed bishop by
Pope Francis in late 2014.
She remembered returning to Chiclayo
a few years ago and attending a
Mass celebrated by Prevost.
“The pope gave me Communion,”
Gonzales said through tears of joy.
“He has seen the needs of my people
and how much poverty there is in my
country, and he has worked with such
unity. I have friends who have worked
with him, and they’ve called me and
told me this.
“I heard he cares about the community
and he’s humble.”
As word quickly spread throughout
the Archdiocese of Los Angeles on
May 8 that there was white smoke
pouring from the Sistine Chapel in
Rome — “Habemus Papam” — local
Catholics like Gonzales began pondering
what the new pope, an American
pope, might mean for the future of the
Church.
At St. Cornelius Church in Long
Beach, the daily Mass was offered for
the newly elected pontiff. Miguel Macias-Casas
is among those who attended,
accompanied by two friends.
Macias-Casas, who runs the parish’s
Laura Gonzales, second from left, poses with
other Peruvians at St. Joseph the Worker Church
in Winnetka to celebrate Pope Leo XIV’s election.
| VICTOR ALEMÁN
Young Adult Ministry, said that while
he appreciated that Pope Francis
helped bridge gaps among many people,
some of his messages were open to
misinterpretation.
He said he’s hoping that the new pontiff
will provide “greater clarity.”
“I think that’s what a lot of people,
especially young people, just want to
know,” he said. “What it is we’re supposed
to do to be faithful to God.”
The fact that Leo is an American who
speaks English was a bonus, he said.
“It’s nice to know that if I met him, I
could probably talk to him, being able
to speak the same language,” Macias-Casas
said.
18 • ANGELUS • May 30, 2025

At Catholic schools across the archdiocese,
there was an especially exuberant
excitement at the news of a new pope.
At St. Bernard Catholic School in
Bellflower, Principal Aaron De Loera
was in a meeting when the nearby TV
suddenly began displaying images of
white smoke in Rome. Word spread
through the pre-K-8 school, and suddenly
screens in the classrooms were
broadcasting the big news.
Students began cheering and jumping
up and down. De Loera went into
classrooms donning a pope-style hat,
chanting and praying with the students.
Some students were so glued to what
was happening in Rome that they —
gasp — skipped recess.
“They were like, ‘Can we stay? Can
we watch?’ So I was like, of course, my
door’s open,” said third-grade teacher
Stephanie Briseno. “They actually had
their snack in here, and some of them
didn’t even go to play. When they saw
the pope was coming out, they were
just all shouting and super happy and
excited.”
Second-grade teacher Michele Worley
had just been to Rome, one of the
many local Catholics who went there
for the canonization of Blessed Carlo
Acutis, only to end up at Pope Francis’
funeral instead.
After that period of mourning, seeing
the newly elected pope roused her, giving
her faith a feeling of being “on fire.”
“It’s just like a renewed kind of hope
and faith,” Worley said. “It’s very
exciting, and seeing [the students] so
excited, it’s kind of like a full circle
moment for all of us.”
At Our Lady of Mount Carmel School
in Santa Barbara, students were elated
to learn that a new pope had been chosen,
said Principal Tracie Simolon.
Students learned about the papal succession
process as part of their studies,
and prayed for the conclave and the
cardinals at their May Crowning Mass
this week, she said.
As white smoke began to billow from
the Sistine Chapel, the school made a
campus-wide announcement about the
news.
“As I was sitting in my office, I could
hear yelling and cheering coming from
our classrooms,” she said. “It was a lot
of fun to see how excited our students
were.”
Students at Resurrection Catholic School in Boyle Heights react in class while watching the
election of Pope Leo XIV in Rome on May 8. | RESURRECTION CATHOLIC SCHOOL
Simolon said the school “hummed”
with enthusiasm all day, as students
reveled in the fact that the new pope is
homegrown.
“We weren’t necessarily anticipating
that our new pope would be from
the United States, so we were very
pleasantly surprised,” she said. “I think
many of the students are feeling very
proud and energized by that.”
At St. Christopher Parish School
in West Covina, the news was also
received with optimism and hope, said
Principal Rhonda Olvera.
Live video from the Sistine Chapel
was broadcast in all of the classrooms,
and students began to cheer when the
new pope was revealed, she said.
Pupils across all grade levels had
learned about how a pope is elected
and what it means for the Church,
Olvera said. They were thrilled with
the news because they were taught that
the conclave was “guided by the Holy
Spirit,” she said. “They are not just
being chosen by humans; it’s divine
intervention,” Olvera said. “That’s what
they’re most excited about.”
When Father Sergio Sandoval, associate
pastor at St. Philip Neri Church in
Lynwood, first heard there was a new
pope, he began reading up on him,
liking him increasingly the more he
read.
“His security and his charism are what
drew me to him,” Sandoval said. “As I
read his biography, I felt connected to
him. My first impression of the pope
was that he seemed like a secure and
peaceful man, who even invited us to
be at peace.”
As the day continued, Sandoval began
receiving messages and photos from his
Peruvian friends, showing how Leo was
a man of the people during his time in
Peru.
“I’m not too sure how close they were
with [Leo], but they shared photos
with me — pictures of him just being
human, like serving food to himself,”
Sandoval said.
As he saw the images, he said it was
“beautiful” to see the pope from that
perspective.
As Thursday drew to a close, many
faithful in the archdiocese said the real
beauty of Leo’s election is the anticipation
of the fruits of faith that may lie
ahead.
“As a community, we’re just holding
our new pope in prayer for his leadership,
and entrusting his mission to care
for all of the Catholic community,”
Olvera said.
“As a Catholic school leader, I view
his appointment as a moment of grace,
renewal for the Church. I’m looking
forward to seeing how he’s going
to guide us in deepening our faith
and promoting Catholic education,
particularly, and just looking forward
to how he will help us to inspire our
students to live out the Gospel.”
Mike Cisneros is the associate editor of
Angelus.
Theresa Cisneros is a freelance
journalist with more than 20 years of
experience in the news industry. She is a
fourth-generation Southern California
resident and lives in Orange County
with her husband and four children.
Kimmy Chacón is a freelance journalist
and graduate of the Columbia
University Graduate School of Journalism.
She lives in Los Angeles.
May 30, 2025 • ANGELUS • 19

A
POPE WITH FRIENDS IN LA
BY NATALIE ROMANO
After getting to know him during visits to their Los Feliz parish,
LA’s Augustinians believe Leo XIV was the perfect choice.
Father Sarfraz Alam, OSA, center,
an Augustinian priest and pastor
at Our Mother of Good Counsel
Church in Los Feliz, speaks during
a press conference to celebrate
Pope Leo XIV on May 8, along
with Father Carlos Flores Haylock,
OSA, left, and Archbishop José H.
Gomez. | ISABEL CACHO
When the man he had known
and respected for 20 years
was declared the new pope,
Father Barnaby Johns, OSA, excitedly
leapt into the air. He could hardly
believe the first American — and the
first Augustinian from the Order of St.
Augustine (OSA) — was now leading
the Catholic Church.
“I’m just so overwhelmed,” said
Johns, prior provincial of the St. Augustine
Province in California. “I’m
sort of tingling. I cannot say enough
good things about [Pope Leo XIV]. It’s
wonderful for the world, wonderful
for the Church, and wonderful for the
Augustinian order.”
In the wake of Chicago-born Cardinal
Robert Francis Prevost becoming
Pope Leo XIV — on an Augustinian
feast day no less — OSA priests serving
in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles
shared their excitement, their personal
memories, and reflected on what it
means to have one of their own as the
Successor of Peter.
Father Sarfraz Alam, OSA, said the
unexpected election of Leo is “the
work of the Holy Spirit” and a point
of pride for both his order and his
parish. Founded in 1925 by Augustinians,
Our Mother of Good Counsel
Church in Los Feliz often welcomed
the former Cardinal Prevost for provincial
meetings and overnight stays
in the friary. Just days after the naming
of Leo, the parish held a Mass of
Thanksgiving in his honor.
“It is a moment of joy and awe for
our own parish family knowing that
someone who shared our pews, broke
bread in our rectory, and prayed in
our chapel now shepherds the entire
Catholic world,” said Alam, pastor at
Our Mother of Good Counsel. “We
pray for him every day.”
Just as moved was Father Malachy
Theophilus, OSA, who is a chaplain
at St. John’s Regional Medical Center
in Oxnard. Theophilus met the
then-Prior General Prevost when he
came to Nigeria.
“The announcement was emotional
for me in particular because he was
20 • ANGELUS • May 30, 2025

the one who did my final profession
of vows,” Theophilus said. “He was
down-to-earth, relatable, simple.”
Watching the pontiff’s first address,
Theophilus said he recognized that
signature humility and charism of the
Augustinian order, which focuses on
living in community, seeking truth,
loving God, and serving others. Theophilus
believes those charisms will
be reflected in his pontificate.
“[Pope Leo XIV] spoke about building
bridges between the Church and
the world,” Theophilus said. “One of
our most important pillars is community
life, so he’ll lead a Church that is
based on creating connection with the
world, being a light to the world, and
not being a church of isolation.”
Johns noted the pope spoke of duty
and grace when he loosely quoted the
order’s namesake, St. Augustine, by
saying, “With you I am a Christian
and for you I am a bishop.” He also
said Leo will be driven by the Rule of
St. Augustine, which emphasizes love.
“He, as a son of Augustine and deeply
rooted in that spirituality, will have
that recklessness of heart that Augustine
spoke of, that constant journey toward
God,” Johns said. “That journey
is sometimes a little messy and yet it is
so desirous of the search for truth and
the discovery of God.”
Johns and
Father Emmanuel
Issac, OSA,
live and work at
Villanova Preparatory
School
in Ojai, which
the Augustians
also established.
After Leo’s inaugural
speech, the
priests gathered
the campus community
at the
outdoor grotto to
pray and rejoice
in the good news.
Johns admitted
he couldn’t resist
a joke about
having “the pope
on speed dial.”
Back in class,
Issac said the
students fired off
numerous questions about Leo and
the conclave. He hoped that curiosity
from Catholic students and beyond
could spark support for the Augustinian
order’s work and encourage
vocations.
“People might Google, ‘What does
it mean to be an Augustinian?’ ” said
Issac, chaplain and theology teacher.
“They’ll see we live in communities
and we build communities. We’re
missionaries, educators, and chaplains
at hospitals or prisons. That interest is
good for our entire Church and our
order.”
For Father Mark Menegatti, OSA,
also at Our Mother of Good Counsel,
the evangelization and ministry to
young people was a particular passion
for Prevost when he was the prior general
of the order. Menegatti spent time
with Prevost during several gatherings
for young people, including World
Youth Days in Australia in 2008, Madrid
in 2011, and Brazil in 2013.
“As a man of faith, as a man of
prayer, as a man in love with Jesus
Christ, in the manner of St. Augustine,
it became a great opportunity for
him to encounter Christ in community,
and those sorts of community
places,” Menegatti said. “It was a great
opportunity to connect with young
people.”
Father Mark Menegatti, OSA, right,
pictured with Father Robert Prevost
at the Order of St. Augustine’s
California Provincial Chapter at Villanova
Preparatory School in Ojai in
2011. | FATHER MARK MENEGATTI
Menegatti said that while he was
surprised that Prevost was elected as
pope, he was less shocked at the name
he chose, or the experience he brings.
“Many Augustinians have looked
affectionately on [Pope] Leo XIII as
having a great working relationship
with Augustinian priests while he was
a priest and a bishop, and as well as a
pope,” Menegatti said. “Even before
he was bishop of Peru, he may have
had the most international experience.
He may have sat eye to eye
listening to Augustinian brothers and
priests from more corners of the world
than perhaps any other cardinal sitting
in that conclave.”
In the days ahead, the Augustinians
said Leo’s good qualities will serve
him well, ones they’ve experienced
firsthand, like the time Johns received
some much-needed support after
becoming prior provincial.
“He came up to me and said, ‘This
isn’t the easiest job in the world but
I’m going to be praying for you,’ ’’
Johns said. “He listened to me, he encouraged
me; he’s that kind of person.
“He’s going to be a fantastic pope.”
Father Kirk Davis, OSA, agreed,
saying the Catholic Church is in capable
hands. He was in the process of
entering formation when then-Father
Prevost was just elected prior general
of the Order of St. Augustine.
“He has for years been a role model
for me with his thoughtful, even disposition,
and sense of calm,” said Davis,
pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Church
in Ojai. “Every challenge he has
accepted over his career has been met
with honesty, creativity, and holiness.”
Theophilus said being pope comes
with enormous responsibilities, but
God would help — and we could too,
with our prayers. “My wish for him
is to be a pope of his own heart,” he
said. “I pray that he is a true shepherd
and will lead Catholics and the world
in the direction of God. Keep him in
your prayers.”
Associate Editor Mike Cisneros contributed
to this story.
Natalie Romano is a freelance writer
for Angelus and the Inland Catholic
Byte, the news website of the Diocese of
San Bernardino.
May 30, 2025 • ANGELUS • 21

An American flag is displayed as Pope Leo XIV
arrives to celebrate his inauguration Mass at the Vatican
May 18. | OSV NEWS/ANDY ABEYTA, REUTERS
Continued from Page 13
ary experiences that offer clues about
what his pontificate may hold.
As someone who was fortunate
enough to be in Rome during the week
of the conclave, there are a few things
about Leo that struck me.
First, he is a true missionary. He
knows that the Church is at its best
when it’s on the move, operating outside
of its comfort zones, announcing
Jesus Christ in “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,” as he said in his
first homily as pope on May 9.
Second, he understands that the world
is facing nothing short of a revolution
when it comes to the rise of artificial
intelligence and the technology associated
with it (Leo was a math major in
college, after all). And like his predecessor
Pope Leo XIII did during the
industrial revolution, this Leo believes
the Church has an important role to
play in helping humanity survive this
tech revolution, that her wisdom has
something to say to the powerful tech
leaders and heads of state locked in
competition over these technologies.
Third, there are several signs that he
is uniquely prepared to be pope at this
moment in history.
Among journalists covering the Vatican,
Cardinal Robert Prevost’s name
began to pop up more frequently in the
days before the conclave. His pastoral
approach and priorities were similar to
Francis.
He was a missionary, but had experience
in governance, both as prior general
of his religious order, the Augustinians,
and as a diocesan bishop in Peru.
He had spent just two years leading one
Pope Leo XIV greets a man with a laptop displaying the Peruvian flag during a meeting in the Paul VI Audience Hall at
the Vatican on May 12 with representatives of the media that covered his election. | OSV NEWS/VATICAN MEDIA
of the Vatican’s most important offices,
the Dicastery for Bishops, making him
just enough of an insider to know how
the Roman Curia works, while still
being enough of the kind of outsider
many cardinal-electors were looking for
in the next pope.
Then, there’s his being an American,
which has long been considered an
automatic disqualifier for the papacy
in modern times. As Cardinal Robert
McElroy of Washington, D.C.,
explained to me: “America has great
economic culture, political power, and
military power, and [for an American]
to be heading the Church too, seemed
… not likely.”
But as various Italian news outlets
described him before the conclave,
Cardinal Prevost was known in the
Vatican as “il meno americano tra gli
americani” (“the least American of the
Americans”), having spent almost half
of his life outside the U.S. as a missionary.
And there is at least one obvious advantage
to having an American pope in
2025: Leo takes over a global institution
run mostly by Italians that is facing
serious money challenges. In Rome,
there is a perception that an American-style
approach to governance and
financial administration might be what
the Vatican needs.
Finally, and quite importantly, Leo
seems determined to unite the Catholic
Church. Many, if not most, of the ordinary
Catholics I interviewed in Rome
said they were hoping for a pope who
22 • ANGELUS • May 30, 2025

Then-Father Robert F. Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, front
center, prior general of the Augustinian order, poses with
Augustinian Father Tom McCarthy, president of St. Rita
High School in Chicago, and upperclassmen in January
2006. | OSV NEWS/COURTESY THE BEVERLY REVIEW
could help bridge the perceived divide
between “liberals” and “conservatives”
in the Church, especially when it came
to debates over Church teaching and
liturgical preferences that grew fierce
during the Francis pontificate.
To that end, Leo has pledged to carry
forward Francis’ vision of a more open,
synodal Church, but has also stressed
the importance of safeguarding the
richness of the Church’s traditions.
Meanwhile, his past statements and
actions as a priest and bishop show how
much he admired and was influenced
by Francis’ predecessors, Popes John
Paul II and Benedict XVI, and his major
statements so far have stressed the
theme of unity inside the Church.
What does all that mean for Catholics?
At very least, it means we indeed
have a pope — and he’s our pope not
just because he’s been to Walmart, enjoys
baseball, and speaks English with a
Chicago accent. More importantly, it’s
because in his first words and actions,
Leo understands his mission is much
bigger than any one person, nationality,
political ideology, or social challenge.
Rather, it’s about helping all of us reach
that “homeland that God has prepared
for us” — together.
Pablo Kay is the editor-in-chief of
Angelus.
Pope Leo XIV waves to the crowd from the central
balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican as he
leads, for the first time, the midday recitation of the
“Regina Coeli” prayer May 11. | CNS/VATICAN MEDIA
May 30, 2025 • ANGELUS • 23

24 • ANGELUS • May 30, 2025

Month 00, 2024 • ANGELUS • 25

T HE STORY OF A SUBURB
BY MARY FIORITO
Dolton, Illinois, hasn’t seen good times in a long time.
How did it raise a future pope?
For months, the Chicago suburb of
Dolton, a small community that
skims the City of Chicago’s far
southeast border, had been in the local
news. Its flamboyant mayor, Tiffany
Henyard, is under federal investigation
for fraud, corruption, while living the
high life — like taking first-class trips
to Las Vegas using taxpayer money —
on the backs of struggling residents.
Dolton is currently a community
crippled by exorbitant property taxes
A woman and children look inside the damaged
St. Mary of the Assumption Church
at the very southern edge of Chicago May
9. While he was growing up, Pope Leo XIV
attended Mass with his family at the church,
which has been vacant since 2011. | OSV
NEWS/CARLOS OSARIO, REUTERS
and shuttered businesses and factories.
The median household income is just
$25,000 per year.
At the same time, Dolton’s public
school superintendent was exposed for
raking in a $480,000 a year salary in a
school district where only 7% of students
are proficient in math, and 80%
of children cannot read at grade level.
In other words, “Dolton” had become
synonymous with failure, crime,
hopelessness, and despair, a source of
embarrassment, and the butt of jokes.
Until May 8, that is, when at 12:12
p.m., Chicago time, Dolton’s very own
Robert Francis Prevost was announced
as the 266th successor to St. Peter.
Now Pope Leo XIV, Prevost grew up
there in a typical three-bedroom, twobath
brick Cape Cod-style home at 212
E. 141st Place. He is a lifelong Chicago
White Sox fan, a team known for its
grit and perseverance, but mostly for its
working-class, down-to-earth fan base.
Images circulated on social media show
then-Father Prevost attending Game 1
of the 2005 White Sox World Series —
by himself, clad in a black jacket and
a Sox jersey. (President Barack Obama
himself attended that same game.)
The Holy Father’s parents, Louis and
Mildred, were their home’s first owners,
purchasing it new in 1949, and paying
a $42 a month mortgage.
In the 1950s right up through the late
’70s, the steel mills of Chicago, like
U.S. Steel’s massive South Works plant,
along with other related industries,
including brick making and aluminum
and container factories, kept the area’s
factories filled with workers and fueled
with hope.
At its zenith, South Works employed
almost 20,000 people, providing families
with a steady paycheck and a solid
chance at the American dream. “You
either worked for the steel mills or you
worked for other companies that had
business with the mills,” one long-time
resident told WBEZ, the local NPR
station, in 2018, “These were goodpaying
jobs. You basically didn’t even
need a high school education. You
could go to those good mills and make
a good living.”
The middle- and working-class families
then poured into Dolton from the
two- and three-flat apartment buildings
in the city and brought with them their
26 • ANGELUS • May 30, 2025

Catholic faith. A large swath of Irish
and Irish-American families, along with
second-generation Polish, German, and
Italian Americans, contributed to the
dense population of Catholic residents.
Just a few blocks from the border
between Dolton and the city limits is
the now-closed parish and school of
Chicago’s St. Mary of the Assumption
Church, where Pope Leo XIV attended
elementary school, walking the four
blocks or so each day.
Classroom sizes were as large as 50;
women religious served parishes with
so many families that they seemed to
be bursting at the seams. The Holy Father’s
family was a fixture at the Sunday
9:15 a.m. Mass; his mother, Millie, was
the president of the parish Altar and
Rosary Society.
Even then, Robert Prevost impressed
his family, friends, neighbors, and
teachers with two things: his intellect
and his piety. His brother John told
“Good Morning America’s” George
Stephanopoulos that “Rob,” as his family
called him, was not only an altar boy,
but often used their mother’s ironing
board and a sheet to set up an altar to
“play Mass,” using candy Necco wafers
as ersatz Communion hosts. Rob’s two
older brothers, Louis Martin and John
Joseph, went from St. Mary’s to Mendel
High School, named for Augustinian
monk Gregor Mendel (the father of
genetics) and run by the Augustinian
fathers. Millie worked as Mendel’s
librarian.
The future pope was also smart: “Back
in the day, they used to seat us by our
classroom performance, so he always
sat in the No. 1 seat, which was in the
first row in the back,” one of his classmates
told the Chicago Sun-Times.
But Rob felt the call to the priesthood
even then, and instead of following his
brothers to Mendel, he instead chose
to attend the Augustinian’s high school
seminary program in Holland, Michigan.
He then continued his formation
in the Augustinian order by enrolling at
Villanova University in Pennsylvania,
where he majored in math.
Enrolling at Villanova University
allowed him to continue his formation
Dolton had become synonymous with failure,
crime, hopelessness, and despair, a source of
embarrassment and the butt of jokes.
with the Augustinians while obtaining
his bachelor’s degree. After his graduation
in 1977, he formally entered
the novitiate, and the following year
made his first vows. He took solemn
vows in 1981 and was ordained to the
priesthood in 1982 at the Augustinian
The childhood home
of Pope Leo XIV in the
Dolton suburb of Chicago.
| OSV NEWS/CARLOS
OSARIO, REUTERS
A photo of Robert F. Prevost from his high school yearbook.
| OSV NEWS/COURTESY FATHER BECKET FRANKS
College of Santa Monica.
Back in Dolton, the neighborhood
began to change. The steel mills and
factories were closing. The racial
composition shifted dramatically; U.S.
Census data show Dolton went from
having 42 Black residents in 1970 to
14,000 by 1990. Today, Dolton is 91%
African American with a smattering of
white and Hispanic residents. Most of
the new residents of Dolton were not
Catholic; St. Mary of the Assumption
closed, followed by the school. Mendel
High School followed suit, graduating
its last class in 1988.
Until recently, the pope’s childhood
home had fallen into disrepair, and
become a den for drug dealing. Next
door neighbor Donna Davis began
blasting praise and worship music and
praying that God would bring peace
to the once family-friendly block. Her
perseverance paid off; the house was
purchased, renovated, and is now being
sold at auction.
Reporters from around the world and
pilgrims, some driving for hours, visit
daily. Local residents are thrilled that
media attention is now positive, its former
mayor overshadowed by the new
bishop of Rome.
A new day dawns for Dolton, and for
the Church.
Mary FioRito is an attorney and the
Cardinal Francis George Fellow at the
Ethics and Public Policy Center. She
lives in Chicago with her husband and
three daughters.
May 30, 2025 • ANGELUS • 27

S
ON OF AUGUSTINE
BY MIKE AQUILINA
What does it mean to have an ‘Augustinian’ pope?
This is a 17th-century painting of St. Augustine
by artist Philippe de Champaigne. The saint
lived in the years 354-430 and is considered
a Church Father and doctor of the Church. |
OSV NEWS/PUBLIC DOMAIN, LOS ANGELES
COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART
is the word most
often used to describe the cast
“Augustinian”
of mind of Pope Leo XIV. He
used it himself in his first papal blessing
on May 8: “I am an Augustinian, a son
of St. Augustine.” There are two senses
to the word, and he fulfills both.
In one sense it means that he is a
member of the Order of St. Augustine
(OSA) — the Augustinians (see Page
30).
In a second sense, however, “Augustinian”
denotes a distinctive approach
to spirituality and theology. It means
that the pontiff lives according to the
principles of St. Augustine of Hippo,
a North African who lived in the
fourth and fifth centuries. More than a
millennium-and-a-half after his death,
he remains one of the most influential
thinkers in all human history. From
Leo’s public statements — both before
and after assuming the papacy — he is
clearly an Augustinian in both senses.
As Robert F. Prevost, he professed his
first vows in the Augustinian order in
1978 and solemn vows in 1981.
As Leo he quoted Augustine in his
first public address, and he took a line
of Augustine’s as his motto — the key
to understanding his pontificate.
To understand the pontiff, then, we
must first look into the life and thought
of his ancient patron.
Augustine was born in 354 in a
small town in Roman Africa
(modern Algeria). His mother,
Monica, was a Christian, and his
father, Patricius, was a pagan, but
not particularly religious. The family
prized education, and Patricius begged
and borrowed to find opportunities for
his firstborn son.
The boy was intellectually gifted, but
also rebellious. In his memoir, “The
Confessions,” he recalls getting into
28 • ANGELUS • May 30, 2025

Pope Leo XIV’s coat of arms with his episcopal motto,
“In Illo uno unum,” literally “In the One (Christ),
we are one,” in an image published by the Vatican
Secretariat of State May 10. | CNS/VATICAN MEDIA
mischief with his friends — stealing
pears from his neighbor’s tree and then
throwing them away.
At 17 he traveled to Carthage to
pursue studies in rhetoric. There he
indulged in a libertine college lifestyle.
He moved in with his girlfriend and
soon got her pregnant. He began to
dabble in exotic religions and identified
himself (though weakly) with the
Manicheans, a Persian cult that was a
mishmash of Christianity, Buddhism,
and Zoroastrianism.
But his real religion was Augustine.
He recognized his own potential to be
the best in his field, and his ambitions
led him first to Rome and later to Milan,
which was then the administrative
capital of the Roman Empire. At age
30 he held the most prestigious position
in his field: the chair in rhetoric at
the imperial court.
He had achieved his worldly goals,
but he found them empty. They did
not satisfy him. Nor did the Manichean
religion, which could not withstand his
scrutiny. He began to look elsewhere
for meaning.
Augustine struck up friendships with
Neo-Platonist philosophers in Milan,
and some of them were Christians.
He also began to attend the preaching
of the city’s bishop, Ambrose, whose
secular résumé had been every bit as
impressive as Augustine’s.
Augustine found himself increasingly
Christian in his thinking, but unable to
let go of his strong attachment to sexual
sins. One day — in extraordinary
circumstances — he received God’s
grace to prevail. He went forward for
baptism and moved back to Africa with
his friends.
One often overlooked prodigy of
Augustine is his capacity for friendship.
The companions of his misspent
childhood followed him to Carthage,
then Rome, then Milan, and then back
to Africa. Apparently, they could not
imagine a life without him. Spiritually,
they all grew together. In Africa,
Augustine was soon ordained to the
priesthood and then the office of bishop,
and some of his friends followed his
footsteps into the ranks of clergy and
episcopacy.
Some, in fact, lived with him in a monastic
household that lived by a “Rule,”
which emphasized study, prayer, and
the mutual love of charity.
In those days a bishop spent busy days
adjudicating disputes
among his people. The
bishop’s court was an
alternative court of
law. But Augustine still
found time to write, and
produced more than a
hundred works, many of
which are still considered
required texts in
specialized fields: trinitarian
theology, morals,
the theology of history,
biblical interpretation,
and catechetics, to name
a few. He is the Church
Father who has left us
the greatest number
of works, filling 46 fat
volumes in their latest
English translation.
His genius was recognized
by his contemporaries.
Pope Celestine
I, who was reigning at
the time of Augustine’s
death, warned Catholics
not to speak a word
against the man or his
doctrine. Pope Leo the
Great, who assumed the
papacy soon afterward,
was intellectually formed by the man’s
theology.
And his influence has never diminished.
Augustine is the author (outside
Scripture) most quoted by St. Thomas
Aquinas in his authoritative “Summa
Theologica” (“Summary of Theology”)
from the 13th century. He is also the
author (outside Scripture) most quoted
in the “Catechism of the Catholic
Church,” published in 1992.
Such was Augustine’s genius that
his thought became — without
exaggeration — the Western
Church’s spirituality at its most foundational.
It is Latin Christianity’s default
mode.
So what is it that makes Augustine’s
spirit distinctive?
It has a quality of interiority. His
The doctoral dissertation of the future Pope Leo XIV,
finalized in 1985, and published two years later, is
seen May 12. The thesis bears the title “The office
and authority of the local prior in the Order of Saint
Augustine.” | OSV NEWS/PAULINA GUZIK
May 30, 2025 • ANGELUS • 29

Pope Leo XIV waves after walking onto the
central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at the
Vatican May 8, following his election during the
conclave. He is the first American pope and the
first Augustinian pope in history. | OSV NEWS/
CATHOLIC PRESS PHOTO/VATICAN MEDIA
“Confessions” are often cited as
the earliest example of the genre of
autobiography. In his “Soliloquies”
he further pursues this self-scrutiny,
seeking to know himself in relation to
God.
It emphasizes community. Augustine
is introspective, but not introverted.
Living with others provided
him occasions for exercising charity
and mutual assistance. His companions
helped him to see his faults and
correct them.
It values creation. Augustine believed
that God created the world to
serve and delight human beings. Our
desire for earthly goods should lead us
to God, who alone fulfills our deepest
desire. When we prefer lesser goods to
God, we sin.
It is biblical and ecclesial. None of
the ancients articulated the principles
of Scripture study as clearly as
Augustine. Yet he emphasized that the
Church precedes the New Testament
and authorizes Scripture by establishing
the canon. For Augustine, the
abiding authority on earth resides with
the bishops in union with the pope.
It sees life as a journey, a process of
conversion, either toward God or away
from him.
After quoting Augustine in his first
blessing, Leo brought many of these
themes together as he said, “In this
sense, all of us can journey together
toward the homeland that God has
prepared for us.”
Mike Aquilina is a contributing
editor to Angelus and the author of
many books, including “Good Pope,
Bad Pope: Their Lives, Our Lessons”
(Lambing Press, $4.44).
Where did the
Augustinians come from?
In the 13th century, there was a movement to gather independent
monasteries together into religious orders. The “Hermits of St. Augustine”
were one such aggregation, formed out of groups of hermits in
Italy who had already been following the “Rule of St. Augustine.” They
were approved by Pope Alexander IV in 1256. Eventually, they shed
the word “hermit” from their name, as their work was both active and
contemplative.
Down the centuries Augustinians have had a profound influence on
the development of spirituality.
Among their members were the Spaniard Luis de Leon (16th century),
who advanced the cause of publishing theology in vernacular
languages, and Pierre de Bérulle, (16th and 17th centuries), who
founded the so-called “French School” of spirituality and whose disciples
included St. Vincent de Paul and St. Francis de Sales. Among the
order’s many saints and blesseds are Blessed Ann Catherine Emmerich,
St. Rita of Cascia, and St. Thomas of Villanova (namesake of the
university in Philadelphia).
— Mike Aquilina
30 • ANGELUS • May 30, 2025

L
EOS ALL THE WAY DOWN
BY MIKE AQUILINA
The pope’s name choice echoes the legacies of Leo I and XIII.
But it also contains a nod to his biggest influence.
Pope Leo XIII is depicted in this official Vatican portrait.
He laid the foundation for modern Catholic social teaching
with his landmark 1891 encyclical “Rerum Novarum,”
addressing the rights and dignity of workers in the face
of industrialization. | OSV NEWS/LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
In his May 10 address to the College
of Cardinals, the newly elected pope
explained the reason for the name he
chose.
But first he paid homage to the
Second Vatican Council and the ways
in which the popes since St. Pope Paul
VI have interpreted and applied the
teachings of the council.
Then he brought it home: “Sensing
myself called to continue in this same
path, I chose to take the name Leo XIV
… mainly because Pope Leo XIII in his
historic encyclical ‘Rerum Novarum’
[‘Of New Things’] addressed the social
question in the context of the first great
industrial revolution.”
Now, he explained, the world faces
“another industrial revolution and …
developments in the field of artificial
intelligence that pose new challenges
for the defense of human dignity, justice,
and labor.”
The last Leo, Leo XIII, ruled 1878-
1903 and composed 14 letters that have
been categorized as “social encyclicals.”
The first, on socialism, appeared only
10 months after he took office. But
his most famous, by far, was the letter
mentioned this month by his successor:
“Rerum Novarum,” which appeared in
1891.
Historians consider it to be the Magna
Carta of modern Catholic social
teaching. In it, Leo XIII surveyed the
challenges brought on by industrialization.
In discussing the dislocations
of the preceding century, he critiqued
both socialism and laissez-faire capitalism.
He defended the rights of workers
to just wages and adequate rest and to
32 • ANGELUS • May 30, 2025

hold membership in labor unions. He
upheld the right to private property. He
exhorted governments to ensure that
laws reflect the common good.
Through the century that followed,
popes built upon the foundation of
Rerum Novarum, acknowledging it
frequently as their touchstone. “Quadragesimo
Anno” was released by Pius XI
in 1931, and its Latin title recognizes
the “forty years” that have gone by
since Leo’s “peerless encyclical on the
condition of workers.” In the same way,
Pope St. John Paul II’s “Centesimus
Annus” marks the “hundredth year”
since “Rerum Novarum.”
But the new pope, in 2025, has done
something more than mark an anniversary.
By choosing the name “Leo” and
explicitly invoking “Rerum Novarum,”
the Church’s 267th pope has placed
not just an encyclical, but his pontificate,
at the service of the social
question. The Church and society have
been placed on notice.
He alluded, however, to other, “different
reasons” for choosing the name —
and among them may be the character
of the first pope to bear it.
Leo has signaled repeatedly his
devotion to the early Church Fathers,
especially St. Augustine of Hippo, the
namesake of the pontiff’s religious order
and the man from whom he chose his
papal motto.
Augustine is among the few Fathers
traditionally described as “the Great.”
Another is Pope Leo I.
“Leo the Great” donned the papal
crown in 440, just 10 years after Augustine
had died at age 75, and he reigned
as pope for 21 years. He was a self-effacing
man, inclined to clarity and
simplicity in speech. He left behind two
volumes of letters and sermons, many
thousands of words, rich in doctrine
and counsel, but devoid of rhetorical
flourish.
One thing is clear from all those
words: he was profoundly influenced by
St. Augustine. Stylistically, they could
not be more different. Augustine was
the greatest rhetorician of his age, and
his sermons dazzled with all the tricks
of his trade: rhyme, alliteration, repetition,
riddles, and puns. Leo I, on the
other hand, was simple and direct.
But Leo I was also quite clearly a close
reader of Augustine. In homilies and
sermons, he took his vocabulary from
Augustine’s distinctive theology of the
Trinity. In fact, he would sometimes
lift sentences and paragraphs verbatim
from the works of the late bishop of
Hippo.
Leo I did this even in the text for
which he is most famous — his “tome,”
which summarizes the Church’s
non-negotiable doctrine about the
person and natures of Jesus Christ.
The tome opposes the major heresies
of the fifth century, Nestorianism and
Monophysitism, and brings them down
with words borrowed from Augustine.
At the end of the document, Augustine
is included, again, in an appendix of
relevant biblical and historical testimonies.
In fall of 451, Leo I sent the tome
as his contribution to the Council of
Chalcedon.
When the bishops there received
it, they cried out: “Peter has spoken
through Leo!” By acclamation they
confirmed the dogmatic authority of
Leo I’s tome, which had been delivered
with apostolic authority, but cast in
Augustine’s language.
Leo I may have been the first Augustinian
pope, in the original sense of the
By choosing “Leo” and explicitly invoking Rerum
Novarum, our new pope has placed not just an
encyclical, but his pontificate, at the service of
the social question.
word “Augustinian,” and even the first
Augustinian pope named Leo.
It seems not too far a stretch to connect
our modern Leo with the most
ancient of his predecessors, as well as
the most recent.
Mike Aquilina is a contributing editor
to Angelus and author of many books,
including “Good Pope, Bad Pope: Their
Lives, Our Lessons” (Lambing Press,
$4.44).
May 30, 2025 • ANGELUS • 33

L
EO’S AI REVOLUTION
BY FATHER PHILIP LARREY
The new pope believes Catholic teaching can help us survive
the rise of artificial intelligence. Here’s what he’s up against.
Pope Leo XIV speaks with
the College of Cardinals in
the New Synod Hall at the
Vatican May 10 during his
first formal address to the
college as pope. | CNS/
VATICAN MEDIA
In a meeting with the College of Cardinals
two days after his election to
the papacy, Pope Leo XIV answered
the question the world had been asking:
Why Leo?
“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’
(‘Of New Things’) addressed the social
question in the context of the first great
industrial revolution,” said Leo at the
May 10 gathering.
“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 labor.”
With these words, Leo signaled his
intention to do for our times what Leo
XIII (who reigned from 1878 to 1903)
did for his.
That doesn’t mean Leo will repeat
his predecessor’s famous encyclical
verbatim. But we can expect him to
examine the current industrial revolution
underway through the lens of the
social doctrine of the Church, which
is summarized masterfully by “Rerum
Novarum.”
The principles of that doctrine, Leo
XIII wrote, include solidarity, subsidiarity,
a just wage, the equal distribution
of wealth, proper care for workers, and
so on. There have been multiple follow-up
encyclicals to Rerum Novarum,
updating and applying those principles
to new situations and concerns, such as
Pope Pius XI’s “Quadragesimo Anno”
(“In the 40th Year,”1931) and Pope
St. John Paul II’s “Centesimus Annus”
(“The Hundredth Year,” 1991).
Earlier this year, Pope Francis laid out
34 • ANGELUS • May 30, 2025

the Church’s reflection on this subject
in “Antiqua et Nova,” a document “On
the Relationship Between Artificial
Intelligence and Human Intelligence,”
which cited several of Francis’ past
writings and speeches.
In it, the late Holy Father called for
“person-centered AI” and insisted that
new technologies be used for the betterment
of humanity, not its detriment.
I believe that Leo will begin with that
foundation and expand it, adding his
own perspective and understanding of
the times we live in.
Because Leo was born in Chicago,
it stands to reason that he will have a
particularly significant experience of a
country immersed in digital technology.
He’s already demonstrated he’s as
familiar as any of us with digital technology
and how ordinary people — as
well as those at the helm in Silicon
Valley — use it.
As pope, he will also have direct
access to the tech titans building AI
platforms, which should allow him to
influence (to a greater or lesser extent)
the development of the technology.
Exercising such an influence will not
be easy or automatic. Market forces
play a large part in how these technologies
and platforms are developed. But
given Leo’s origins, the key players in
the tech industry should find a certain
easiness and familiarity dealing with an
American pope.
Understanding our current “revolution”
will be one of his main priorities
— helping humanity navigate the shifting
currents and challenges as we face
what some important figures in the
industry have called the single most
epochal change in centuries. Figures
like Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking,
Bill Gates, and Eliezer Yudkowsky
have warned of the existential risks
associated with this new technology,
signaling that we need guardrails and
courageous moral leadership in order
to avoid a major catastrophe for all of
humanity.
While the European Parliament
has approved the AI Act for Europe,
which lays down different rules for the
use of AI depending on the perceived
risk they pose, there is nothing similar
in other parts of the world. Recently,
Congress passed the “Take it Down
Act” in order to regulate the presence
of “deep fakes” on social media (videos,
photos, or audio recordings that appear
real but have been created or manipulated
with AI). The bill is expected to
be signed into law by President Trump.
This is a great beginning, but more
has to be done. In the absence of a
universal consensus concerning the
ethical dimensions to AI, the voice
of the Catholic Church in general,
and that of Leo particularly, will be
a rallying call to use technology in a
responsible and truly humane way.
Perhaps the most pressing issue facing
us all is the achievement of what is
known as Artificial General Intelligence
(AGI), which can be described
as the moment in which large AI
platforms are able to perform any conceivable
task relating to intelligence at
a human level.
Depending on how one AGI is
defined, some developers speculate
that we are three to four years away.
Others are more conservative, such as
Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO
of DeepMind, which was purchased by
Google in 2014 and is one of the most
successful AI platforms to date.
Hopefully under Leo, the Catholic
Church can work with people like
Hassabis to help the world understand
and control the development of AGI
as a tool in order to benefit humanity,
rather than destroy it. Another important
voice is MIT’s Max Tegmark,
a pioneer in machine learning and
founder of the Future of Life Institute.
The clarity and speed with which Leo
has spoken about the new industrial
revolution so far is a sign that we can
expect great things from his pontificate.
But it will fall to the rest of us to
follow his lead and help steer digital
technology in the right direction —
that which inspires all of humanity and
promises to help men and women to
flourish as human beings, in relationship
with a heavenly Father.
Father Philip Larrey teaches philosophy
at Boston College. For many
years, he held the Chair of Logic and
Epistemology at the Pontifical Lateran
University in Rome, where he taught
the Philosophy of Knowledge course,
which also dealt with artificial intelligence.
May 30, 2025 • ANGELUS • 35

36 • ANGELUS • May 30, 2025

May 30, 2025 • ANGELUS • 37

L
EO THE AMERICAN
BY ELISE ANN ALLEN
Memo to US Catholics:
Don’t put this pope in a star-spangled box.
An American flag is displayed as Pope Leo
XIV waves as he arrives to celebrate his
inauguration Mass at the Vatican May 18.
He is the first American pope in history. |
OSV NEWS/CLAUDIA GRECO, REUTERS
ROME — There’s a sense of
irony, many observers have
noted recently, that the election
of Pope Leo XIV as the first pope from
the United States comes after 12 years
of a pope who clearly had a chip on
his shoulder when it came to Americans.
It was no secret that Pope Francis
harbored a certain cultural suspicion
about the U.S. — perhaps due in part
to its colonialist history in Latin America
and its past involvement in various
coups. He also made no effort to
conceal his disdain for the American
capitalist ethos, especially as regards
to global economic markets.
With Pope Leo XIV, a Chicago native
and die-hard White Sox fan, the
presumption among many is that this
is perhaps the United States’ resurgence
in the Catholic global scene.
And we can expect an instinctive
temptation to apply everything
Leo says and does to the American
political and ecclesial context, from
issues such as liturgy and education to
women and immigration.
But before his pontificate moves too
far along, it’s important to remember
that while he’s from the United States,
Leo has been hailed by the cardinals
who elected him as a “citizen of the
38 • ANGELUS • May 30, 2025

People react at the Cathedral of St. Mary in
Chiclayo, Peru, May 8, the day Cardinal Robert
Francis Prevost was elected pope. As an Augustinian
priest, then-Father Prevost spent many
years as a missionary in Peru. | OSV NEWS/
SEBASTIAN CASTANEDA, REUTERS
world” given his vast experience
abroad.
He spent decades in Latin America,
having been a missionary in Peru for
some 30 years (including as a bishop).
He also has experience in Europe, having
studied in Rome as a young priest
and later living there during time as
prior general of the Augustinian order.
He returned to Rome when Francis
appointed him prefect of the Dicastery
for Bishops in 2023, and has been
there since.
This all means that the cardinals
elected a pope who is aware of the priorities
of the global south, of the west,
and of the power centers in the Vatican.
He has a well-rounded perspective
of the global Church.
After the election of Francis in 2013,
Argentinians to a large extent made
the mistake of taking everything he
said and did as a proclamation on local
politics and affairs — if Francis said
he liked amatriciana, a typical Italian
dish, it meant he didn’t like Argentinian
food, or if he spoke out about
corruption, it meant he was referring
to this or that specific politician or
personality.
With Leo, Americans would be wise
not to make the same mistake.
There is already a growing narrative
starting to build around Leo, in just a
week on the job, with some declaring
that he is the “anti-Trump” given past
statements on issues such as immigration
and others pegging him as the “anti-Francis”
and an ally of traditionalists
due to things as simple as his choice
of papal attire, donning the red papal
mozzetta, which Francis shunned in a
spirit of simplicity.
Americans would do well to steer
clear of these categorizations when
it comes to the United States: the
Church itself is much bigger than the
U.S., as is Leo’s personal and pastoral
experience.
Most Catholics in the world today are
not in the west, but in the global south,
meaning when Leo speaks, it is as
universal pastor of a flock that is most
present and is growing most rapidly
in other countries and regions, with
different situations, cultures, ecclesial
situations, and geopolitical contexts.
One clear illustration of just how
global Leo’s vision is can be seen in his
very first appearance as pope, coming
out on the central loggia (an open
gallery) of St. Peter’s Basilica after his
election.
In his brief remarks, Leo, the newly
elected pope and bishop of Rome,
greeted the world in fluent Italian,
thanking his predecessor Francis and
calling for peace.
Then he switched to fluent Spanish,
giving a shout-out to the Diocese of
Chiclayo, Peru, which he led as bishop
for almost a decade.
He did not speak English until the
next day, while celebrating Mass with
the cardinals who elected him in the
Sistine Chapel, offering a few off-thecuff
remarks in his native language
before delivering his homily in Italian.
It’s clear that Leo doesn’t see himself
as chaplain of the United States, but
rather of the universal Church — albeit
with perhaps a special devotion to his
adopted longtime home in Peru, and
indeed Latin America.
Still, there are early signs that Leo can
expect support among Americans. He
is from the United States, and American
Catholics are going to listen extra
carefully to whatever he says, giving
him an opportunity to shape the American
Catholic scene — even unintentionally
— in the way that political and
Church-related discussions unfold,
both in tone and substance.
That can be expected even though his
positions on some issues, like immigration,
will remain the same as his
predecessor.
Many Catholics, and even perhaps
a few cardinals, also believe that he is
uniquely positioned to engage with the
likes of President Donald Trump, Vice
President J.D. Vance, and other world
leaders of a similar caliber given the
certain level of gravitas he carries as an
American, but also a veteran Vatican
insider.
Leo has demonstrated already in his
words and deeds that while he desires
continuity with Francis, he is very
much his own man. As his pontificate
gets underway, trying to paint him into
a box, star-spangled or other, would be
a mistake.
Elise Ann Allen is a senior correspondent
for Crux in Rome, covering the
Vatican and the global Church.
May 30, 2025 • ANGELUS • 39

Continued from Page 2
“Who do people say that the Son of
Man is?” 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.
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 nonbelievers 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 Savior. Therefore, it is
essential that we too repeat, with Peter:
“You are the Christ, the Son of the
living God.”
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.
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 St. Ignatius of
Antioch, am called to preside in charity
over the universal Church. St. 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.” 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, 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.
40 • ANGELUS • May 30, 2025

May 30, 2025 • ANGELUS • 41

C
HICAGO ONSCREEN
BY JOSEPH JOYCE
Five films to help us understand the Windy City —
and our new pope’s place within it.
A tribute to Pope Leo XIV
is displayed before a White
Sox game inside the Rate
Field baseball stadium
in Chicago May 9. The
screen incorrectly stated
that Leo is the 268th pope
(he is the 267th). | OSV
NEWS/CARLOS OSARIO,
REUTERS
Pope Leo XIV is our first American
pope, which is too broad an
achievement to inspire much
excitement. It’s far more precise to
say he’s the first pope from Chicago;
from this we can surmise he’s also the
first pope to properly understand the
majesty of Michael Jordan, as well as
the first pontiff in 500 years of Italians
to mistake lasagna for pizza.
If you dragged America over the European
subcontinent, placing Los Angeles
at about Madrid, the Windy City
would sit somewhere on the Ukrainian
front. Such geographical and cultural
distance might make it difficult to relate
to our new Holy Father, so I thought I’d
provide something of a syllabus to help
us understand him and his Midwestern
origins. Here are five films to properly
understand Chicago, and our pope’s
place within it.
“Eight Men Out” (1988)
Then-Cardinal Robert Prevost was
such a dark horse in this conclave
that much of him remains a mystery,
particularly where he stands on some
“hot-button issues.” But his brother
helped clear up at least one pressing
matter, insisting that contrary to prior
reports, Leo supports the Chicago
White Sox. You can learn more about
a man from his sports fandom than his
taxes, which is why I encourage you to
watch the John Sayles film “Eight Men
Out.”
Following the 1919 Black Sox scandal,
where players threw the World Series in
exchange for money, this film captures
a moment some 35 years before Leo’s
birth. But fandom is an inheritance not
dissimilar to our own from Adam; as
Bruce Springsteen once put it, “You’re
born into this life paying/for the sins of
42 • ANGELUS • May 30, 2025

somebody else’s past.”
The original sin of the Black Sox
scandal was owner greed crunching
the players down to a state where they
were willing to corrupt themselves
and the game. The downstream ills of
capitalism and its effect on the workers
were important to the former Leo XIII,
and clearly to our own, as he designated
himself his successor.
“A Raisin in the Sun” (1961)
If his White Sox fandom didn’t already
attest, Leo grew up on the South Side
of Chicago. Perhaps best known from
cable news and your uncle’s Facebook
posts, the South Side is a rough-andtumble
neighborhood, as well as one
of the more deeply segregated in the
country. Leo’s father was white but
his mother was Louisiana Creole, her
family coming to Chicago alongside
millions of others during the Great
Migration.
“A Raisin in the Sun,” based on the
Lorraine Hansberry play, follows a
more uniformly black but contemporaneous
family in the South Side.
They struggle against prejudice, bad
decisions, and worse luck to snag a
scrap of the American Dream, all while
wondering if it’s the destination or the
dream itself that keeps them going.
Since the future pope’s X account
expressed support for the George Floyd
protests, “A Raisin in the Sun” helps illuminate
how close to home this cause
is, in more ways than one.
The movie poster for the 1980 film
“The Blues Brothers.” | IMDB
“The Blues Brothers” (1980)
This is the only film on this list I
can say with certainty that the pope
has seen (aside from “Conclave,”
which the pope’s brother confirmed
he watched). That’s because at the
time it came out, viewing “The Blues
Brothers” was legally required for all
Chicago residents under the age of 35.
The effects on him are unmistakable:
Leo is also in favor of saving Catholic
orphanages from foreclosure and he
appears to hate Illinois Nazis, along
with Nazis from other states and nationalities.
We have no word yet on his
thoughts on country or western music.
“While You Were Sleeping” (1995)
The only formal cinematic endorsement
we have from Leo is a retweeted
list of Christmas movies compiled by
Catholic News Service media reviewer
John Mulderig. The only Chicago
set films on that list are “Christmas
with the Kranks” and “Fred Claus.”
With respect to papal infallibility and
the dignity of the office, I cannot in
good conscience endorse either of
those.
What I instead recommend is “While
You Were Sleeping.” It follows the
story of a lonely Chicago Transit
worker (Sandra Bullock) who, through
a series of miscommunications,
accidentally convinces the family of
the [now coma-induced] man she
rescued from the tracks that she is
his fiancée. It’s an outlandish premise
that settles into something fuzzy
and Irish as the family drags her into
their Christmas celebrations, and by
consequence, their love. It’s a far more
ground-level view of Chicagoans, and
a more mature view of Catholicism
in America. Too many films portray
Catholics as either entirely lapsed or
devout beyond recognition. “While
You Were Sleeping” recognizes the
elasticity, where people are forgiving
of themselves until circumstances pull
them to attention.
“Return To Me” (2000)
“Return To Me” is directed, written,
and co-starred in by Bonnie Hunt,
who was once very nice to me in our
one interaction. I doubt she remembers
this; the creative voice behind
such a kind movie is likely kind to
everyone. Chicago construction
manager Bob (David Duchovny) is
a recent widow who finally starts to
open up again around waitress Grace
(Minnie Driver) who, through some
cosmic joke, is the unbeknownst recipient
of his dead wife’s heart.
Once more a ridiculous premise, but
the skill comes in at its most subtle
moments, as Grace and her extended
Catholic clan provide the support
system for Bob to find his way back to
life. Its very midwestern Catholicism
reminds me of much of the current
tone of Leo himself. Steadfast but not
prescriptive, aspirational but honest.
The characters of “Return To Me”
mean well, and not in the current
fashionable sense of the term where
that merely means feeling guilty as
you persist anyway. Here they try, they
fail, they try again, only to learn they
were in on the cosmic joke all along.
Joseph Joyce is a screenwriter and freelance
critic based in Sherman Oaks.
May 30, 2025 • ANGELUS • 43

INTERSECTIONS
GREG ERLANDSON
OUR UNEXPECTED POPE
Pope Leo XIV appears on the
central balcony of St. Peter’s
Basilica at the Vatican May 8
following his election during
the conclave. | OSV NEWS/
CLAUDIA GRECO, REUTERS
How many people on Thursday,
May 8, while waiting for the cardinals
to elect a new pope, said,
“It will never be an American!”
I was one of those, and like so many, I
believed the received wisdom that the
electors would not want the Church
to be headed by a citizen of the world’s
greatest superpower.
In my case, I did receive a hint that in
the case of Cardinal Robert Prevost, he
would be an exception to that rule. An
Italian journalist with whom I was discussing
papabile (possible candidates
for pope) mentioned Prevost. Because
of his years abroad in Peru as a missionary
and in the Vatican, my friend said,
he is almost not American.
Indeed, only after his election as Pope
Leo XIV did I learn of his tongue-incheek
nickname: “The Latin Yankee.”
I’m not sure many people predicted
his quick election either, since he was
usually labeled a dark horse at best.
It is a reminder, as always, that when
it comes to scoring papabile, usually
those who know don’t say, and those
who say don’t know.
Having witnessed two other papal
elections, I could not help but be
struck by the moment when Leo was
revealed to us. Thanks to close-ups of
his face, I was struck by the emotions
he was keeping in check. Hearing the
cheers of more than 100,000 people
in the square below him, and at the
same time knowing what an awesome
responsibility was being laid on his
shoulders, our new pope’s emotions
were understandable.
We met him on the balcony of St.
Peter’s. That he spoke in Italian and
44 • ANGELUS • May 30, 2025

Greg Erlandson is the former president and
editor-in-chief of Catholic News Service.
Spanish (and offered his prayer to the
Church and the world in Latin), but
not a word of English, was smart. He is
the bishop of Rome and of the world,
after all, not the standard bearer of one
country.
I was particularly moved by his
testament to his Augustinian roots. “I
am a son of St. Augustine,” he said, “an
Augustinian, who said, ‘With you I am
a Christian and for you I am a bishop.’
In this sense, we can all walk together
towards that homeland that God has
prepared for us.”
This quote is from a sermon by St.
Augustine, and the whole passage is
worth quoting, for it speaks to how we
can pray for our new Holy Father at
this moment.
“What I am for you frightens me,” St.
Augustine said. “What I share with you
brings me consolation. For you I am
bishop; with you I am a Christian. The
former is the name of a duty I have
received; the latter I am by grace. The
former implies potential danger; the
latter offers salvation. Assist me by your
prayerful support, so that my joy will
be in serving you, rather than in being
over you.”
These final words uttered centuries
ago echo a statement by Prevost to
Vatican Radio in 2023: “We must not
hide behind an idea of authority that
no longer makes sense today,” he said.
“The authority we have is to serve, to
accompany priests, to be pastors and
teachers.”
Already, unfortunately, there are the
low whisperings of critics who may
seek to do to him what they tried to do
to Pope Francis. The political ideologues
already are trying to pigeonhole
him, to put him in a box, to either
weaken him or call him their own.
God willing, they will not succeed.
It may be worthwhile to remind us
of another quote of St. Augustine that
seems suitable at this moment: “If you
believe what you like in the Gospels,
and reject what you don’t like, it is not
the Gospel you believe, but yourself.”
Let us pray that our new pope
remains a bridge between peoples, a
conscience for the world, a voice for
the marginalized, and always a disciple
of Jesus Christ.
May 30, 2025 • ANGELUS • 45

DESIRE LINES
HEATHER KING
The undeserving poor
A woman walks past a homeless
man sleeping on a sidewalk in
Baltimore June 6, 2023. | OSV
NEWS/BOB ROLLER
Like most of us, I long with all my
heart to serve “the poor.”
Bitter experience has shown that
soup lines and bandaging are not my
forte. My realm leans more toward the
spiritual work of mercy.
In my imagination, such an interchange
would consist of an alert
supplicant, hungry for wisdom, who
comes with a clear, concise question, or
situation, then raptly listens.
Instead, also as I suspect is true of most
of us, the people who need help are often
a version of the poorest of the poor:
the disordered, the directionless, the
scattered, the confused, the hopelessly
entangled in chaos in so many directions
and on so many levels that I’ve
been known to throw up my hands in
despair (and I’m ashamed to say, often
annoyance) and simply flee.
If I’m going to expend some of my
precious energy and time, I want to use
it on a person with some promise!
Can you imagine if that’s how Jesus
approached us?
From an essay by Father Ron Rolheiser
called “Unnoticed Blood”:
“Nearly one hundred years ago, as
Thérèse of Lisieux lay dying, she told
her sister, Pauline, that the entire foundation
of her spirituality came from
her contemplation of the face of the
suffering Christ (“the Holy Face,” she
called it). She described to her sister
how she was always struck by the Good
Friday texts (from Isaiah and from the
Gospels) that describe the face of God’s
suffering servant on earth, how that
face is marred, unattractive, and either
ignored or despised by those who see it.
“Thérèse then tells Pauline: ‘One
Sunday, looking at a picture of Our
Lord on the Cross, I was struck by the
blood flowing from one of his divine
hands. I felt a pang of great sorrow
when thinking this blood was falling to
the ground without anyone’s hastening
46 • ANGELUS • May 30, 2025

Heather King (heather-king.com) writes memoirs, leads workshops,
and posts on Substack at “Desire Lines: Books, Culture, Art.”
to gather it up. I was resolved to remain
in spirit at the foot of the Cross and to
receive its dew.’ In a later conversation,
she adds: ‘I don’t want this precious
blood to be lost. I shall spend my life
gathering it up for the good of souls
… for ‘to live from love is to dry Your
Face.’ ”
Christ bleeds through the poor: the
weak, the sick, the suffering in all of us.
Let’s not let a drop of that be wasted.
Let’s not let a drop of that fall to the
floor unnoticed. No, we can’t “fix” the
poorest of the poor: they will always be
with us. We can’t untangle, uproot, and
cure every disorder, trauma, or wound.
But we can give a drop of water in
exchange for a drop of Jesus’s precious
blood. Instead of averting our faces —
or worse, thinking, “They don’t want
to be healed; they don’t want to help
themselves” — we can metaphorically
stand for a moment at the door of the
prison cell, sit for a moment on the
edge of the sickbed, give our coat to the
person who is cold.
Long enough to say a Hail Mary,
and to whisper, “Help our brother,
help our sister.” Long enough to ask
ourselves: Could I make a financial
donation? Better yet, could I devote an
hour of prayer for this person before the
tabernacle this afternoon, morning, or
evening?
Better yet, could I simply set aside 20
minutes, sit before this person, and hear
them out? Could I just listen?
In “The Pain of Christ and the Sorrow
of God,” a largely forgotten gem from
1947, Father Gerald Vann, OP, wrote:
“The death that leads to resurrection is
not just a death, but a sacrificial death,
a death turned into an act of love and
self-giving. You have your pain and your
sorrow, your anxieties, your personal
problems, your moral lapses, perhaps
your loss of faith: turn these into the
sign of Jonas the prophet, use these to
lead you down into the darkness, take
these to the altar of love and tumble
them into his hands and ask him to
deal with them, like a little child taking
a worthless piece of treasure trove as a
gift to its mother.
“And not your own sorrows and your
own sins merely, but the sorrows and
sins of the world: you who should be so
powerful to heal them in the might of
Love and who in fact are so powerless
to do anything, take these too and give
them to him, make these too an act
of sacrificial love, suffering for them
yourself in union with his sorrow; and
so, having seen to the very depths of
your own ineffectiveness, you will cease
to be ineffective. You will begin to live,
now not you, but Christ living in you.”
Even to refrain from shutting our eyes,
putting our hands over our ears, or
closing our hearts is a step in the right
direction. In other words: something
rather than nothing, a crack in the
door.
Because it’s not the exterior act that
avails. It’s the conversion of heart by
which we are not just mouthing the
words, “Please help our brother,” but
rather seeing and feeling to the marrow
of our bones that this truly is our
brother.
It’s acknowledging that it’s not the
poor we can’t bear, but rather our own
powerlessness, our own darkness, our
own poverty.
To realize that we are all the undeserving
poor is the mustard seed Jesus
speaks of in Matthew 13:32 — when it
is grown it becomes a large bush, and
the birds of the air come and sing in its
branches.
May 30, 2025 • ANGELUS • 47

LETTER AND SPIRIT
SCOTT HAHN
Scott Hahn is founder of the
St. Paul Center for Biblical
Theology; stpaulcenter.com.
The forgotten holy day
Pentecost is coming, and
I hope you’re planning
to celebrate, because
it’s perhaps as important as
Christmas and Easter.
Does that shock you? Hear
me out.
Pentecost is a supremely
important day, and I think it
is sorely neglected.
Of all the feasts on the old
Jewish calendar, only two
have endured as Christian
feasts. The first is Passover,
which we English-speakers
call “Easter,” but almost
everyone else calls by the
same name as the Jewish
holiday, Pesach: Pasqua in
Italian, Pascua in Spanish,
Pascha in Greek, and so on.
The second Jewish feast
to remain on the Christian
calendar is Pentecost.
These two, with Sukkot,
the “Feast of Booths,” were
the three pilgrimage festivals
of ancient Judaism. The
Book of Exodus required all
Israelite males to celebrate
these three feasts in the holy
city, Jerusalem (see Exodus 23:14–17).
Passover and Pentecost were inextricably bound to one
another. In fact, Pentecost gets its name from its relation to
Passover. Pentecost comes from the Greek word for “fiftieth”;
Pentecost is the 50th day after Passover.
On Passover, Jews in the first century commemorated the
Exodus — Israel’s liberation from slavery in Egypt. On Pentecost,
they celebrated God’s gift of the Law at Mount Sinai.
The first event was ordered to the second. What was begun in
one is completed in the other.
The Israelites were set free not so they could wander
aimlessly, but so they could walk in God’s ways — the ones
set out for them in the Ten Commandments. In the Old
Covenant, Passover happened for the sake of Pentecost.
“Pentecost,” by Matthys Voet, born
circa 1635-died after 1695, Flemish. |
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Passover was arguably the
more solemn commemoration
— the highest point
on the calendar — but it
required the later feast for its
completion.
We find the same dynamic
at work in the New Covenant.
Jesus’ Passover points
forward to fulfillment with
the gift of the Spirit in the
Christian Pentecost. In the
Fourth Gospel, we see Jesus
repeatedly making this point,
and he does so at the Last
Supper, his Passover meal!
He tells his disciples that
the Counselor, sent by the
Father, would bring the work
of Jesus to completion (John
14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7).
Thus, in a very real sense,
all of our holy days point to
Pentecost. Why, after all, did
the Eternal Word take flesh
in Jesus Christ? What was
the reason for the Lord’s incarnation? And then why did he
suffer and die?
He did all this — he took up a life like ours — so that
he could give us a life like his. He did all this so we could
receive the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, and
live forever in communion with the Father. He wanted us
to be “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4), sharing
mysteriously in God’s eternal life.
This is what we see happening in the Acts of the Apostles,
chapter 2. The Spirit comes in power, descending as tongues
of fire, the disciples are transformed, and the Church is born.
Suddenly, divine life is available to all the world — available
to you and me.
So how will you celebrate?
48 • ANGELUS • May 30, 2025

■ SATURDAY, MAY 24
Mission Talk with EWTN’s Karl A. Schultz. St. Barnabas
Church, 3955 Orange Ave., Long Beach. 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
Schultz, author and EWTN host, will give a free talk about
topics such as theology of the body, the papacy, suffering,
men’s spirituality, and more. Call 562-424-8595.
■ THURSDAY, MAY 29
Now and At The Hour of Our Death. Bishop Alemany High
School, 11111 N. Alemany Drive, Mission Hills. 9:30 a.m.-3
p.m. Speakers: Dr. Vincent Nguyen, Rebecca Freeman, and
Michael Donaldson discuss various aspects of health care
ministry related to those seriously ill or dying. For more info,
contact Ann Sanders at asanders@la-archdiocese.org or call
213-637-7655.
■ SATURDAY, MAY 31
New Priests Ordination. Cathedral of Our Lady of the
Angels, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles. 9-10:30 a.m. Eight
transitional deacons in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles will
be ordained priests. Tickets are required to attend, but the
ordination will be livestreamed at lacatholics.org/ordination.
He Shall Rise: The Seven Last Words of Christ. Holy
Family Church, 220 East Elk, Glendale, 7:30 p.m. Uplifting
worship experience with the music of Michael John Trotta, a
brass ensemble, and a joyful singalong led by the St. Cecilia
and Filipino Chorales. Visit hfglendale.org/music.
■ THURSDAY, JUNE 5
San Fernando Mission Guides Meeting. San Fernando
Mission Cantwell Hall, 15151 Mission Blvd., Mission Hills,
1 p.m. Meetings on the first Thursday of each month, open
to new prospective docents, performing tours mainly for
California fourth-graders. Call John Panico at 661-877-7528
or email jdpanico@gmail.com.
■ SATURDAY, JUNE 7
Permanent Diaconate Ordination. Cathedral of Our Lady
of the Angels, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles. 9-10:30
a.m. Eight candidates in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles
will be ordained as permanent deacons, alongside their
wives. Guests by invitation only, but the ordination will be
livestreamed at lacatholics.org/ordination.
Cancer Support Ministry Meeting. St. Euphrasia Church,
11779 Shoshone Ave., Granada Hills, 10 a.m. The group
gathers to honor the gift of life and encourage cancer
patients, survivors, and caregivers, in honor of late pastor
Msgr. James Gehl. For more information, email Lisa Barona
at lbaloha@gmail.com.
Catholic Social Teaching. Zoom. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. The course
explores the history and development of the Catholic
Church’s social teaching. $25/person. Visit store.la-archdiocese.org/events.
■ SUNDAY, JUNE 8
Ice Cream Fundraiser. St. Therese Church, 1100 E. Alhambra
Road, Alhambra. 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Handel’s ice cream truck
will be on hand for the fundraiser benefiting the Alhambra
cloistered Carmelite nuns. Call Susana Martines at 626-289-
9326.
■ MONDAY, JUNE 9
Healing Mass. St. Rose of Lima Church, 1305 Royal Ave.,
Simi Valley. 7 p.m. The parish’s Charismatic Prayer Ministry
is sponsoring the Mass presided over by Father Michael
Barry, assisted by Deacon Pete Wilson. Call 805-526-1732
for more information.
■ TUESDAY, JUNE 10
Memorial Mass. San Fernando Mission, 15151 San Fernando
Mission Blvd., Mission Hills, 11 a.m. Mass is open to the
public. Limited seating. RSVP to outreach@catholiccm.org
or call 213-637-7810. Livestream available at CatholicCM.
org or Facebook.com/lacatholics.
■ THURSDAY, JUNE 12
St. Padre Pio Mass. St. Anne Church, 340 10th St., Seal
Beach, 1 p.m. Celebrant: Father Al Baca. For more information,
call 562-537-4526.
■ SATURDAY, JUNE 14
Culture of Life and Culture of Love Symposium. Mary
Star of the Sea Church, 877 W. 7th St., San Pedro. 9:30 a.m.-
4 p.m. Workshop on what it means to be an active pro-life
Catholic. $25/person suggested donation. Visit loveandresponsibility.simpletix.com.
■ TUESDAY, JUNE 17
Sounds of Summer. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S.
Grand Ave., Los Angeles, 7 p.m. Music ministry from Holy
Family Church in Glendale will perform the Mass of the
Americas by La Rocca, featuring Orquestra Guadalupano,
led by Ron Wakefield and Dr. Hernandez. Visit hfglendale.
org/music.
■ FRIDAY, JUNE 20
National Eucharistic Pilgrimage. Mission Basilica San
Buenaventura, 211 E. Main St., Ventura. 1-7 p.m. The nationwide
pilgrimage that began in Indianapolis will travel to
Mission Basilica San Buenaventura for Mass and adoration
at 1 p.m. before heading to Sacred Heart Church in Altadena
for Mass and adoration at 6 p.m. Information: lacatholics.
org/eucharist.
Summer Solstice Labyrinth Walk. Holy Spirit Retreat
Center, 4316 Lanai Rd., Encino, 7-9 p.m. Visit hsrcenter.com
or call 818-784-4515.
■ SATURDAY, JUNE 21
National Eucharistic Pilgrimage. St. Vincent DePaul
Church, 621 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles. 9:30 a.m.-6:30
p.m. The nationwide pilgrimage’s second day in Los Angeles
will travel to St. Vincent DePaul Church for adoration at
9:30 a.m. before heading to Mission San Gabriel for Mass
and adoration at 5:30 p.m. Information: lacatholics.org/
eucharist.
■ SUNDAY, JUNE 22
National Eucharistic Pilgrimage. Cathedral of Our Lady of
the Angels, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles. 3-7:30 p.m. The
nationwide pilgrimage’s final day in Los Angeles will travel
to the cathedral for Corpus Christi Mass at 3 p.m. before a
procession through downtown LA at 4:30 p.m. and a festival
at 6:30 p.m. Registration for the Mass is required due to
space limitations. Information: lacatholics.org/eucharist.
■ SATURDAY, JUNE 28
Conscious Aging III: Death Makes Life Possible. Holy
Spirit Retreat Center, 4316 Lanai Rd., Encino, 9:30 a.m.-3:30
p.m. With Deborah Lorentz, SSS, and Lala Rukh Khan. Visit
hsrcenter.com or call 818-784-4515.
Catholic Families Night. Angel Stadium, 2000 E. Gene
Autry Way, Anaheim, 6:38 p.m. Angels Baseball vs.
Washington Nationals. Tickets from $28.86 to $57.42,
includes plaid blanket and “Catholic Families Night” hat, and
postgame fireworks. Not an archdiocesan fundraiser, but a
community event. Purchase tickets at fevo-enterprise.com/
event/ArchdioceseLA2025.
Items for the calendar of events are due four weeks prior to the date of the event. They may be emailed to calendar@angelusnews.com.
All calendar items must include the name, date, time, address of the event, and a phone number for additional information.
May 30, 2025 • ANGELUS • 49